U.S. Department of State
97/01/09 Statement: Assistant Secretary Kornblum's Trip to Europe
Office of the Spokesman



Press Statement by Nicholas Burns/Spokesman
January 9, 1997



Assistant Secretary Kornblumās Trip to Europe 



Assistant Secretary of State John Kornblum will leave tonight for the 
Hague, Brussels, Sarajevo and Zagreb, returning to the United States on 
January 14th.  In the Hague, he will participate in the semi-annual 
U.S.-EU Political Directors' consultations.  He will then travel to 
Brussels for a meeting of the Contact Group before proceeding to the 
Balkans for meetings with high-level officials to review progress in 
implementing the Dayton peace agreement.  The Assistant Secretary will 
not travel to Belgrade on this trip.  

The main agenda item at the Contact Group meeting will be the on-going 
crisis in Serbia.  Building on the unified condemnation by the 
international community of the annulment of the opposition victories in 
the November 17 elections, the Assistant Secretary will stress the 
importance of keeping the pressure on Serbia to fulfill immediately the 
recommendations of the Gonzalez report in full.  The Contact Group will 
make it clear to President Milosevic that the current crisis will not be 
resolved until the current policy of ignoring the democratic will of the 
Serbian people is reversed.  The Assistant Secretary will emphasize the 
importance of promoting broader democratization in Serbia and will 
outline steps which the United States will take to promote democratic 
reform in Serbia, including greater freedom of the media.  The Contact 
Group will also explore possibilities for coordinated action designed 
not only to resolve the present crisis but to encourage over-all 
democratic development.

In addition, the Contact Group will also review the status of the Brcko 
arbitration, a subject which the Assistant Secretary will also address 
in his subsequent visit to Sarajevo.  In Bosnia he will explore 
strategies for improving freedom of movement and promoting a quicker 
pace of refugee return before traveling to Zagreb to discuss a range of 
bilateral issues, including Croatia's record of cooperation with the 
Tribunal in the Hague.