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of our Declaration of Independence, was Please join me in a toast to the President, looking for examples of democracy around to the Prime Minister, and the people of this the world, places where the people ruled. wonderful country. The President gave you a—what I would call a delicate version of the example pro- NOTE: The President spoke at 9:40 p.m. in the Dining Hall at Brdo Castle. In his remarks, he vided by the Corinthians to Thomas Jeffer- referred to Stefka Kucan, wife of President Kucan; son. You see, Thomas Jefferson loved the fact and Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek of Slovenia. that before assuming their titles, the old A tape was not available for verification of the dukes of Corinthia were ceremoniously content of these remarks. slapped by a local present to symbolize the right of the people to rebuff their leaders. Thomas Jefferson liked that. So did all future Remarks Following Discussions generations of Americans. [Laughter] Except With President Kiro Gligorov of they wait until after you’re in office to do Macedonia in Skopje it. [Laughter] June 22, 1999 Well, democracy is going strong again in Slovenia, and still your efforts inspire Ameri- Thank you very much, Mr. President, Mr. cans. We are grateful for the many contribu- Prime Minister, leaders of the Macedonian tions of Slovenians to the strength and tex- Government and political life, parties in Par- ture of our country, and we are grateful for liament who were freely elected last Novem- the partnership that unites us today. ber. I thank the President for his statement and This spring, as both the President and the would like to reply by saying that I came here Prime Minister have said, that partnership for two reasons. First, I want to thank the met a great test. For the fourth time in this leaders and the people of Macedonia for decade, Mr. Milosevic and Serbia launched helping a just cause to prevail in Kosovo, for a brutal campaign of violence, threatening giving shelter and hope to the Kosovar refu- the progress the people of this region have gees, and for welcoming our NATO troops worked so hard to achieve. As you know from who came here to help those refugees. the daily television reports, the full horror NATO could not have achieved its mission of that campaign is only now becoming clear. without you; the people of Kosovo would not I would like to thank the President and be going home to security and autonomy the Prime Minister for all that you have done without you. I came here, as much as any- to protect democracy and the tolerance it thing else, to say thank you. needs to thrive. Now that ethnic cleansing Second, I came here because I believe the has been defeated in Kosovo, we must build United States, our NATO Allies and, indeed, something better in its place throughout Eu- all nations of the world who support the re- rope, and especially in southeastern Europe. versal of ethnic cleansing and respect for You know, every leader likes to talk of the human rights and minority rights have a re- future, but today in your Congress Square sponsibility to help Macedonia to overcome I saw the future in the faces of the young the economic hardships that the recent crisis people who braved the rains to express their has imposed and to return to a path to pros- support for our shared dreams. I saw those perity and even stronger democracy and free- who will lead a free Slovenia into the new dom. millennium. Already, our total aid to Macedonia has Your history is enshrined in this magnifi- more than tripled over last year to $72 mil- cent castle we enjoy this evening, but your lion; and today we will provide another $12 future is in those young people. And it is in million in food commodities. In the months good hands. ahead, we will do more. But we are also com- So I ask you now to rededicate yourselves mitted to the restoration of economic oppor- to the dreams which brought the people out tunity and jobs in Macedonia. Today I am in the rain today. We owe it to them, to our delighted that an executive of the American forebears, and to generations yet unborn. company Liz Claiborne came with the First

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Lady here to Macedonia to follow up on her who have shared time with my family and trip and to announce that they would be re- me, all these children and their parents. And opening facilities and employing somewhere I would like to say a special word of apprecia- between 2,000 and 3,000 of your people. We tion to all the workers here who have come will encourage other American businesses from all over the world to help you recover now to look at Macedonia as a model of sta- your lives. I thank them very much. bility at the end of the conflict in Kosovo. The second thing I would like to say is Finally, Mr. President, let me reaffirm that I have brought with me a number of once more our belief that in order to build people who helped me make sure the United a future of freedom and prosperity, in which States and NATO did the right thing by the human rights and minority rights are every- people of Kosovo, and they are also very where respected, in which nations are not proud to be here. And I want to thank them, torn apart by yesterday’s hatreds and vio- and I hope you will thank them—Mr. Berger lence, we must make this Stability Pact a suc- and all the other people on our team—be- cess. We must create real opportunities for cause we’re proud of what we did because ordinary citizens throughout southeastern we think it’s what America stands for, that Europe. And the United States is committed no one ever, ever should be punished and to doing that. discriminated against or killed or uprooted But the thing that is even more important, because of their religion or their ethnic herit- Mr. President, is that the Macedonian people age. And we are honored to be here with and leaders are committed to that kind of you. future. I think it is worth noting that this I just want to say a couple of more words country is not ethnically homogeneous. It has before the rain comes down. The first thing its own challenges. And yet, in spite of that, is that we are committed not only to making you were willing to take these refugees— 300,000 of them; 50,000 have already gone Kosovo safe but to helping people rebuild home. You bore this burden at great cost and their lives, rebuild their communities, and considerable risk so that we could together then to helping Kosovo and all the countries pursue a vision of southeastern Europe very of the region build a brighter, more pros- different from what the horrible ethnic perous future based on respect for the cleansing in Bosnia and Kosovo represent. human rights of all people. We have stopped that; now it is time to Now, I promised all these wonderful peo- build that better future. And I pledge to you, ple from all over the world who are here sir, that the United States will work with you, working for you that I would also say this: and we will do this together. I know a lot of people are anxious to go Thank you. home. Many have already left. But you know there are still a lot of landmines in the NOTE: The President spoke at approximately 1:48 ground, on the routes into Kosovo, and in p.m. in the President’s Ceremonial Office at the many of the communities. We are bringing Parliament Building. In his remarks, he referred in the best people in the world to take those to Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski of Macedo- mines up. Every year the United States does nia; and Paul R. Charron, chairman and chief ex- more than half that work all around the ecutive officer, Liz Claiborne, Inc. The transcript world. It is hard work; it is dangerous work. made available by the Office of the Press Sec- retary also included the remarks of President You have suffered enough. I don’t want any Gligorov. child hurt. I don’t want anyone else to lose a leg or an arm or a child because of a land- mine. Remarks to Kosovar Refugees at So I ask you, please be patient with us. Stenkovic I Refugee Camp in Skopje Give us a couple of more weeks to take the June 22, 1999 landmines up, if the people here ask you to do that, because you are going to be able Thank you. Thank you very much. First to go back in safety and security. I want to of all, I would like to thank all the people make sure it is a happy return.

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