[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 18 (Monday, May 10, 1999)]
[Pages 801-802]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Departure for Brussels, Belgium, and an Exchange With 
Reporters

May 4, 1999

Situation in the Balkans

    The President. Good afternoon. As you know, I am leaving in a few 
minutes for Europe. But first, I would like to say just a few words 
about what we've been doing on Kosovo in the last 24 hours and what we 
intend to do over the next few days.
    Yesterday I met with Mr. Chernomyrdin, the Russian envoy. I 
reaffirmed our support for his efforts and our willingness to seize 
every diplomatic possibility for Serbian authorities to meet the 
requirements that NATO has articulated. I reaffirmed what all the Allies 
have agreed those requirements are, including withdrawal of Serbian 
security forces from Kosovo and the deployment of an international 
security force with NATO at its core. Only then will the refugees have 
the confidence to return, which is, after all, what we are working for. 
Only then will the KLA have an incentive to demobilize, which will 
contribute to peace and stability for all of Kosovo's people, including 
its ethnic Serbs. Only then will we have a chance to achieve a durable 
solution to the problem of Kosovo.
    Tomorrow I will meet with Secretary General Solana and General 
Clark. We will discuss the progress of NATO's air campaign, which 
continues to grow in intensity and impact. I will speak with the airmen 
who are flying missions over Kosovo and Serbia out of Spangdahlem, 
Germany, and visit our humanitarian relief operations at Ramstein. Our 
men and women in uniform are doing their jobs with uncommon courage and 
skill. They have the support of the American people. They should hear 
unqualified support from their leaders in Washington.
    On Thursday I will meet with Chancellor Schroeder and go to a 
refugee reception center in Ingelheim, Germany. We will hear the stories 
of the people fleeing the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. We will assure 
them of our determination and resolve to see them return with security 
and self-government. That is what our effort in Kosovo is all about.
    We need to remember that there is no middle ground between returning 
these innocent people to their homes and turning away from their faith. 
Whatever can be negotiated, it is not that. They have to be able to go 
home safe and secure. We cannot see what we have seen with our own eyes 
and take refuge in the false comfort of indifference or impatience. We 
have to take a stand. We have done that. We have to see our effort 
through. We will do that.
    I want to thank again all of our Allies for the steadfast support 
that we are jointly giving to our common efforts. We will continue to do 
that until our simple and plain objectives are met.
    Q. Mr. President, what can you negotiate without giving up your core 
demands?
    Q. [Inaudible]--any indication at all from Mr. Chernomyrdin that 
President Milosevic is prepared to move toward NATO's demands at all?

[[Page 802]]

    The President. Well, I don't know what he's prepared to do. I 
appreciate the fact that he let our American soldiers come home. That 
was the right decision. They weren't even involved in the operation.
    It seems to me that if he asked the question, what is best for the 
Serbian people over the long run? What is most likely to preserve the 
territorial integrity of Serbia over the long run? What is most likely 
to give us a result where Serbia can join with its neighbors in a common 
endeavor to promote prosperity and peace and, therefore, the natural 
strengths that Belgrade and Serbia have because of the size of their 
country and the abilities of their people? What is most likely to 
promote that? Then the answer will clearly be: letting the Kosovars come 
home, having an international force to protect them and the Serb 
minority in Kosovo, and then getting on about the business of building a 
better future for all the people of southeastern Europe.
    So, I think if the right questions are asked, then this is not a 
defeat for Serbia we're seeking. What we're seeking is the simple right 
of the Kosovar Albanians to live in peace on their own land, without 
fear of cleansing because of their religious or their ethnic background, 
and a simple statement that in Europe there will be no more ethnic 
cleansing. We will not usher in the 21st century with the worst 
nightmares of the 20th.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 5:09 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Special Envoy and former Prime 
Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin of Russia; Secretary General Javier Solana 
of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; Gen. Wesley K. Clark, USA, 
Supreme Allied Commander Europe; Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of 
Germany; and President Slobodan Milosevic of the Federal Republic of 
Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). The President also referred to the 
Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).