There is general agreement that the Balkan nations are going to need a lot of help in the coming years to recover and rebuild. The United States wants Europe to pick up the largest part of the cost. Eizenstat said the U.S. will set the level of its contribution based on what the nations of Europe are willing to do. Friday's conference was co-sponsored by the European Union, the World Bank, and the George C. Marshall Foundation. I think we all now recognize that those days are over and that we need a regional approach to the problems of the region, and that's what the stability pact is all about.
Nothing feeds ethnic tensions more than grinding poverty.
But this won't be easy. The World Bank cannot lend any money to Yugoslavia because it is not a member of the Bank. Eizenstat reiterated U.S. policy that opposes anything other than humanitarian aid to Serbia. But we cannot afford to wait for the optimum political climate before beginning the process. The EU and the World Bank, which have been co-chairing the assistance effort for the Balkans, say they will soon have a figure for the amount of assistance needed over the next five years.