III

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. RES. 272

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States should remain

actively engaged in southeastern Europe to promote long-term peace,

stability, and prosperity; continue to vigorously oppose the brutal regime

of Slobodan Milosevic while supporting the efforts of the democratic

opposition; and fully implement the Stability Pact.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 9, 2000

Mr. VOINOVICH (for himself, Mr. LUGAR, and Mr. DEWINE) submitted the

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

APRIL 26, 2000

Reported by Mr. HELMS, with an amendment

[Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert the part printed in italic]

MAY 2, 2000

Considered, amended, and agreed to

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States

should remain actively engaged in southeastern Europe

to promote long-term peace, stability, and prosperity;

continue to vigorously oppose the brutal regime of

Slobodan Milosevic while supporting the efforts of the

democratic opposition; and fully implement the Stability

Pact.
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SRES 272 ATS

Whereas the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO’s)

March 24, 1999 through June 10, 1999 bombing of the

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia focused the attention of

the international community on southeastern Europe;

Whereas the international community, in particular the

United States and the European Union, made a commitment at the conclusion of the bombing campaign to integrate southeastern Europe into the broader European

community;

Whereas there is an historic opportunity for the international

community to help the people of southeastern Europe

break the cycle of violence, retribution, and revenge and

move towards respect for minority rights, establishment

of the rule of law, and the further development of democratic governments;

Whereas the Stability Pact was established in July 1999 with

the goal of promoting cooperation among the countries of

southeastern Europe, with a focus on long-term political

stability and peace, security, democratization, and economic reconstruction and development;

Whereas the effective implementation of the Stability Pact is

important to the long-term peace and stability in the region;

Whereas the people and Government of the Former Yugoslav

Republic of Macedonia have a positive record of respect

for minority rights, the rule of law, and democratic traditions since independence;

Whereas the people of Croatia have recently elected leaders

that respect minority rights, the rule of law, and democratic traditions;
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SRES 272 ATS

Whereas positive developments in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Croatia will

clearly indicate to the people of Serbia that economic

progress and integration into the international community is only possible if Milosevic is removed from power;

and

Whereas the Republic of Slovenia continues to serve as a

model for the region as it moves closer to European

Union and NATO membership: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That the Senate—

2 (1) welcomes the tide of democratic change in

3 southeastern Europe, particularly the free and fair

4 elections in Croatia, and the regional cooperation

5 taking place under the umbrella of the Stability

6 Pact;

7 (2) recognizes that in this trend, the regime of

8 Slobodan Milosevic is ever more an anomaly, the

9 only government in the region not democratically

10 elected, and an obstacle to peace and neighborly re11 lations in the region;

12 (3) expresses its sense that the United States

13 cannot have normal relations with Belgrade as long

14 as the Milosevic regime is in power;

15 (4) views Slobodan Milosevic as a brutal in16 dicted war criminal, responsible for immeasurable

17 bloodshed, ethnic hatred, and human rights abuses

18 in southeastern Europe in recent years;
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SRES 272 ATS

1 (5) considers international sanctions an essen2 tial tool to isolate the Milosevic regime and promote

3 democracy, and urges the Administration to inten4 sify, focus, and expand those sanctions that most ef5 fectively target the regime and its key supporters;

6 (6) supports strongly the efforts of the Serbian

7 people to establish a democratic government and en8 dorses their call for early, free, and fair elections;

9 (7) looks forward to establishing a normal rela10 tionship with a new democratic government in Ser11 bia, which will permit an end to Belgrade’s isolation

12 and the opportunity to restore the historically

13 friendly relations between the Serbian and American

14 people;

15 (8) expresses the readiness of the Senate, once

16 there is a democratic government in Serbia, to re17 view conditions for Serbia’s full reintegration into

18 the international community;

19 (9) expresses its readiness to assist a future

20 democratic government in Serbia to build a demo21 cratic, peaceful, and prosperous society, based on the

22 same principle of respect for international obliga23 tions, as set out by the Organization for Security

24 and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the United
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SRES 272 ATS

1 Nations, which guide the relations of the United

2 States with other countries in southeastern Europe;

3 (10) calls upon the United States and other

4 Western democracies to publicly announce and dem5 onstrate to the Serbian people the magnitude of as6 sistance they could expect after democratization; and

7 (11) recognizes the progress in democratic and

8 market reform made by Montenegro, which can

9 serve as a model for Serbia, and urges a peaceful

10 resolution of political differences over the abrogation

11 of Montenegro’s rights under the federal constitu12 tion.

13 That the Senate—

14 (1) welcomes the tide of democratic change in

15 southeastern Europe, particularly the free and fair

16 elections in Croatia, and the regional cooperation tak17 ing place under the umbrella of the Stability Pact;

18 (2) recognizes that in this trend, the regime of

19 Slobodan Milosevic is ever more an anomaly, the only

20 government in the region not democratically elected,

21 and an obstacle to peace and neighborly relations in

22 the region;

23 (3) expresses its sense that the United States

24 cannot have normal relations with Belgrade as long

25 as the Milosevic regime is in power;
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SRES 272 ATS

1 (4) views Slobodan Milosevic as a brutal in2 dicted war criminal, responsible for immeasurable

3 bloodshed, ethnic hatred, and human rights abuses in

4 southeastern Europe in recent years;

5 (5) considers international sanctions an essential

6 tool to isolate the Milosevic regime and promote de7 mocracy, and urges the Administration to intensify,

8 focus, and expand those sanctions that most effectively

9 target the regime and its key supporters;

10 (6) supports strongly the efforts of the Serbian

11 people to establish a democratic government and en12 dorses their call for early, free, and fair elections;

13 (7) looks forward to establishing a normal rela14 tionship with a new democratic government in Ser15 bia, which will permit an end to Belgrade’s isolation

16 and the opportunity to restore the historically friend17 ly relations between the Serbian and American peo18 ple;

19 (8) expresses the readiness of the Senate, once

20 there is a democratic government in Serbia, to review

21 conditions for Serbia’s full reintegration into the

22 international community;

23 (9) expresses its readiness to assist a future

24 democratic government in Serbia to build a demo25 cratic, peaceful, and prosperous society, based on the
7

SRES 272 ATS

1 same principle of respect for international obliga2 tions, as set out by the Organization for Security and

3 Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Na4 tions, which guide the relations of the United States

5 with other countries in southeastern Europe;

6 (10) calls upon the United States and other

7 Western democracies to publicly announce and dem8 onstrate to the Serbian people the magnitude of as9 sistance they could expect after democratization;

10 (11) recognizes the importance of opposition

11 mayors in Serbia, and encourages the efforts of the

12 Administration to include such mayors in the hu13 manitarian and democratization efforts of the United

14 States in Serbia; and

15 (12) recognizes the progress in democratic and

16 market reform made by Montenegro, which can serve

17 as a model for Serbia, and urges a peaceful resolution

18 of political differences over the abrogation of

19 Montenegro’s rights under the federal constitution.

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