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Robert Gelbard, Special Representative of the President and Secretary of State for the Implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement Press Conference, Podgorica, Serbia and Montenegro January 12, 1998

AMBASSADOR GELBARD: Thank you very much. First, I would like to extend my apologies to all of you for keeping you waiting. The discussions that I held were of great importance -- great seriousness -- and as a result took more time than we had originally planned. But I sincerely apologize for keeping you here waiting for so long.

The purpose of my visiting Montenegro at this time is to demonstrate the strongest possible support of the U.S. Government for the democratic process in Montenegro. The United States has as its fundamental ideology support for the establishment and consolidation of democracy throughout the world. This is something that is absolutely fundamental to our society, and something that we believe in throughout the world. Sadly, it has been lacking in the "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" as basic democratic institutions have been impeded in their development. The U.S. Government, as do many others, strongly welcomes the recent free and fair election of Milo Djukanovic as President of Montenegro. We look forward to his inauguration on Thursday and to the further deepening of democratic institutions in Montenegro.

An important demonstration of democracy anywhere is the willingness of a government to move into opposition peacefully. We and others have been deeply concerned by information which has developed that indicates there might be efforts to try to disrupt or block this democratic transition. Such an effort would, of course, create the strongest possible opposition by the United States, as well as, I am certain, by other nations. Last Thursday I had the privilege of chairing a meeting of the Contact Group in Washington. For the first time, the Contact Group expressed opinions about the situation in Montenegro, particularly about this issue. And, prior to that, I myself had spoken in a press conference about my government's serious concern on this issue. We, of course, have been extremely pleased to hear from the OSCE that it felt that the election process was free and fair. And we look forward to supporting a government which has been deemed to have been elected freely and fairly.

In my meetings with my delegation today, I was gratified to hear from President Bulatovic that he accepts and honors the election of President-elect Djukanovic. He also said that he looks forward to President-elect Djukanovic's inauguration on Thursday. For my part, I think I was very clear in stating that it would be a serious error to oppose in any way the will of the people as expressed in that election.

It is the intention of the United States to support the democratically elected government of President-elect Djukanovic. It is our policy worldwide to support those who support democracy. We have committed to providing assistance for helping the election process in the future in Montenegro, as well as other assistance to help deepen the roots of democracy and help build democratic institutions in Montenegro. We are also prepared to support the process of privatization, and we along with other nations would like to be able to continue to support further developments, both politically and economically, as the processes develop further in Montenegro.

What is critical here is that there can be no impediments to the fulfilment of the voice of the people. Any efforts whether by violence or by false political efforts will be greeted very, very harshly by the international community. Montenegro is in a difficult situation, as are the people of the entire "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" as a result of what they have suffered since the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.

The United States still does not have formal diplomatic relations with the "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia," and we still continue to strongly support the outer wall of sanctions. We will continue to do that until the conditions that I have set out very clearly to President Milosevic are met and Yugoslavia is prepared to join the international community of nations. But meanwhile, if the new government in Montenegro is prepared to move ahead on broadening and deepening democratic processes and moving ahead on economic liberalization, the United States and other nations will find ways to support it.

I had an extremely productive meeting with Prime Minister Djukanovic, and I was impressed by the ideas he has for moving ahead on both the political and economic areas. I also had a very useful and interesting meeting with the opposition party representatives, and they expressed their views to me. We had a very, very useful dialogue.

Thank you. I'll be happy to take your questions.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) Bulatovic (inaudible) says that he would happily (inaudible) the inauguration of Mr. Djukanovic. Does that mean that he's no longer supporting the protests (inaudible)?

AMBASSADOR GELBARD: My understanding, and I could be mistaken, is that the protests have been officially licensed in essence. Peaceful protests are something that are certainly part of any democratic tradition. For example, the Kosovar Albanian student protests have been peaceful. What is important is that protests cannot be violent and must be legal. And, most importantly, President Bulatovic must carry through with his commitment to see through peaceful transition to a successor. What we and the rest of the international community expect of President Bulatovic and of everybody else is support for the democratic process. We will tolerate nothing else.

QUESTION: (Totally inaudible)

AMBASSADOR GELBARD: I have outlined very clearly to President Milosevic the conditions for this. They include fulfillment of his commitments as a signatory to the Dayton Agreement to implement that agreement fully including full cooperation -- which means handing over indicted war criminals to The Hague tribunal, significantly greater progress on the issue of Kosovo, resolution of succession issues, and significant progress on issues related to internal democratization.

QUESTION: Can Montenegro, after today's visit, expect financial or economic assistance from the United States?

AMBASSADOR GELBARD: The United States is prepared to provide initially $2 million in assistance for support for political and economic programs. This will include technical assistance, it will include assistance for voter registration and other kinds of democracy programs, and, as I said, other assistance depends on further development and deepening of the democratic process and economic liberalization. If the economic situation begins to develop in a favorable way, along with appropriate political developments, we would certainly be prepared to help try to attract more investment to Montenegro.

QUESTION: What is the U.S. official stand toward the possibility of changes to the Yugoslav Constitution? Will you ask President Milosevic to recognize the victory of Djukanovic?

AMBASSADOR GELBARD: We already have urged President Milosevic to not just recognize the election of President-elect Djukanovic, but to support it and embrace it. Remember, I said that one of the conditions we have for making progress on the outer wall of sanctions is internal democratization and what happens in Montenegro comes within that context.

QUESTION: According to the official information that we heard, the meeting with Mr. Bulatovic lasted for a very short time but it means that he has very quickly understood the messages that you gave to him.

AMBASSADOR GELBARD: The meeting was not short; the meeting lasted quite a long time, but I think he understood the message -- because I repeated it. Maybe that's why the meeting was so long. I repeated it a lot, over and over and over again.

QUESTION: There's a widespread view in Montenegro that the U.S. supports the policy of Mr. Milosevic. How did it happen that the same political line you failed to support in Montenegro and Mr. Milosevic is President on the federal level?

AMBASSADOR GELBARD: I am confused. One of my professors at the university said to me: "Never question their logic, they're all very smart people." Always question their assumptions -- and your basic assumption here is wrong, sir. If we supported the policies of President Milosevic we would probably have diplomatic relations, among other things. And I doubt we would have the outer wall of sanctions. We have serious, serious concerns about the refusal of President Milosevic and others to allow an environment in which democracy can flourish in this country. We are deeply frustrated and angry with his refusal to hand over indicted war criminals to The Hague tribunal. We are frustrated, angry, and amazed about his unwillingness to seek a pacific solution in Kosovo. And we still need more help from him to carry out his commitments to support the implementation of the Dayton Agreement. Last question.

QUESTION: You are optimistic that this political development will have a democratic resolution in Montenegro. However, you know yourself that this is the Balkans and anything can happen.

AMBASSADOR GELBARD: -- Usually bad--[laughs].

QUESTION: And at the same time you say you will give every support to Montenegro. My question is: In fact of the radicalization of the situation in Montenegro and if Mr. Milosevic should impose a state of emergency, and that the Yugoslav army should impose martial law, would a NATO intervention be possible?

AMBASSADOR GELBARD: But first, I am always an optimist. Otherwise, I wouldn't be in this job. I believe fervently that everyone will have the good sense to allow democracy to flourish in Montenegro. The European Union just ended their trade preferences for this country; that has cost this country, as I understand it, $250 million in exports. The economy is getting much worse and the dinar is getting very bad. I saw that the Deputy Prime Minister the other day right here said that the trade deficit is quite serious and he's right. I don't think and I certainly hope that no one would be stupid enough to oppose the democratic process here because the situation would get much worse.

QUESTION: If Montenegro decided to take the course of independence or a higher degree of autonomy, what would be the position the United States?

AMBASSADOR GELBARD: As far as we are concerned, Montenegro is an integral part of the "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" and we don't see any alternative to that. Thank you.

[End of Document]

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