    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 21 (Monday, May 28, 2001)]
    [Pages 802-804]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Message to the Congress on Continuation of the National Emergency With
    Respect to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro),
    the Bosnian Serbs, and Kosovo

    May 24, 2001

    To the Congress of the United States:

        Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)),
    provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless,
    prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the President
    publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a notice
    stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the
    anniversary date. I have sent the enclosed notice to the Federal
    Register for publication, stating that the national emergencies declared
    with respect to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and
    Montenegro) (the ``FRY

    [[Page 803]]

    (S&M)'') in 1992 and with respect to Kosovo in 1998, are to continue
    beyond May 30, 2001, and June 9, 2001, respectively. The most recent
    notice continuing these emergencies was published in the Federal
    Register on May 26, 2000.
        With respect to the 1992 national emergency, on December 27, 1995,
    President Clinton issued Presidential Determination 96-7, directing the
    Secretary of the Treasury, inter alia, to suspend the application of
    sanctions imposed on the FRY (S&M) and to continue to block property
    previously blocked until provision is made to address claims or
    encumbrances, including the claims of the other successor states of the
    former Yugoslavia. This sanctions relief, in conformity with United
    Nations Security Council Resolution 1022 of November 22, 1995
    (hereinafter the ``Resolution''), was an essential factor motivating
    Serbia and Montenegro's acceptance of the General Framework Agreement
    for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina initialed in Dayton on November 21,
    1995, and signed in Paris on December 14, 1995 (hereinafter the ``Peace
    Agreement'').
        Sanctions against both the FRY (S&M) and the Bosnian Serbs were
    subsequently terminated by United Nations Security Council Resolution
    1074 of October 1, 1996. This termination, however, did not end the
    requirement of the Resolution that those blocked funds and assets that
    are subject to claims and encumbrances remain blocked, until unblocked
    in accordance with applicable law.
        Until the status of all remaining blocked property is resolved, the
    Peace Agreement implemented, and the terms of the Resolution met, this
    situation continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the
    national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. For
    these reasons, I have determined that the 1992 emergency, and the
    measures adopted pursuant thereto, must continue beyond May 30, 2001.
        With respect to the 1998 national emergency regarding Kosovo, on
    January 17, 2001, President Clinton issued Executive Order 13192 in view
    of the peaceful democratic transition begun in the FRY (S&M); the
    continuing need to promote full implementation of United Nations
    Security Council Resolution 827 of May 25, 1993, and subsequent
    resolutions calling for all states to cooperate fully with the
    International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY); the
    illegitimate control over FRY (S&M) political institutions and economic
    resources or enterprises exercised by former President Slobodan
    Milosevic, his close associates and other persons, and those
    individuals' capacity to repress democracy or perpetrate or promote
    further human rights abuses; and the continuing threat to regional
    stability and implementation of the Peace Agreement. The order lifts and
    modifies, with respect to future transactions, most of the economic
    sanctions imposed against the FRY (S&M) in 1998 and 1999 with regard to
    the situation in Kosovo. At the same time, the order imposes
    restrictions on transactions with certain persons described in section
    1(a) of the order, namely Slobodan Milosevic, his close associates and
    supporters and persons under open indictment for war crimes by ICTY. The
    order also provides for the continued blocking of property or interests
    in property blocked prior to the order's effective date due to the need
    to address claims or encumbrances involving such property.
        Because the crisis with respect to the situation in Kosovo and with
    respect to Slobodan Milosevic, his close associates and supporters and
    persons under open indictment for war crimes by ICTY has not been
    resolved, and because the status of all previously blocked property has
    yet to be resolved, this situation continues to pose an unusual and
    extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the
    United States. For these reasons, I have determined that the emergency
    declared with respect to Kosovo, and the measures adopted pursuant
    thereto, must continue beyond June 9, 2001.
                                                    George W. Bush
     The White House,
     May 24, 2001.

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