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                            THE WHITE HOUSE
                     Office of the Press Secretary
                         (Chappaqua, New York)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                   October 12, 2000
                       STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
     Today I have directed the Department of the Treasury and the 
Department of State to take immediate steps to begin lifting the trade 
and financial sanctions imposed against Serbia in 1998, except those 
targeted against members of the former regime.  This includes lifting 
the oil embargo and flight ban, which will be effective immediately.
     The victory of freedom in Serbia is one of the most hopeful 
developments in Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall.  It ended a 
dictatorship and it can liberate an entire region from the nagging fear 
that ethnic differences will again be exploited to start wars and shift 
borders.  Therefore, we have a strong interest in supporting 
Yugoslavia's newly-elected leaders as they work to build a truly 
democratic society.  Our disagreement was with the Milosevic regime, 
not the people of Serbia, who have suffered under the regime's brutal 
policies.
     The removal of these sanctions is a first step to ending Serbia's
isolation.  It is within the scope of the sanctions-lifting measure 
announced Monday by the European Union (EU) ministers in Luxembourg, 
and we will move forward in coordination with the EU.  We will also 
ensure that such measures do not allow those supporters of Milosevic to 
continue the systematic theft of resources that have marked the last 
thirteen years.  In that vein, we will continue to enforce a ban on 
travel to the United States by top members of the Milosevic regime and 
keep in place measures that help the new government deter a looting of 
the national patrimony during the current period of transition in
Yugoslavia.  We will also review our restrictions on Serbia's 
participation in international financial institutions as Serbia makes 
its democratic transition and meets its international obligations.
     There is still much work ahead for the Yugoslav people and their 
new government:  restoring confidence in the rule of law, rebuilding an 
honest economy, accounting for the past while building a better future. 
Thankfully, that work can now begin -- without the burden of isolation 
-- and with the friendship of the American people.
                                30-30-30