Other State Department Archive Sites

The State Department web site below is a permanent electronic archive of information released online from January 1, 1997 to January 20, 2001. Please see www.state.gov for current material from the Department of State. Or visit http://2001-2009.state.gov for information from that period. Archive sites are not updated, so external links may no longer function. Contact us with any questions about finding information. NOTE: External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein.

U.S. Department of State Office of the Spokesman Press Statement

Press Statement by James P. Rubin, Spokesman
January 17, 1999

U.S. Welcomes NATO Secretary General's
Statement on Kosovo

We welcome the statement made this evening by NATO Secretary General Javier Solana on behalf of the North Atlantic Council condemning the massacre of Kosovar Albanians in Racak last Friday. We also welcome NATO's demand that the FRY take immediate steps to ensure that those responsible for this massacre are brought to justice. The names of those who participated in the killing and those who gave the orders must be divulged, as demanded by the North Atlantic Council, and they must be handed over to the ICTY for prosecution if that is requested. Justice must be done in Kosovo.

The actions called for by the NAC, including full cooperation by the FRY authorities with ICTY in accordance with UN resolutions, and full compliance by the FRY with all its commitments to NATO and the OSCE, are essential steps in the effort by the international community to bring peace and justice to Kosovo. Milosevic must comply fully with all his obligations.

At the request of the NAC, NATO Military Committee Chairman General Klaus Naumann and SACEUR General Wesley Clark will travel to Belgrade to impress upon the FRY authorities the gravity of the situation. As Secretary General Solana emphasized, the NATO Activation Orders for air operations are still in effect.

[end of document]