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KOSOVO - Official U.S. Government
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Text: State's Wayne Sept. 14 on Post-War Balkans ReconstructionRecipe for success is regional and international integration
"Continued instability and conflict in the Balkans threatens our strategic objective of promoting a peaceful, united and democratic Europe," the State Department's E. Anthony Wayne said September 14 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
"Our vision will not be realized until we stop thinking about short-term fixes and commit ourselves, with the countries of the region, to transforming Southeast Europe from the continent's primary source of instability to a region with a realistic prospect of joining the Euro-Atlantic mainstream."
Wayne, the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for European affairs, was the first speaker in a new CSIS series on reconstruction in Southeast Europe.
He cited President Clinton's call to help Southeastern Europe "build a region of multiethnic democracies, a community that upholds common standards of human rights, a community in which borders are open to people and trade, where nations cooperate to make war unthinkable."
The recipe for success, Wayne said, "is regional and international integration. We must help Southeast Europe embark on the same path that Western Europe chose a half-century ago."
Wayne laid out in unequivocal terms the U.S. "vision for the Balkans" as "not about borders, but about commitments: in the most general terms, a commitment to the common European identity. Within the Stability Pact, the countries of the region must commit to economic openness, reform and cooperation."
"Politically," he continued, "we want these states to share our commitment to democracy, minority rights and multi-ethnicity, and the fight against corruption. And as these commitments are being fulfilled, we can move towards appropriate security relationships within the region, and ultimately a commitment to the common European security within the partnership for peace framework."
Among the hopeful signs in Kosovo today are the opening of the Kosovo Police Service School, the return of children to multiethnic schools, and the cooperative relationship that has developed between KFOR, the international peacekeeping force, and UNMIK, the U.N. Mission in Kosovo, Wayne said.
He also discussed Bosnia, the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe, the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI), Montenegro and Serbia.
"International attention has been focussed on Kosovo recently," Wayne said, "but success in Bosnia is equally important to the stability of the region, and that success is not yet guaranteed. It will require a continued international security presence, and the continued attention of Western nations."
The Stability Pact for Southeast Europe, he said, is based on the Marshall Plan principles of help and self-help. "Our goal is to mobilize the resources of the 40-plus Stability Pact member governments and international organizations, to attract capital, raise living standards, reconcile ethnic and religious tensions, promote the rule of law, and motivate political will in Southeast Europe."
Although SECI has had only limited funding available for regional projects to date, "it will take on significantly greater importance under the Stability Pact both in developing projects for consideration and in implementing them."
Wayne said the United States hopes that Montenegro will serve as a political model for the Serbian opposition and an economic example as "an island of prosperity within the Yugoslav federation."
He emphasized the importance of maintaining and strengthening multilateral sanctions against the regime of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic because "a peaceful, stable, prosperous, integrated Southeastern Europe is not possible without a new Serbia."
However, Wayne concluded, while "the establishment of a democratic government in Serbia will make each of our goals easier to achieve, and is essential to long-term stability in the region ... we cannot predict when this will be achieved, and so we cannot forestall action on the agenda I've laid out."Following is the State Department text of Wayne's remarks:
(NOTE: in the following text, $1 billion = $1,000 million)
Remarks by E. Anthony Wayne
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European AffairsPOST-WAR BALKANS: EXPECTATIONS AND REALITIES
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Washington, D.C.
September 14, 1999As Prepared for Delivery
It is a pleasure to be here today to launch the Center for Strategic and International Studies' series on reconstruction in Southeast Europe. I have met many of you before and I know you share my commitment to this cause. I would like in particular to thank Janusz Bugajski, Director of East European Studies at CSIS, for inviting me to speak with you today on the "Post-War Balkans: Expectations and Realities".
I am not an expert on the Balkans; however, my work within the Bureau of European Affairs has repeatedly made clear to me the importance of this region to the US-European relationship.The Balkans Challenge
Continued instability and conflict in the Balkans threatens our strategic objective of promoting a peaceful, united and democratic Europe. Our vision will not be realized until we stop thinking about short-term fixes and commit ourselves, with the countries of the region, to transforming Southeast Europe from the continent's primary source of instability to a region with a realistic prospect of joining the Euro-Atlantic mainstream.
Our recipe for success -- be it in the area of security, economic reconstruction, political institution-building, or ethnic reconciliation -- is well established. It is regional and international integration. We must help Southeast Europe embark on the same path that Western Europe chose a half-century ago.
As President Clinton has said, "The real question today is not whether Kosovo will be part of Serbia. The real question is whether Kosovo and Serbia and the other states of the region will be part of the new Europe. We should try to do for Southeastern Europe what we helped to do for Western Europe after World War II and for Central Europe after the Cold War; to help its people build a region of multiethnic democracies, a community that upholds common standards of human rights, a community in which borders are open to people and trade, where nations cooperate to make war unthinkable."
Assembling the nuts and bolts of a durable peace in the Balkans is a considerable challenge. As Secretary Albright has indicated, this will be a multi-year, multi-ethnic, multi-institutional process.
While the road ahead is a difficult one, the necessity of this course has long been recognized. Today, we act with the conviction that, as with our united military campaign, the success of stability and democracy in Southeast Europe requires a solid team effort with our friends and European allies. You can see the evidence of this team effort throughout the region.
Our vision for the Balkans is not about borders, but about commitments: in the most general terms, a commitment to the common European identity. Within the Stability Pact, the countries of the region must commit to economic openness, reform and cooperation.
Politically, we want these states to share our commitment to democracy, minority rights and multi-ethnicity, and the fight against corruption. And as these commitments are being fulfilled, we can move towards appropriate security relationships within the region, and ultimately a commitment to the common European security within the partnership for peace framework.Kosovo
Given the daily coverage of any and all negative details associated with the Balkans, I'd like to consider the "good news" with you this afternoon.
Despite many challenges, there are a number of reasons to be hopeful that a stable, democratic and prosperous Kosovo can emerge in Southeast Europe.
We have a good team in place. Cooperation between UNMIK and KFOR exceeds in quality anything we have seen in previous such missions. Our European allies share our determination to succeed. Failure is not an option.
During his recent visit to Kosovo, UN SYG Kofi Annan indicated that he was "very encouraged by the seriousness with which the international community is approaching this challenge." He based his remark on the performance of our institutions and relationships -- NATO, the UN, the OSCE and US-EU cooperation -- that are demonstrating their commitment to peace and reconstruction throughout the region.
The international community has learned some hard lessons over the past few years about the do's and don'ts of reconstruction in post-conflict situations. These lessons will guide our course in Southeast Europe. Among the most critical of the lessons of Bosnia is the importance of refugee return to the creation of lasting peace and civil society.Refugee Return
Today, more than 700,000 of the approximately 800,000 refugees have returned to Kosovo and are rebuilding their lives. Approximately half the ethnic Serbs in Kosovo remain there -- not enough, and more must be done to provide them safety, but a good basis on which to build a multi-ethnic Kosovo.
Our hopes are also high because, after decades of experience creating and managing institutions under severe repression, Kosovar Albanians now have the opportunity to do the same thing in an improved environment. They can set their own course. We are encouraged by last week's opening of a Kosovo Police Service School there. This training school, operated by the OSCE, will emphasize the importance of the rule of law and a democratic legal order.Return to Schools
In the last few weeks, 250,000 children returned for the new school year in Kosovo. While many of the schools have been badly damaged, UNICEF has worked in cooperation with outside NGOs and the people of Kosovo to create facilities for the children. By November 1, we expect all children will be back at their desks, Perhaps most importantly, for the first time in many of their lives, Kosovo and Serbian children will be sharing the same schools -- a stark contrast to the ethnic segregation of children that Milosevic imposed in the early 1990s.
The UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, is also making steady progress in setting up a civil administration, civilian police, and judicial authorities. There is still a long way to go and we are urging the UN to move quickly.
A free, democratic Kosovo will also require an active, pluralistic polity, free and fair elections, and self-government. We have no intention of allowing one single party system to replace another. The U.S., the EU, and UN, the OSCE and others are working to foster political party development and to promote the participation of all Kosovars in the political process. We must also promote the growth of responsible independent media -- an indispensable part of democracy and civil society in Kosovo. Our goal is to hold local and Kosovo-wide elections as soon as it is feasible.
The commitment of the international community and its institutions is critical, but the future of Kosovo depends on the people who live there. As Secretary Albright told a crowd of Kosovars recently, "If there is to be a true victory in Kosovo, it cannot be a victory of Albanians over Serbs, or NATO over Serbs. It must be a victory of those who believe in the rights of the individual over those who do not."Bosnia
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, there are also reasons for hope. The progress since Dayton is extraordinary and was recently marked in two ways. The Leaders Conference in Sarajevo this summer and the decision of the Tripartite Bosnian government to pick the November 21st anniversary of the Dayton agreements as their National Day mark the determination for Bosnian peace.
Almost four years after the tragic war that claimed 250,000 lives and displaced 2 million people, the resolve of the international community to secure peace remains steadfast. Our current emphasis is on achieving further progress in bringing refugees home to all parts of the Republic, and in fighting against endemic corruption. But we are also continuing our assistance in democratization, and in reforming the economic and military system. Peace and democratic reform in Bosnia must be self-sustaining.Corruption
Let me make a few specific comments about the problem of corruption. Although the actual amount of U.S. assistance to Bosnia lost as a result of corruption is small (the August N.Y. Times article inaccurately reported $1 billion of international aid projects had disappeared or been stolen), misuse of Bosnian taxpayer funds by local authorities is clearly a major area of concern. The High Representative, with strong input from the U.S. Embassy and USAID, in February 1999 began implementing a comprehensive anticorruption strategy, with benchmarks and timelines. Resulting investigations have led to indictments by Bosnian prosecutors and dismissals by the High Representative.
To further address this problem, the Administration is developing a comprehensive report on the status of corruption in Bosnia and U.S. efforts to combat it, which will also address the future direction of U.S. and international assistance to Bosnia. It is also time for the Bosnian co-Presidency to take a political initiative -- as it has done on refugee returns and reduction of defense expenditures -- against corruption. That will demonstrate to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina the political commitment of the leaders to attack the problem of corruption. We are also looking at ways to engage our regional partners in the Stability Pact on tackling the larger corruption problem in Southeast Europe.
In addition, Bosnia's leaders must act decisively in the areas of privatization, media, and judicial reform to secure Bosnia's economic future. Properly functioning central governmental institutions are critical if Bosnia is to play its rightful role in the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe and other European and transatlantic institutions.
While there has been encouraging progress in Bosnia, as evidenced by the Bosnian Tripartite government's hosting of the Stability Pact conference in Sarajevo, significant problems remain. International attention has been focussed on Kosovo recently, but success in Bosnia is equally important to the stability of the region, and that success is not yet guaranteed. It will require a continued international security presence, and the continued attention of Western nations.Stability Pact
I want to share a quote with you. "It is already evident that before the United States Government can proceed much further in its efforts to alleviate the situation and help start the European world on its way to recovery, there must be some agreement among the countries of Europe as to the requirements of the situation.... This is the business of the Europeans. The initiative, I think, must come from Europe."
These words come from former Secretary of State George Marshall's statement of June 15, 1947. They remain true today and must temper all of our expectations for Southeast Europe.
Our team's strategy is to use the Marshall Plan's principles of help and self-help, along with our experience in Eastern European democratization as models for the SEE Stability Pact,
Our goal is to mobilize the resources of the 40-plus Stability Pact member governments and international organizations, to attract capital, raise living standards, reconcile ethnic and religious tensions, promote the rule of law, and motivate political will in Southeast Europe.
We hope to help these countries enact concrete laws and institutions that pertain to banking, capital markets, and privatization, as well as reforms in commercial, tax, customs and accounting laws,
We are not starting from ground zero but with a strong base of democratic leadership. Hungary has already joined NATO; and Hungary and Slovenia are well along in accession negotiations with the EU. Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and Croatia demonstrated throughout the recent crisis that they want their societies to grow, prosper, and live in peace.
At the Sarajevo Conference that I attended with the President and the Secretary in late July, the leaders of Southeast Europe countries recognized their responsibility to work with the international community to develop a shared strategy for regional stability and growth. They also pledged to cooperate with each other and major donors to implement that strategy.
We view the Sarajevo Summit and the OSCE Istabul Summit in November as markers of an intensive period of activity for achieving real progress in implementing the Stability Pact.
The first meeting of the Regional Table in Brussels this week will approve an overall plan and determine the various chairing arrangements for Working Tables on economic cooperation, security, and democratization/human rights. These working tables will meet in early October to advance more specific cooperation in their areas.
In addition, the High Level Steering Group of the EU/World Bank Donor Coordination process will be meeting to advance donor community activity on the margins of the World Bank and IMF meetings this month.SECI
Much of what the Stability Pact and the donor community should work with are ideas and projects rooted in the region. The Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI) has proven to be one of the more creative and productive regional efforts dealing with the concrete needs of and prospects for Southeast Europe. Through SECI, eleven regional states have joined with the U.S. and outside partners to collectively tackle the region's entrenched economic problems and take steps toward regional and international integration.
Although the U.S. provides some guidance, basic decisions on projects are made by the participating states. This initiative is indisputably a self-help program.
For example, SECI working groups have identified a concrete set of projects designed to encourage private-sector investment. SECI countries have also entered into agreements that will combat cross-border crime. Plans are currently under way to create a SECI Center in Bucharest to pursue this agenda. As law enforcement agencies of the region come together in a joint effort, we need to enable them to enlarge and expand that effort and to support judicial reform and cross-border cooperation among prosecutors.
Given SECI's limited funding ($2 million per year in U.S. SEED funds), it has not been able to implement many of the working group recommendations. The World Bank board will consider a $70 million SECI project to facilitate trade through border facility improvement and customs service reforms. Plans to facilitate transportation links and energy infrastructure improvements could be implemented quickly if needed funds were made available.
While SECI is designed largely as a self-help program, we envision that it will take on significantly greater importance under the Stability Pact both in developing projects for consideration and in implementing them.
Notably, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is not a SECI participant, but Montenegro has attended SECI meetings as an observer.Montenegro
A special word about Montenegro -- President Djukanovic and his people endured grave danger during the Kosovo conflict, without wavering in their support for democratic principles
Montenegro is too small to change Serbia directly, but we believe that it can serve as a model for the Serbian opposition, providing advice on election strategy and implementation of reform. It can also serve as an economic example for Serbia by sustaining an island of prosperity within the Yugoslav federation. We have steadily increased our support for Montenegro, providing technical assistance of some $25 million in 1998 in addition to UN humanitarian aid. And we are working with the EU to exempt Montenegro (and Kosovo) from the sanctions on Serbia.
While these efforts are encouraging, we realize that a peaceful, stable, prosperous, integrated Southeastern Europe is not possible without a new Serbia.Serbia
Milosevic led Serbia into four wars this decade. He has been indicted for crimes against humanity, and has repeatedly betrayed his own people and the world. His regime is hopelessly corrupt. He has choked off economic prosperity to all but his closest contacts.
The reality is that Milosevic maintains a lock on the main levers of power, most importantly the army, the police, and the state-owned media. As long as this regime is in place, we will provide humanitarian, but not reconstruction assistance to Serbia.
We are also supporting the forces of democratic change within Serbian society, by vigorously assisting the Serbian opposition. This is an investment in Serbia's future. We have also actively urged Serbian opposition leaders to overcome the politics of ego and work together for the common good. In all of our efforts to promote democracy in Serbia, we are closely coordinating with our European partners
In the past weeks, Serbia's citizens have spontaneously demonstrated their rejection of Milosevic and their desire for democratic government. Serbia's independent media are also attempting to break free of a draconian and repressive media law. We will nurture these efforts.
We are pleased that the Administration and Congress agrees on the importance of these efforts. The proposed Helms Democracy Act, which would authorize $100 million over two years for democratization projects, is a good example of our shared bipartisan interest in seeing democracy bloom in Serbia.Sanctions
The maintenance and strengthening of an effective web of multilateral sanctions around the Milosevic regime is a critical tool to combating the regime.
In response to Serb aggression, we have imposed sanctions against Serbia since 1992, Sanctions were tightened again in 1998 and 1999 to include virtually all transactions.
The European Union member states set in place similar sanctions in May 1999. We continue to work with our European allies to enforce these sanctions. These sanctions are designed to limit the Serbian government's ability to threaten its neighbors.Conclusion
Our expectations and hopes are high for a stable, democratic, prosperous Southeastern Europe, We realize that there are no easy, gimmicky solutions. The establishment of a democratic government in Serbia will make each of our goals easier to achieve, and is essential to long-term stability in the region. But we cannot predict when this will be achieved, and so we cannot forestall action on the agenda I've laid out.
But this is the best chance we've had in a century to achieve this goal. There is now a majority of democratic leaders in the region; an understanding that conflict won't solve the problems of the region; and interest from the international community to see Southeastern Europe integrated into the Atlantic community.
The reality is that this goal is long-term, and will require money, dedication, and perseverance on the part of the countries in the region and the international community. But as we've already seen war in the Balkans five times this century, the alternative is renewed conflict.
It's the understanding that comes with discussions like these that can build hope for the Balkans. It is concerted commitment by informed people and their nation-states that will help this region move beyond cyclical conflict to sustainable peace. I look forward to answering your questions and working with you toward this goal.
senden