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NATO
STATEMENT ON KOSOVO
Issued by the Heads of State and Government
participating in the meeting of the
North Atlantic Council in Washington D.C.
23 and 24 April 1999
1. The crisis in Kosovo represents a fundamental
challenge to the values for which NATO has stood since its
foundation: democracy, human rights and the rule of law. It
is the culmination of a deliberate policy of oppression, ethnic
cleansing and violence pursued by the Belgrade regime under
the direction of President Milosevic. We will not allow this
campaign of terror to succeed. NATO is determined to prevail.
2. NATO's military action against the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) supports the political aims of
the international community, which were reaffirmed in recent
statements by the UN Secretary-General and the European Union:
a peaceful, multi-ethnic and democratic Kosovo where all its
people can live in security and enjoy universal human rights
and freedoms on an equal basis.
3. Our military actions are directed not at
the Serb people but at the policies of the regime in Belgrade,
which has repeatedly rejected all efforts to solve the crisis
peacefully. President Milosevic must:
- Ensure a verifiable stop to all military
action and the immediate ending of violence and repression
in Kosovo;
- Withdraw from Kosovo his military, police
and para-military forces;
- Agree to the stationing in Kosovo of an
international military presence;
- Agree to the unconditional and safe return
of all refugees and displaced persons, and unhindered access
to them by humanitarian aid organisations; and
- Provide credible assurance of his willingness
to work for the establishment of a political framework agreement
based on the Rambouillet accords.
4. There can be no compromise on these conditions.
As long as Belgrade fails to meet the legitimate demands of
the international community and continues to inflict immense
human suffering, Alliance air operations against the Yugoslav
war machine will continue. We hold President Milosevic and
the Belgrade leadership responsible for the safety of all
Kosovar citizens. We will fulfill our promise to the Kosovar
people that they can return to their homes and live in peace
and security.
5. We are intensifying NATO's miliitary actions
to increase the pressure on Belgrade. Allied governments are
putting in place additional measures to tighten the constraints
on the Belgrade regime. These include intensified implementation
of economic sanctions, and an embargo on petroleum products
on which we welcome the EU lead. We have directed our Defence
Ministers to determine ways that NATO can contribute to halting
the delivery of war material including by launching maritime
operations, taking into account the possible consequences
on Montenegro.
6. NATO is prepared to suspend its air strikes
once Belgrade has unequivocally accepted the above mentioned
conditions and demonstrably begun to withdraw its forces from
Kosovo according to a precise and rapid timetable. This could
follow the passage of a United Nations Security Council resolution,
which we will seek, requiring the withdrawal of Serb forces
and the demilitarisation of Kosovo and encompassing the deployment
of an international military force to safeguard the swift
return of all refugees and displaced persons as well as the
establishment of an international provisional administration
of Kosovo under which its people can enjoy substantial autonomy
within the FRY. NATO remains ready to form the core of such
an international military force. It would be multinational
in character with contributions from non-NATO countries.
7. Russia has a particular responsibility in
the United Nations and an important role to play in the search
for a solution to the conflict in Kosovo. Such a solution
must be based on the conditions of the international community
as laid out above. President Milosevic's offers to date do
not meet this test. We want to work constructively with Russia,
in the spirit of the Founding Act.
8. The long-planned, unrestrained and continuing
assault by Yugoslav military, police and paramilitary forces
on Kosovars and the repression directed against other minorities
of the FRY are aggravating the already massive humanitarian
catastrophe. This threatens to destabilise the surrounding
region.
9. NATO, its members and its Partners have responded
to the humanitarian. emergency and are intensifying their
refugee and humanitarian relief operations in close cooperation
with the UNHCR, the lead agency in this field, and with other
relevant organisations. We will continue our assistance as
long as necessary. NATO forces are making a major contribution
to this task.
10. We pay tribute to the servicemen and women
of NATO whose courage and dedication are ensuring the success
of our military and humanitarian operations.
11. Atrocities against the people of Kosovo
by FRY military, police and paramilitary forces represent
a flagrant violation of international law. Our governments
will co-operate with the International Criminal Tribunal for
the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to support investigation of all
those, including at the highest levels, responsible for war
crimes and crimes against humanity. NATO will support the
ICTY in its efforts to secure relevant information. There
can be no lasting peace without justice.
12. We acknowledge and welcome the courageous
support that states in the region are providing to our efforts
in Kosovo. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia1
and Albania have played a particularly important role, not
least in accepting hundreds of thousands of refugees from
Kosovo. The states in the region are bearing substantial economic
and social burdens stemming from the current conflict.
13. We will not tolerate threats by the Belgrade
regime to the security of its neighbours. We will respond
to such challenges by Belgrade to its neighbours resulting
from the presence of NATO forces or their activities on their
territory during this crisis.
14. We rearm our support for the territorial
integrity and sovereignty of all countries in the region.
15. We reaffirm our strong support for the democratically
elected government of Montenegro. Any move by Belgrade to
undermine the government of President Djukanovic will have
grave consequences. FRY forces should leave the demilitarised
zone of Prevlaka immediately.
16. The objective of a free, prosperous, open
and economically integrated Southeast Europe cannot be fully
assured until the FRY embarks upon the transition to democracy.
Accordingly, we express our support for the objective of a
democratic FRY which protects the rights of all minorities,
including those in Vojvodina and Sandjak, and promise to work
for such change through and beyond the current conflict.
17. It is our aim to make stability in Southeast
Europe a priority of our transatlantic agenda. Our governments
will co-operate urgently through NATO as well as through the
OSCE, and for those of us which are members, the European
Union, to support the nations of Southeast Europe in forging
a better future for their region - one based upon democracy,
justice, economic integration, and security co-operation.
_________
1 Turkey recognises the Republic
of Macedonia with its constitutional name.
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