III 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 31 

Expressing support for democratic forces in Serbia and encouraging the 

people of Serbia to remain committed to a democratic path. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 17, 2007 

Mr. VOINOVICH (for himself, Mr. LUGAR, Mr. HAGEL, and Mr. LIEBERMAN) 

submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for democratic forces in Serbia and encouraging the people of Serbia to remain committed to 

a democratic path. 

Whereas, in September 2000, the people of Serbia fought for 

democracy by going to the streets to hold protests and 

rallies until President Slobodan Milosevic was removed 

from power and the Government of Serbia was handed 

over to democratic forces; 

Whereas, in the following years, the democratic leadership of 

Serbia worked to establish a democratic society, functional rule of law, a free market economy, and respect for 

human and minority rights; 

Whereas the President of Serbia, Boris Tadic, has expressed 

publicly his commitment to the principles of democracy 

and the dream of leading Serbia forward on this path; 


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•SRES 31 ATS 

Whereas Serbia is a member of several international organizations and has voiced its desire to become a member of 

the European Union (EU); 

Whereas Serbia has enacted several military and defense reforms to strengthen ties to its Western allies and the 

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Alliance; 

Whereas, on September 7, 2006, Serbia signed a Status of 

Forces Agreement with the United States Government to 

facilitate Serbia’s participation in joint military exercises 

and training; 

Whereas, on September 8, 2006, President Tadic commemorated the beginning of Serbia’s participation in the National Guard State Partnership Program with the Ohio 

National Guard; 

Whereas, on December 14, 2006, Serbia was granted accession to the NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) program, 

along with its neighbors, Bosnia and Herzegovina and 

Montenegro, initiating formal cooperation between NATO 

and Serbia; 

Whereas Serbia has transferred 36 individuals indicted for 

war crimes to the International Criminal Tribunal for the 

former Yugoslavia (ICTY), including Milosevic and some 

of his top officials, and provided thousands of documents 

to the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICTY; 

Whereas Serbia has taken some additional steps, under the 

supervision of the ICTY and the international community, to enact judicial reforms and establish special courts 

to try individuals indicted for war crimes in Kosovo, Bosnia, and Croatia; 

Whereas Serbia has failed to arrest war criminal Ratko 

Mladic for the horrific crimes he committed at Srebrenica 


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in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which prevented Serbia’s earlier participation in the PfP program and its progression 

in EU accession talks; 

Whereas, on January 21, 2007, Serbia will hold democratic 

parliamentary elections to determine Serbia’s future leadership at this critical juncture in Serbia’s history; 

Whereas Albanian parties in southern Serbia will participate 

in the parliamentary elections for the first time in over 

15 years; and 

Whereas a strong, stable, and democratic Serbia is critical to 

the future of the region: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (1) the United States should be committed to a 

3 strong relationship with a democratic Serbia as Ser4 bia moves toward its goals of membership in the Eu5 ropean Union (EU) and cooperation with the North 

6 Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO); 

7 (2) the inclusion of Serbia in the NATO Part8 nership for Peace Program was a critical step in 

9 bringing Serbia closer to the Euro-Atlantic Alliance; 

10 (3) Serbia will now have the opportunity to 

11 enact defense reforms and apply for a Membership 

12 Action Plan for NATO; 

13 (4) Serbia should continue its progress on re14 form, including defense and judiciary reforms and 

15 reforms in the area of human and minority rights; 


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1 (5) Serbia should move quickly to fulfill its obli2 gations to the International Criminal Tribunal for 

3 the former Yugoslavia, including by immediately ar4 resting Ratko Mladic and transferring him to the 

5 Hague because this step is essential for Serbia to be 

6 admitted into the EU and NATO; 

7 (6) as Serbia continues to work toward integra8 tion in Euro-Atlantic institutions, the United States 

9 should continue and increase its defense and security 

10 cooperation with the Government of Serbia, includ11 ing through education, training, and technical co12 operation, to assist Serbia in the reform process and 

13 in fulfilling the requirements for membership in 

14 NATO; and 

15 (7) the United States should remain a friend to 

16 the people of Serbia as they continue on the path of 

17 democracy. 

Æ 


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