III

Calendar No. 593

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 251

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 16, 2000

Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

JUNE 12, 2000

Reported by Mr. HELMS, with an amendment and an amendment to the

preamble

[Omit the part struck through, strike out all after the resolving clause, and insert the part

printed in italic]

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Commending the Republic of Croatia for the conduct of

its parliamentary and presidential elections.

Whereas the fourth Croatian parliamentary elections, held on

January 3, 2000, marked Croatia’s progress toward

meeting its commitments as a participating state of the

Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe

(OSCE) and as a member of the Council of Europe;

Whereas Croatia’s third presidential elections were conducted

smoothly and professionally and concluded on February

7, 2000, with the landslide election of Stipe Mesic as the

new President of the Republic of Croatia;
2

•HCON 251 RS

Whereas the free and fair elections in Croatia, and the following peaceful and orderly transfer of power from the

old government to the new, is an example of democracy

to the people of other nations in the region and a major

contribution to the democratic development of southeastern Europe; and

Whereas the people of Croatia have made clear that they

want Croatia to take its rightful place in the family of

European democracies and to develop a closer and more

constructive relationship with the Euro-Atlantic community of democratic nations: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that—

3 (1) the people of the Republic of Croatia are to

4 be congratulated on the successful elections and the

5 outgoing Government of Croatia is to be commended

6 for the democratic standards with which it managed

7 the elections;

8 (2) the United States should support the efforts

9 of the new Government of Croatia to increase its

10 work on refugee return, privatization reform, media

11 reform, and further cooperation with the Inter12 national Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia

13 (ICTY) to set an example to other countries in the

14 region;

15 (3) the Congress strongly supports Croatia’s

16 commitment to western democratic standards and
3

•HCON 251 RS

1 will give its full support to the new Government of

2 Croatia to fully implement democratic reforms; and

3 (4) the United States continues to promote

4 Croatian-American economic, political, and military

5 relations and recognizes Croatia as a loyal partner

6 in south central Europe.

7 (5) taking into consideration Croatia’s contribu8 tions as a committed partner in the region, the Con9 gress recommends establishing strategic partnership

10 with the Republic of Croatia and supports its mem11 bership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s

12 Partnership for Peace program and its accession

13 into the World Trade Organization.

14 That it is the sense of Congress that—

15 (1) the people of the Republic of Croatia are to

16 be congratulated on the successful elections and the

17 outgoing Government of Croatia is to be commended

18 for the democratic standards with which it managed

19 the elections;

20 (2) the United States should support the efforts

21 of the new Government of Croatia to increase its work

22 on refugee return, privatization reform, media reform,

23 and further cooperation with the International Crimi24 nal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to set an

25 example to other countries in the region;
4

•HCON 251 RS

1 (3) Congress strongly supports Croatia’s commit2 ment to western democratic standards and will give

3 its full support to the new Government of Croatia to

4 fully implement democratic reforms; and

5 (4) the United States continues to promote Cro6 atian-American economic, political, and military re7 lations and recognizes Croatia as a loyal partner in

8 south central Europe.

Calendar No. 593

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 251

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Commending the Republic of Croatia for the conduct of its parliamentary and presidential elections.

JUNE 12, 2000

Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the

preamble