Remarks at the Opening of North Atlantic Council Meeting With the Frontline States

Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary General. We want to welcome the leaders of all the frontline states here and say that we are very grateful for what you have done. The people of Albania and Macedonia have welcomed almost half a million refugees to their countries, often, literally, into their homes. You have shared what you have, though the strains are immense. NATO is working to relieve your burden with the United Nations by building camps, providing supplies, helping to bring more refugees to other countries until they can return to Kosovo. We must do more, intensifying our relief operations, taking our share of refugees.

The nations of the region have risked and even faced armed confrontation with Serbia, by facilitating and supporting our campaign to end the bloodshed in Kosovo. Yesterday—or Friday, NATO made its position very clear. We said, unambiguously, if Belgrade challenges its neighbors as a result of the presence of NATO, we will respond.

The nations of the region have faced enormous economic dislocation and losses. We are committed to working with you and with multilateral institutions to ease your emergency needs and help you with your debts. You want a better future for your nations and your region, and there, as well, we are committed to help.

Many of us have tried to lay out a vision for the region, a positive alternative to the violence and ethnic hatred, a vision of people and nations working together, bridging old divides, forging a common future of peace, freedom, and prosperity. How do we get there?

First of all, we must prevail in Kosovo. A just end to the conflict is essential to putting the entire region on the path to stability. Second, we must strengthen our efforts to support economic development and deeper democracy, ethnic and religious tolerance, and regional integration in southeastern Europe. We must build on the many positive ways in which the nations of the region, often with our support, already are bringing change at home, in cooperation across borders.

In that regard, I want to especially commend Slovenia's strong efforts in recent years to reach out to its neighbors. We will work toward the day when all the people of the region, including the Serbs now suffering under reckless tyranny, enjoy freedom and live together.

This will require a commitment by nations of the region to continue political and economic reforms. And I particularly respect the efforts of Bulgaria and Romania in this regard, to stick with their programs under very difficult circumstances.

It will require that we sustain our engagement. I welcome the suggestion of the German-EU Presidency to hold a conference in Bonn next month to advance these common efforts. I hope our finance ministers, when they meet here next week with international financial institutions, will explore imaginative and aggressive ways for us to help.

Finally, we must continue to strengthen the security bonds between your countries and NATO. Five of the nations here are NATO partners. Yesterday NATO and its partners agreed to deepen our security engagement. We will continue to work with Bosnia and Croatia on implementation of the Dayton accords, looking toward eventual partnership. And yesterday NATO adopted a robust membership action plan to help aspiring nations strengthen their candidacy so they can enter NATO. New members will bolster our Alliance and Europe's security.

In all the countries present here today, leaders and citizens are working to realize a vision just the opposite of Mr. Milosevic's, reaching across the divides to pursue shared dreams of a better life. All of them are on the right road, and we must travel it with them to ensure that they succeed.

Thank you very much.