Remarks by the President to the Kosovar Refugees


THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release June 12, 1999

 

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT TO THE KOSOVAR REFUGEES

From the Roosevelt Room

THE PRESIDENT: To all the people of Kosovo, who have suffered so much in the face of Mr. Milosevic's savage campaign of ethnic cleansing, I'm happy to say that the time of return is near. The Serb forces who drove you from your homes are leaving Kosovo. All are required to leave. The NATO-led troops who will protect you are beginning to go in. Mr. Milosevic has failed utterly in his efforts to erase your history, your culture, your presence from your land. Soon, you will be going home.

Now we must make sure you can return safely. I know you're anxious to reunite with your loved ones, to find out what condition your homes are in, to reclaim your land. But before you do, we must be certain all the Serbian forces have left and see to it that international forces are in place throughout Kosovo. We must start clearing the land mines, some of which may be in your homes, in your community buildings, along roads and bridges. We need to make sure there's enough food, water and shelter to meet your needs. And we most urgently need to reach the desperate people who have been trapped in the hills and forests of Kosovo.

Until all of you can return in safety, we will provide aid in Albania and Macedonia. And we will not forget the kindness of the nations that have given you shelter, or their own needs for assistance and stability.

As you prepare to go home, I know you have many reasons to be bitter and full of anger. But I ask you not to let Mr. Milosevic have the victory of seeing your spirits broken and your hearts turn to stone. No one should do to the ethnic Serbs who live in Kosovo what their leaders did to you. Do not prove Mr. Milosevic right, that people of different ethnic and religious groups are inevitably enemies.

No human being should ever have to experience what you have been forced to endure. We will seek effective justice through law for the perpetrators of these crimes. But we must have an end to ethnic cleansing, and the beginning of a Kosovo where every child can go to school, every family can practice its faith, every community can live a normal life in peace. That is what we fought for. That is what NATO peacekeepers will help build when they go in. That is the future we now have a chance to shape together.

I thank you for your courage and your endurance, and I look forward to seeing you go home.

END



What's New - June 1999

Budget Surplus

Oval Office Address to the Nation

BBC Interview

Whiteman Air Force Base Personnel

Press Availability Remarks

President Arpad Goncz of Hungary

Medicare

United States Air Force Academy Commencement Ceremony

Kosovar Refugees

Presentation of the Commander-in-Chief Trophy

Congressional Gold Medal for Rosa Parks

Budget, Energy Efficiency, and Kosovo

Gun Legislation

ABC's Good Morning America Interview

International Labor Organization Conference

Breakfast for Congressman Rahall

Disability Employment Awards Ceremony

Conference on Mental Health

President Chirac

American Community

Children, Violence and Marketing

Taped interview by Russian TV

Modernizing Medicare

Wolf Blitzer, CNN Late Edition

University of Chicago Convocation Ceremonies

People of Albania

National Association of Theater Owners

Kosovar Refugees at Stenkovich I Refugee Camp

Civil Rights Roundtable

KFOR Troops

Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center

Operation Allied Force Troops

Kosovo

World Champion New York Yankees Event

Presidential Scholars

Press Conference


President and First Lady | Vice President and Mrs. Gore
Record of Progress | The Briefing Room
Gateway to Government | Contacting the White House | White House for Kids
White House History | White House Tours | Help
Privacy Statement

Help

Site Map

Graphic Version

T H E   W H I T E   H O U S E