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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 submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the

Committee on Foreign Relations

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.

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 commit-
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ment 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;

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
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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;

19 (5) considers international sanctions an essen20 tial tool to isolate the Milosevic regime and promote

21 democracy, and urges the Administration to inten22 sify, focus, and expand those sanctions that most ef23 fectively target the regime and its key supporters;
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1 (6) supports strongly the efforts of the Serbian

2 people to establish a democratic government and en3 dorses their call for early, free, and fair elections;

4 (7) looks forward to establishing a normal rela5 tionship with a new democratic government in Ser6 bia, which will permit an end to Belgrade’s isolation

7 and the opportunity to restore the historically

8 friendly relations between the Serbian and American

9 people;

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

11 there is a democratic government in Serbia, to re12 view conditions for Serbia’s full reintegration into

13 the international community;

14 (9) expresses its readiness to assist a future

15 democratic government in Serbia to build a demo16 cratic, peaceful, and prosperous society, based on the

17 same principle of respect for international obliga18 tions, as set out by the Organization for Security

19 and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the United

20 Nations, which guide the relations of the United

21 States with other countries in southeastern Europe;

22 (10) calls upon the United States and other

23 Western democracies to publicly announce and dem24 onstrate to the Serbian people the magnitude of as25 sistance they could expect after democratization; and
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1 (11) recognizes the progress in democratic and

2 market reform made by Montenegro, which can

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

4 resolution of political differences over the abrogation

5 of Montenegro’s rights under the federal constitu6 tion.

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