Cohen Press Conference with Defense Ministers in Greece
U.S. Department of Defense
DoD News Briefing
(Thessaloniki, Greece)
October 9, 2000
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE WILLIAM S. COHEN JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE WITH
DEFENSE MINISTERS ATTENDING THE SOUTHEASTERN EUROPEAN DEFENSE
MINISTERIAL [SEDM]
...And the third point I want to make is that this meeting is important
because it comes within days of the triumph of the democratic forces
in Yugoslavia, and the departure from power of Mr. Milosevic. All of
the members here have indicated that we want to work as actively as we
can to help rebuild that country which has been put through so much
torment and turmoil and damage by Mr. Milosevic during the past
decade, and that we are looking for ways in which we can cooperate and
to help the people rebuild their lives and become fully integrated
into the international community.
So, for the first time in five years, we see the prospect of the
entire region being now known for its peace and stability and
prosperity, and not for its problems. And I want to take this occasion
to congratulate and thank again our hosts, but all of the members of
the SEDM for their enormous contribution and willingness to make the
kind of dedicated sacrifice to not only creating this institution, but
making it as successful as it's been.
....
Q: Can Yugoslavia become a member of a body such as this when there
are indicted war criminals running around Serbia? And it's not just
Slobodan Milosevic...
Cohen: I think it's clear that the first order of business for
President Kostunica is to establish order, stability, to solidify the
democratic reforms that need to take place, and he has been given that
opportunity. We think that he must move quickly to seize that
opportunity. Secondarily, he will then have to focus then on the war
crimes issue because this is something that will not fade away with
time. Part of being a democracy and promoting democratic ideals, is to
hold people accountable. The international community has indicated
quite strongly that those accused of war crimes must be held
accountable. We expect that that would take place in the future, but
as we have seen with what has happened with Croatia things can change
quite rapidly in today's world and that anything is possible if the
correct steps are taken in the future.
Q: This question is about KFOR. Following recent developments in
Belgrade, are you thinking of immediately reducing its force?
Cohen: NATO has been responsible in working with its partners to
maintain stability in Kosovo. While we are encouraged by what has
taken place in Yugoslavia, we feel that it is prudent to maintain the
current level of force, as we do in Bosnia. We review it periodically,
depending on the nature of the security environment, but we foresee
maintaining the KFOR force as it is for the foreseeable future and do
not anticipate any significant changes until such time as NATO is
satisfied, acting collectively, that the security environment would
warrant any changes.
Q: In his last statements, Mr. Kostunica said that regarding Kosovo,
Yugoslavia should be prevailing and its presence should be
strengthened. What is your opinion?
Cohen: Well, our position is that Kosovo should take advantage and
resume the type of autonomy that it had prior to Milosevic changing
that autonomous relationship it had back in the early 90s. We support
greater autonomy for Kosovo, we do not support independence for
Kosovo, but we believe that the Kosovars have an opportunity to gain
much greater control over their lives. We believe they should pursue
not independence, but autonomy.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
