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U.S. Department of State 93/05/01 Statement at News Conference re Bosnia-Herzegovina Office of the Spokesman Opening statement at a news conference by Secretary of State Warren Christopher Washington, DC May 1, 1993 US Consultations With Allies On Bosnia-Herzegovina Upon taking office, President Clinton inherited a complex and tragic situation in the former Yugoslavia. This situation has bedeviled the international community now for almost 2 years. It's a problem with deep historic roots. In the post-Cold War period, the former Yugoslavia has been the scene of violence, tragedy, and outrageous conduct. The President has acted to deal with this conflict. We have undertaken, in cooperation with our allies and friends, an intensive diplomatic effort in an attempt to solve the crisis and bring some measure of peace to this area. Our activity to date has been intense along a number of fronts. These include an active diplomatic effort that has helped to bring two of the three Bosnian parties into agreement on a peace plan; second, an effort to save thousands of lives by way of humanitarian programs, which include our airdrop program, which has now furnished more than 2 million meals; third, passage of a UN resolution to establish a war crimes tribunal; fourth, a UN resolution to enforce a no-fly zone to prevent the use of air power by the parties to the conflict; and, fifth, an extremely rigorous sanctions resolution at the United Nations that went into effect last Monday at midnight. Under this sanctions regime, Serbia is being treated as a pariah state, virtually isolated from the rest of the world. Yet the outrages have continued in the former Yugoslavia area. In the face of Serbian aggression, the President has been rigorously reviewing further options for action during the course of the last week. He has been consulting with our allies and friends in the international community, Members of Congress, his national security team, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He has been exploring additional actions the international community can take to respond to the violence, stop the aggression, and contain the conflict. The President has just completed a meeting with his principal national security advisers. At this meeting the President decided on the direction that he believes the United States and the international community should now take in this situation. This direction involves a number of specific recommendations, including military steps. The President is sending me to Europe to consult with our allies and friends on a course of action. This problem is at the heart of Europe's future. Our efforts will be undertaken with our partners. We're ready to play our part, but others must be as well. Along these lines, I'll be leaving at 9 pm tonight to engage in these consultations. Over the next week, I'll travel to Britain, France, Russia, and Germany. I'll also be traveling to Brussels, where I'll consult with the Secretary General of NATO and the Presidency of the European Community. In these sessions, I'll be conveying the President's determination that the international community should take further action. I'll be consulting with our partners on the direction the President believes the international community should take together. We must have a unified and cohesive position. With respect to the specific directions that I'll be discussing in Europe, I think you'll understand that prior to the consultations with our allies, I cannot discuss them with you here in this public forum. Let me close with two important points. First, the President and the United States are pursuing additional action with our allies because we believe that the interests of the United States and the international community are at stake. There are, of course, issues of conscience and humanitarian concerns at stake in this situation. But fundamentally our actions are also based upon the strategic interests of the United States. All of us seek to limit the risk of a widening instability that could lead to a greater Balkan war. Second, as you know, the parties to the conflict are meeting in Athens this weekend with Secretary Vance and Lord Owen. The Serbs know that they exhausted the patience of the international community. It is in their interest to take concrete actions now to reach peace and to do so without further delay. But I must underscore that they must do more than just speak out; they must do more than simply give us a signature on a peace plan. Unfortunately, we've heard their words and seen the signatures before. It will take deeds, immediate concrete action by the Serbs, [and] actions on the ground to convince the international community of their seriousness and good faith. (###)