THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release October 6, 2000
PRESS BRIEFING
BY
JAKE SIEWERT
The James S. Brady Briefing Room
11:45 A.M. EDT
Q Jake, does the United States government now recognize
Kostunica as the President of Yugoslavia?
MR. SIEWERT: We have said for some time that he is the
democratically elected leader of Serbia. He is the President, and we
look forward to working with him and his government.
Q What about sanctions, Jake? Are they going to be dropped this
weekend, very soon?
MR. SIEWERT: Once it's clear that Milosevic is gone and that the
democratic transition is complete, we'll move quickly with our European
allies to begin to take the steps that are necessary to remove those
sanctions.
I'll remind you that there are some sanctions that are directed
particularly at Mr. Milosevic and his allies, his cronies. And those
may need to remain in place so that he is not rewarded in some way for
his own misbehavior. But, generally, we'll work with the European
allies, the Secretary of State said this morning, to review the
sanctions that are in place and to take some steps to remove those as
quickly as we can.
Q Does the new government have to do anything to get these
sanctions removed, or just simply come to power? I mean, do they have
to meet any --
MR. SIEWERT: Well, that's what we'll be working with our allies to
review. It's clear that we have -- we've been saying for some time now
that if a democratically elected government assumed power in Serbia,
that we would move quickly to ease sanctions. We'll do that. But we'll
be working with our European allies to review our commitments. And we
expect them to obey the rule of law, to honor the rule of law, and we'll
take those as we come.
Right now our focus in on ensuring that the transition remains
peaceful. So far, the security forces in Serbia have shown a great deal
of restraint. We urge them to continue to do that, and we urge
Milosevic to recognize that the people have spoken and that it's time
for him to give up whatever reins of power he still has and to step
down.
Q Has the United States had any kind of a readout on the Russian
Foreign Minister Ivanov's meeting with Milosevic? What did he tell him?
What did Milosevic say?
MR. SIEWERT: We have not gotten a readout yet. I expect the
Secretary of State will be in touch with her counterpart and get a
fuller briefing from him about that meeting. Obviously, we've seen the
media reports. We're pleased that Russia has acknowledged that
Milosevic was defeated at the polls and that the Serbian people have
elected a new President, that that President is the rightful leader of
Serbia.
Q There's a Reuter's bulletin that just moved that the Russian
Foreign Minister says that Milosevic told him that he plans to continue
a political role through his party in Yugoslavia. Would that be
acceptable to the United States?
MR. SIEWERT: We would not support any continued role for Milosevic
in Yugoslavia.
Q Would it threaten the easing of sanctions?
MR. SIEWERT: That's something we'd have to review. But we would
not support any continued role for Milosevic in Russia.
Q Is it still the U.S. position that it wants to see Milosevic
on trial in the Hague?
MR. SIEWERT: We believe that, obviously, Mr. Milosevic has been
indicted and we believe in the work that the Tribunal is doing there.
Our step right now -- he needs to be held accountable for his crimes.
Our first step right now is to remove him from power.
Q Does that mean the U.S. is ruling out any support for any kind
of asylum deal?
MR. SIEWERT: We are not proposing a deal; we are not encouraging a
deal; and we would not endorse or support any such deal.
Q Jake, has there been any contact with Mr. Kostunica?
MR. SIEWERT: Not that I'm aware of. Obviously, at the appropriate
time and place we may reach out to him. I expect that won't be in the
too distant future, but I don't have anything new for you on that now.
Q And have we been in contact with governments, countries close
to Yugoslavia on, for instance, asking them not to allow Yugoslav planes
to fly over them?
MR. SIEWERT: There has been some contact, but I don't want to
detail that here from the podium. But we can give you an update on
that. I don't have a full accounting of that.
In any case, the President, I should say, has been fully briefed by
his National Security Advisor this morning. I expect that he'll return
some of the calls and reach out to some of his allies in the region
during the day, in Europe, and we'll let you know how those calls go. I
know that he had received a call from the German government. We expect
at some point that he'll return that.
Q Are we likely to see the President today?
MR. SIEWERT: I think it's likely. I would expect that we'll see
him around 2:45 p.m., and we'll let you know about an exact time and
place.
Q Could it be here?
Q On sanctions, do you plan to coordinate the lifting of
sanctions with the Europeans --
MR. SIEWERT: Well, we'll work closely with the Europeans on that.
As I said, we have some sanctions in place that the U.S. imposed
unilaterally. But we'll work closely with the Europeans on the exact
timing and shape of any lifting of sanctions.
Q Jake, what about U.S. contributions to reconstruction aid? In
the past, you guys said not while Milosevic is in power.
MR. SIEWERT: We are ready to provide humanitarian assistance and
to aid the process of economic reform and democratization there. But
it's important now that we move -- we'll be moving quickly to reach out
and engage the government, but we will need to do a little more work to
ensure that Milosevic has relinquished power and that the democratically
elected leader of Serbia has assumed all the reins of the government
there before we begin that.
Q Jake, as part of reaching out to Yugoslavia, will --
Yugoslavia was removed from the IMF and the World Bank after the
dissolution of the country because it refused to pay debts accrued prior
to the breakup of broader Yugoslavia. Will the United States push for
it be reintegrated into those international financial institutions as a
way of bringing it back into the world economy?
MR. SIEWERT: Well, obviously, bringing it into the multilateral
institutions is one of the steps that would be necessary to rejoin it to
the family of nations. And that's something that we would review with
our allies in Europe.
Q Does the United States now know exactly where Milosevic is?
MR. SIEWERT: No. We have no reason to believe that he is --
obviously, he's met with Foreign Minister Ivanov. We have no reason to
believe that he's not where that meeting was held, in Belgrade.
Q How concerned is the U.S. that this is not over and that he
may try to make a last stand, last attempt to reconstitute his power?
MR. SIEWERT: I think it's important that he makes clear -- it's
becoming increasingly clear that the Serbian people in the military and
the security forces and the church, are united against Milosevic. But
there are pockets of resistance, I'm sure, to change in Yugoslavia. And
we're going to continue to urge restraint on behalf of the security
forces there, on behalf of the army. They've shown an admirable
restraint so far, and there has been relatively little bloodshed. And
we think that's important that we continue to do that. And we'll
continue to urge restraint and urge all parties to accept the verdict of
the Serbian people.
Q Can I follow just on that? How concerned is the U.S., though,
that the opposition won't be able to get the majority in Parliament to
present a new government?
MR. SIEWERT: That's something we'll keep on top of and monitor.
Q Jake, other than the restraint that the military and the
security forces have shown, does the United States have any explicit
acknowledgement from those forces that they do, indeed, now have
allegiance to Kostunica?
MR. SIEWERT: I don't believe we've been in touch with the
Yugoslavian army.
Q Jake, is it too early to ask whether the Middle East process
is dead, or do you still want to stay with Yugoslavia?
MR. SIEWERT: Well, I thought that was up to you. (Laughter.)
Q Actually, I have a Yugoslavia question. Does the Clinton
administration take credit for what happened in Serbia yesterday, or is
this purely a Serbian effort?
MR. SIEWERT: Well, I think it's important to recognize that we're
in the midst of an historical transition in the Balkans, and that the
President has been involved since he took office in trying to devise and
develop a strategy to bring a united, peaceful and democratic Europe
together.
What's happening in the streets in Belgrade and around Serbia is a
victory for the Serbian people, but it's certainly a victory for the
international community, as well, and a policy that stood firmly against
Milosevic. Frankly, our abilities to bring stability and peace to the
Balkans over the last decade have been stymied in some sense by
Milosevic's intransigence, his violence, his war against his own people.
And removing him from power will pave the way for a more integrated,
peaceful and united Europe. And in that sense, that's a victory, clear
victory, for a policy that the President put in place to bring stability
there.
Q But, Jake, does the President feel that Milosevic, having lost
the war in Kosovo, largely due to American actions along with NATO, and
with the sanctions which were pushed by the United States in concert
with the allies, these tipped over the balance of the scales against
Milosevic, convincing the Serbian people to rise up against him?
MR. SIEWERT: Well, the Serbian people have taken action, and
they're clearly fed up with his leadership, of a decade of despotic
rule. On the other hand, the United States has been at the forefront of
international efforts to remove Milosevic from power, to stop his
aggression against his neighbors, to stop his aggression against his own
people. In that sense, the United States, the President has won a
victory here. The President been forceful from the very beginning in
standing up to Milosevic's efforts to destabilize the Balkans, and if we
can remove him from power and stop the aggression and bring stability,
reduce tensions in that area, that's a clear victory for the Serbian
people, but also for the international community.
Q Were they motivated at least in part to go to the streets
because of American actions including sanctions?
MR. SIEWERT: I don't know. You'd have to ask them. But like any
historical transition, there are a number of forces at play, but I think
the President has clearly played a role in standing up to Milosevic and
encouraging people to stand up to his aggression, his despotism.
Q But it looks now as though the United States government is
wary of embracing Kostunica too warmly, possibly for his own sake. Is
that right?
MR. SIEWERT: Boy. (Laughter.) Kostunica has pledged to reduce
tensions in the Balkans. He's pledged to restore some stability and
peace in the Balkans, and he's promised to create a democratic Serbia.
Those are all goals that we support, and we support him wholeheartedly
in those efforts.
Q Are we done with the Middle East now? Can we go to --
MR. SIEWERT: I don't know. It's really up to you. I don't ask
the questions.
Q What kind of contact did the U.S. have with the Russians
before today's meeting? Did the President -- we know he talked to
President Putin. Did he also send a letter to the Russian President?
And how much did these contacts did the Vice President know before his
debate Tuesday night?
MR. SIEWERT: Well, actually, I think there's been some very -- the
President has been engaged in talking, obviously, to President Putin
over the weekend. There may have been some correspondence, I can check
on that. And Secretary Albright, obviously, and Sandy Berger have been
in touch with their counterparts as well throughout this process.
What the Vice President said is something the President fully
agrees with, which is that the United States did not support any role in
which Russia would mediate between Milosevic and Kostunica. The
election results were clear. And what we have said all along in our
communications with the Russian government is that it is important that
we recognize that the Serbian people spoke and that it's time for
Milosevic to step down. That is clearly what the Vice President said
the other night, which is that he didn't see any role to mediate in this
dispute for Russia, and that's absolutely clear.
At the same time, we've always said that Russia can play an
important role in speaking to the Serbian people and helping the
government of Serbia, and Milosevic himself, recognize that it's time to
step down and the Serbian people have spoken. But there was no need to
mediate the results of this election; Kostunica won it fair and square.
END 12:10 P.M. EDT
#2-10/06
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
