Remarks at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Good afternoon, it's a very great pleasure for me to be back in Belgrade. I have not been here for several years. It has been extraordinarily interesting trip that I want to tell you about. I came here with a senior American delegation from the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department, to demonstrate the continued interest of the United States in being very actively involved diplomatically for peace in the Balkans. And here in Belgrade, but also in Pristina, in Obilic, in Sarajevo, I communicated the very strong interest of my government in seeing 2005 be a year of change in this region.

First and foremost, continued support to the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina to see that their ten-year transition to a democratic country will continue. In that respect, the United States intends to send a senior delegation to Srebrenica on July 11th of this year to pay our respects to the families of the victims.

In Kosovo we also see 2005 as the year of change. We see that the United Nations-sponsored process of assessment of the standards will begin on Monday. We support that process and, if it should lead to final status talks, we intend to be involved in those talks as an objective independent friend of all parties. Yesterday in Kosovo we spent the majority of our day with the Kosovar Serb community to demonstrate our support for them — our support that Serbs have a right to live in Kosovo in the future, in peace and in security. We met with Kosovar Serb politicians. We met with religious leaders — Kosovar Serb religious leaders — and we met with ordinary Kosovar Serbs, people who had their homes burned in March of 2004 by extremists, and we stood with them and we said that it was a crime that their homes were burned and we support their right to return to their reconstructed homes.

We've had an excellent visit here in Belgrade. We had a very productive and very enjoyable dinner with President Tadic and his advisors last evening at the Presidential Palace. We met this morning with President Marovic of the state union. We met with Defense Minister Davinic and, in the most important meeting that we've had here, we met with both President Tadic and Prime Minister Kostunica and all of their advisors in an exceptionally good meeting just a few moments ago. In that meeting I expressed the great wish of the United States that we might now use 2005 to elevate and improve America's relations with Serbia and Montenegro.

The time has come for a better relationship between Serbs and Americans. Despite the very painful war in 1999, and we recognize how painful that was for people of this country, we want to put that behind us and move forward to a much better relationship. I told President Tadic and Prime Minister Kostunica that if Ratko Mladic is sent to The Hague and put on trial for war crimes, if that very important step can be taken, if Serbia can meet its commitments to the international community, then the future is limitless for what our two countries can do together. Once this responsibility is met, then I would expect that Serbia would take its place quickly in NATO's Partnership for Peace. And looking into the future, we would very much hope that Serbia's place will be with NATO and the EU in the future.

I congratulated the Prime Minister for all the progress that has been made on this very difficult issue over the last three months and, because of this progress that has been made in Serbia's commitments to the international tribunal in The Hague, I told Prime Minister Kostunica and President Tadic that the United States, as of today, is announcing the resumption of American economic and other assistance to Serbia and Montenegro. I said that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has decided, and has officially decreed, that the United States will now continue its efforts to work with Serbia and that more than ten million dollars of U.S. assistance will be unfrozen and will now proceed.

I also gave to Prime Minister Kostunica and Defense Minister Davinic the outlines of two agreements that we hope to conclude with Serbia and Montenegro in the immediate period ahead of us. One is a security agreement to reinforce the connections and relations between our two militaries, the second is a Status of Forces Agreement that will allow our two militaries to work together in a more normal way. I also discussed with a great deal of pride the fact that the United States remains the leading investor in Serbia and Montenegro and that we intend to, under Ambassador Polt's leadership, continue our vigorous efforts to promote American investment in this country and American trade with this country.

Let me conclude. We are beginning to see the outlines of the new relationship between our countries. We do need to see, and expect to see of course, all the international obligations to the Tribunal met. And especially in the wake of the publication of that horrible video tape from June-July 1995. It is our very strong hope that Serbia will now take the final steps to send General Mladic to The Hague and to have him put him on a trial for crimes that he directed in the murder of 8000 men and boys in Srebrenica on July 11, 1995. And beyond that, Radovan Karadzic should also know that he cannot live forever free of the judgment of the international community. There will come a time, we hope very soon, when he is sent to The Hague and he is put on trial for his crimes. We are confident that this history can be put behind this region and this country, and we are confident that the future of this country and the Balkans can be a region of peace and a region where all the countries work closely with Europe and America for a better future.

Thank you very much. I will be happy to take your questions.

QUESTION: Did you find a readiness or a willingness on the part of Serbs authorities to hunt down and send Ratko Mladic to The Hague, and do you believe that this is somehow connected with the gruesome video tape?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: My strong impression from our discussions here in Belgrade is that the government is working very seriously to find General Mladic and there is a sincere attempt, there will be a sincere attempt, to capture him or to have him voluntarily surrender and to send him to The Hague. All of the world is now focused on this question and in part because of the July 11 anniversary and also in part because of release of this videotape. And we are confident that his days in relative freedom are numbered. And once he is delivered to The Hague, then I think that you will find that Europe and certainly my own country are going to look for ways to build a much better and closer relationship with this country and with this government.

QUESTION: The Prime Minister of Kosovo said recently that he has no intentions to negotiate in Belgrade about the final status. Prime Minister of Serbia Mr. Kostunica said the other day in Milan that Serbian side is not ready to negotiate, to participate in negotiations, until all standards in Kosovo are fully implemented. What's your answer?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Our belief is that six years after the war the status quo in Kosovo is not sustainable. There has to be a change in 2005. But it is not up to the United States to decide this, it's up to the UN. A very serious review begins Monday, led by a very distinguished diplomat, Ambassador Kai Eide, and he will assess whether or not final status talks should begin at some point later this year. But there does need to be further decentralization of authority in Kosovo, and there should be much greater efforts to protect the Roma, Turk, Bosniak and Serb minorities, especially Serb minorities. Once these final status negotiations begin, if they are to begin, of course it's going to be like any negotiation, a negotiation where all the parties need to be there and that includes the Kosovar Albanian majority, the Kosovar Serb minority and the Serb Government. All of them have to be involved in these negotiations and all of them will have to compromise. All of us in the Contact Group believe that the people of Kosovo deserve to know what their future is going to be and so therefore we support this process of a standards assessment and possible final status talks because that's the best way, and really the only way, to give people a chance to define their own future.

QUESTION: You have seen the situation (inaudible) ... that was created in Dayton, and can it create sustainable economic growth or (inaudible) ... and in this way, indirectly, must also be changed the Dayton agreement?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: We support Dayton agreement, the Dayton Accords. They remain the structure and the future of that country. All parties should abide by them and frankly we think that Bosnia and Herzegovina has made tremendous progress in ten years. I would single out the Bosnian Serbs as the party that needs to be more committed to this process. They are blocking police reform, which is very important. They are slowing down defense reform. In contrast to Prime Minister Kostunica and President Tadic, who spoke out so courageously last week when the videotape was released, the Bosnian Serb leadership has been silent. They have not taken the opportunity to reach out to the families of the victims of Srebrenica, to be human and to say something that would put that past behind them. That was a major impression from our visit to Sarajevo.

I think I have time for one more question.

QUESTION: In your statement before the House Committee for International Relations, you stated that the resolution for Kosovo's status should (inaudible) in a way that will also bring Serbia and Montenegro fully in to the community [of Europe]. Explain how the of this issue will affect Serbia. So what advantages, benefits do you think Serbia and Montenegro will get?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Thank you. We hope that this, the Kosovo process, which is going to unfold beginning next week will result in putting the wars of the '90s behind your country and all the countries of this region, including most especially Kosovo. And we believe that the future of Serbia and Montenegro ought to be in NATO, and ought to be in association with the European Union. But for that to happen this country must meet its obligations on General Mladic and on participating in a fair process to determine the future of Kosovo. So, we hope the result of the Kosovo negotiations, but also all the other issues that your government has been involved with, we hope that future will result in a new era in this region. That is what my country supports. Thank you very much.

QUESTION: Is July 11 a final deadline for Belgrade to arrest and extradite Ratko Mladic?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: There is no deadline, but all countries that signed the Dayton Accords undertook an obligation to meet the war crimes provisions of the Dayton Accords, and elementary standards of international decency would dictate that every state has an obligation to turn an indicted war criminal over to the proper international authorities in The Hague. So while there is no a deadline, I cannot imagine a more appropriate initiative then seeing General Mladic in the Hague before July 11.