Press Statement by the Secretary General
 Following North Atlantic Council Meeting on 25 July 1995


Following the London Conference last Friday, a specific
warning was issued that any attack by the Bosnian Serbs on
Gorazde would be met with a substantial and decisive
response. Last Saturday, the North Atlantic Council met
and, in the light of the gravity of the situation, directed
the NATO Military Authorities immediately to prepare plans
to implement this warning. 

Today, following intensive work by the NATO Military
Authorities, the North Atlantic Council has approved the
necessary planning to ensure that NATO air power would be
used in a timely and effective way should the Bosnian Serbs
threaten or attack Gorazde. We have also invited the NATO
Military Authorities urgently to formulate proposals on how
this planning could be applied to the other Safe Areas, in
view particularly of the current very serious situation in
Bihac.

The planning we have undertaken is built upon the Council's
decisions of August 1993 and April 1994 and falls under the
authority of existing UN Security Council resolutions. Over
the past few days, I have had contacts with Secretary
General Boutros Boutros-Ghali and after the Council tonight
I made the first reports over the phone regarding the
decisions and I have immediately sent to Secretary General
Boutros Boutros-Ghali a detailed summary of our decisions
so that he has the opportunity with his experts to study
immediately the contents of the decisions made by the NAC.
NATO will now be working urgently together with the UN to
ensure the necessary coordination.

For reasons that I hope you will understand, I do not want
to go into operational details. Suffice it to say that
NATO's planning is designed to ensure that military
preparations by the Bosnian Serbs which are judged to
present a direct threat to Gorazde, or direct Bosnian Serb
attacks on Gorazde, will be met with the firm and rapid
response of NATO's air power. The planning provides for
NATO and the UN to take the necessary decisions to launch
significant air strikes in the event of such actions. There
is a strong feeling among Allies that such operations, once
they are launched, will not lightly be discontinued. In the
face of the inherent risks, the Alliance is determined.

Let me underline once again NATO's strong support for the
continued efforts of the international community, including
those of the Contact Group, to bring peace to the former
Yugoslavia through the diplomatic process. The ultimate aim
of a negotiated, political settlement cannot be attained
unless the current offensives against the UN safe areas
cease and all side desist from further military action. It
is the hope of the North Atlantic Council that today's
decisions will contribute to stopping the current
offensives and restarting the peace process.

NATO continues to support the presence of UN forces in the
former Yugoslavia, which is essential to help relieve the
human suffering and support the search for a peaceful
settlement. Today's decisions are intended to underpin that
presence.