U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
95/05/30 Press Conference following NAC Ministerial
Office of the Spokesman
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
(Noordwijk, The Netherlands)
__________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release May 30, 1995
PRESS CONFERENCE
WITH
SECRETARY OF STATE WARREN CHRISTOPHER
FOLLOWING THE NAC MINISTERIAL
Hotel Boulevard
Noordwijk, The Netherlands
May 30, 1995
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Good evening. With your permission I'll stand
rather than sit.
In January of 1994, President Clinton set forth a comprehensive strategy
for building an integrated and secure Europe. At today's North Atlantic
Council meeting we took important steps to put in place the key elements
of that strategy.
First, we agreed on strengthening the Partnership for Peace. In just
over a year, the Partnership for Peace has become a very important
security instrument for NATO and, indeed, for the entire world. In my
intervention, I laid out an action plan which we believe will make the
Partnership for Peace an even more effective and efficient instrument,
and we hope that it will be acted on in the very near future.
Second, at today's meeting, we reviewed the ongoing work on the study
concerning NATO enlargement. We affirmed that we are on a steady and
deliberate course, one we set last December. We'll complete the study
sometime in the late summer and present it to the interested Partners in
time so the results of those first set of meetings can be held at our
meeting of the NAC ministers in December.
Tomorrow I'll be meeting with the foreign ministers from the Central
European countries, who will be attending the NACC meeting, to review
the state of our deliberations on enlargement. This is a meeting which
I have held before with the same group of ministers and I look forward
to doing so again.
Third, today we continued our efforts to adapt NATO's military
structures to the newest security challenges here in Europe. We aim to
aid in helping to build a strong and effective European Security and
Defense Identity, one that will effectively complement NATO.
Finally, as a result of the agreement reached last March between
Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin--I'm sorry, it was only a few weeks ago--
Russia is now proceeding with the implementation of its Partnership for
Peace individual program as well as the agreement on the NATO-Russia
relationship outside of the Partnership.
When Foreign Minister Kozyrev meets tomorrow with the other NATO
ministers in the 16-plus-1 meeting, Russia will be crossing a new
threshold in its relationship with NATO. By moving forward on these two
documents, Russia will be moving toward integration with Europe and away
from isolation. That's a choice that I feel sure will greatly benefit
Russia and Europe and the world as a whole.
The dialogue that we'll inaugurate tomorrow with Russia is only the
beginning of a long process. We know that there are areas where NATO
and Russia will lack at least immediate convergence. Nevertheless, we
feel that by dealing with these areas with patience and practicality,
we'll have important dividends from the engagement that we have with
Russia and they have with NATO.
I believe that the work that we have accomplished here today in
implementing President Clinton's strategy for European integration will
make a contribution to efforts to prevent further conflicts of the
tragic kind now raging in Bosnia. We discussed that, of course, today.
Our NATO allies expressed strong support for the understandings that we
reached last night in the Contact Group and joined in the deep
condemnation of the actions of the Bosnian Serbs.
Finally, to conclude, on the diplomatic front, I can announce that
Ambassador Frasure of the United States will be traveling to Belgrade
tomorrow for further negotiations with President Milosevic, negotiations
in which we hope to persuade him to recognize Bosnia-Herzegovina and to
take further action to strengthen the border monitoring between Serbia
and Bosnia. At the same time in those meetings Ambassador Frasure has
emphasized to me that he will be making it crystal clear to Milosevic
our deep concern over the recent events in Bosnia, particularly the
taking and detaining of UN troops.
Thank you very much. Nick?
MR. BURNS: Ladies and Gentlemen, the Secretary has time to take only a
few questions. Please keep them brief.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, on that very thing--the Bosnian mission of Mr.
Frasure, officials have said he's got about 85 percent of the deal done.
How tough is that 15 percent? Can you give Milosevic the prospect of a
lifting of the sanctions at the end of some suspension period? Or this
something you demand of him before you make that promise?
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Barry, in my experience the last 15 percent is
always the hardest, so Ambassador Frasure has got his work cut out for
him. There are some difficult issues remaining on the table. We'll be
talking about, at least initially, no more than a suspension of the
sanctions. But looking down the road at the time, hopefully, when there
is a full engagement by the Bosnian Serbs in the peace process, we hope
that Milosevic can accomplish this. If that happens, then there could
be a lifting of the sanctions. But that's a ways down the road. Of
course, that's the hoped-for result of these negotiations. What we want
to do here is to divide Milosevic from Karadzic. We want to further
isolate Karadzic. We think it can work--it perhaps will occur to him
that it might be a rather lonely world out there, if all of the other
countries of the former Yugoslavia are now in support of the
negotiations for a peace plan and Karadzic is in isolation. At least
that is an aspect of leverage that we hope to exploit in the
conversation between Ambassador Frasure and President Milosevic, which
will reconvene, as I say, starting tomorrow or the next day.
MR. BURNS: (inaudible)
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, could you be more specific about the
consequences the Bosnian Serbs face if the U.N. hostages are not
returned?
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: I don't think it's helpful at all to speculate
in this situation about consequences. We've made known to the
leadership of the Bosnian Serbs that we hold them responsible for the
welfare and well being of those who have been taken and detained by the
Bosnian Serbs. It's a barbaric act. It's uncivilized. It really is
not part of any reasonable struggle that might be going on there. And I
think that's a point we'll keep making over and over again. But with
now over 300 hostages being taken, it really is not useful, I think, to
speculate on kinds of tactics or the kinds of actions that might be
taken with respect to them.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, my name is (inaudible) in Amsterdam. I would
like to ask you the question whether you consider some realpolitik--
whether you like it or not, or if you don't like the enlargement of
NATO. Now you can build a whole legal structure--diplomatic legal
structure--to--how do you call it--diminish the pain, or to make it more
attractive, or whatever. They don't like it. At the same time, Russia,
in my opinion, more than any one of the Western--any one of the NATO
partners, is mental in solving this crisis in Belgrade. Whether we like
it or not, it seems to be the case. Now, is it then good realpolitik to
at the same time, at the same meeting, stress the point that no droit de
regard, yes we will prolong with our enlargement since the four Visegrad
countries would like it so much? Is this sound policy?
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Yes, I think we have a sound policy. We have a
comprehensive strategy. We have a strategy which, beginning tomorrow,
will involve a serious discussion--serious negotiations--between Russia
and NATO to build a special relationship there, which recognizes
Russia's size and importance. I hope that Russia will be effective and
useful in freeing the hostages. Their principal leverage, as they will
tell you, is with Milosevic and there is some question as to the degree
of Milosevic's leverage. But we solicit the help of Russia. But I do
not think it's in any respect dependent upon the steady, deliberate path
that NATO has toward enlargement. There's nothing new about that path.
It's one we've been steadily on for some time, and it's one, as the
Secretary General said so firmly, we will remain on. But that's not in
any way hostile to Russia. And we hope that by building in a very
deliberate way this negotiation between Russia and NATO, we will be able
to work out a relationship for the future that brings them into Europe,
that integrates them fully with Europe. And, as I said in my statement,
I think they have crossed an important threshold by lodging these two
documents with NATO and proceeding with these discussions that begin
tomorrow, which will result in the--bringing closer to NATO the Russian
government in a way that can be very conducive to harmonious
relationships between both of them.
MR. BURNS: Last question, please.
QUESTION: Yes, Mr. Secretary, could you give us an idea of what sort of
discussions went on within the NAC today concerning military action or
regrouping in Bosnia, particularly with an emphasis on any U.S. military
role?
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: That subject was not extensively discussed in
NATO today, although it was alluded to. It was quite extensively
discussed last night in the Contact Group. And one thing that I will
say and will emphasize is, that the United States will be ready to
assist with equipment and with air lift if requested by our NATO allies
in connection with a redeployment that might have two purposes, really.
First, a redeployment that would make the United Nations forces less
vulnerable; and second, a strengthening of the United Nations forces
through giving them additional equipment. These will be decisions,
basically, for the United Nations and the troop contributing countries.
But the United States stands ready to assist, as I say, with equipment
and air lift if that turns out to be useful for our partners. And there
was some discussion of that in the meeting last night. But those
decisions remain to be taken. But if you look at last night's
communique, you will see that the Contact Group members, which includes
some of the most important troop contributing nations and those with
numerically the largest number there, have in mind some very significant
things to consider by way of improving the capacity of UNPROFOR to
protect themselves, and also to implement the humanitarian purposes,
which is their underlying purpose.
Thank you very much.
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