Remarks at the opening session of the North Atlantic Council Summit

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, May 3, 1999

April 24, 1999

Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary General.

Yesterday, we recalled NATO's history, embraced our new members, deepened our unity and our determination to stand against ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and to build a broader transatlantic community that respects human rights of all ethnic and religious groups and offers all Europeans the chance to build better lives together.

I want to begin by thanking the Secretary General for his leadership. I thank all of you for your leadership and your unity, the foreign and defense ministers, General Naumann and General Clark and all the people in our governments who worked so hard to support our efforts. I know I speak for all of us when I say we are very proud of our men and women in uniform in the Balkans. And we remember today, especially, the three who are being held prisoner by Mr. Milosevic and who still have not received the Red Cross visits required by the Geneva Convention, even though he is on television in the United States saying they will receive them.

The crisis in Kosovo has underscored the importance of NATO and the imperative of modernizing our alliance for 21st century challenges. Today we will embrace a comprehensive plan to do just that, so that NATO can advance security and freedom for another 50 years by enhancing our capacity to address conflicts beyond our borders, by protecting our citizens from terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, by deepening our partnerships with other nations and helping new members enter through NATO's open doors. In preparing NATO for the 21st century, we will make our alliance even stronger.

Thank you very much.

NOTE: The President spoke at 9:21 a.m. in the Mellon Auditorium. In his remarks, he referred to Secretary General Javier Solana of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; Gen. Klaus Naumann, chairman, NATO Military Committee; Gen. Wesley K. Clark, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe; President Slobodan Milosevic of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro); and the three U.S. Army infantrymen in custody in Serbia: Staff Sgt. Andrew A. Ramirez, Staff Sgt. Christopher J. Stone, and Specialist Steven M. Gonzales. The transcript made available by the Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks of Secretary General Solana.