State Department Noon Briefing, October 26
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
BRIEFER: PHILIP T. REEKER, DEPUTY SPOKESMAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2000 1:30 P.M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
Q: We haven't heard very much about Mr. Kostunica and how he is doing
at establishing his government. Is there any problem with Milosevic
and his people getting --wanting to share power or getting in the way
of the new government? What has been going on?
MR. REEKER: Okay, why don't we just run through what I've got. I don't
really want to try to stand here and recite all of the voluminous
press reporting that there has been on developments in Yugoslavia.
As you may have seen, and the President released a statement yesterday
welcoming Yugoslavia's admittance to the Stability Pact. As I said,
the White House released a statement on that last night. We would be
happy to get you copies of that, if you'd like. But the President
applauded the decision by members of the Stability Pact to welcome the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as a new member, noting that last month
the people of Yugoslavia had spoken clearly in support of democratic
change and that this response from the international community is just
as clear.
I think President Kostunica has been, as you have seen, no doubt, from
press reports, and we discussed it a bit yesterday, he has been in
Skopje, Macedonia, where he met with regional leaders. I think that is
going to be very important for consolidating the democracy in Serbia
-- working with his neighbors. We very much hope that he will be able
to establish cordial and cooperative relations with all his neighbors
and cooperate with international legal norms. His presence and his
statements in Skopje, I think, show that he is on that path.
Let me mention just a little about - since we did talk about the aid
package in terms of assistance that was approved in the Foreign
Operations Bill by Congress yesterday. I did look into the part on
Serbia on some of our support for that region, which demonstrates
strong US support for the continuing stability and development in
Southeast Europe, and consolidating the process that all the countries
in that region have made in recent years.
This of course complements substantial aid - in fact, the lion's
share of assistance from the European Union and other donors. They
have really provided the bulk of assistance to the region, and we
expect that to continue. This package - our assistance package
includes substantial programs for regional development and for
supporting the Stability Pact. We certainly especially welcome
congressional approval of funds for Serbia, which we believe will
significantly contribute to the ongoing development of democracy there
and support the consolidation of the democratic gains there.
There are some conditions that Congress has attached to the aid
package. They have provided a five-month waiting period before those
conditions take effect, and that will allow for the continuing
consolidation of the new democratic government under President
Kostunica in Belgrade, and will allow us, as I said, to support the
changes that are taking place there. So we are going to continue to
work very closely with Congress on this. Obviously the Stability Pact
and the neighboring countries play a big role, as well as our European
allies, who are also supporting this in terms of keeping the positive
changes going in Belgrade.
Q: Any word specifically about the disposition of Milosevic, and has
he moved out and said, you know, let's implement the election? Or is
he still even in Serbia?
MR. REEKER: Bill, I think we've got to get you some of the transcripts
of discussions we have had in the past couple of weeks. I think
Milosevic acknowledged that President Kostunica is in fact the
president of Yugoslavia quite a while ago. I am not aware of his
specific whereabouts, but my understanding is that he is still in
Belgrade.
Q: Thank you.
(The briefing was concluded at 2:10 P.M.)
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