Bill Clinton: “Kosovo Thank you very much. Secretary Rubin, my friend President Menem, Minister Fernandez, Managing Director Camdessus…”

“Kosovo Thank you very much. Secretary Rubin, my friend President Menem, Minister Fernandez, Managing Director Camdessus, President Wolfensohn, Dr. Ruttenstorfer, ladies and gentlemen: Before I begin my remarks, I hope you will permit me to say a few words about another issue of real concern to the international community, about which I have been working already this morning, the subject of Kosovo. I have been on the phone with many of my counterparts, and I just was speaking with Prime Minister Blair, who is in China. We all agree that Kosovo is a powder keg in the Balkans. If the violence continues, it could spill over and threaten the peace and stability of Bosnia, of Albania, of Macedonia, and other countries in the region. What is already a humanitarian crisis could turn into a catastrophe. Some 250,000 people have been forced to flee their homes. Of that number, approximately 50,000 are actually homeless. As winter sets in, they risk freezing or starving to death. President Milosevic is primarily responsible for this crisis. The United Nations has made clear the steps we must take to end it: declare an immediate cease-fire, withdraw Serb security forces, give humanitarian relief groups full and immediate access to Kosovo, begin real negotiations with the Kosovar Albanians to find a peaceful and permanent solution to their rightful demand for autonomy.…”