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Stability Pact Summit ends

Countries
Serbia
+ 1 more
Sources
Govt. BiH
Publication date

The First Stability Pact Summit concluded with the adoption of the Declaration agreed by the Heads of State and Government of the participating and facilitating countries of the Stability Pact and the Principals of participating and facilitating International Organizations and Agencies and regional initiatives. In fifteen points, the Declaration sets out the principles to which the participating countries commit themselves in order to achieve economic and political reform, development and enhanced security in the region, through democratization and the protection of human rights, transition to a market economy, establishment of the rule of law, and regional cooperation.

President Clinton addresses the Summit

President Clinton, in his speech, drew a contrast between the positive experience of certain post-communist countries in the past decade and the horrors of war in the former Yugoslavia, laying the blame firmly on Slobodan Milosevic. The world's leaders have come together at the Summit, he said, to ensure a better future, based on two fundamental principles. First, this Summit is a step towards a united Europe, with borders that unite, not divide. Second, the transformation and integration of the region of South Eastern Europe cannot be achieved piecemeal, but only as a joint project for the region as a whole. He outlined the support to which the USA has so far committed itself and which it intends to provide in the future, and called upon the European Union to take similar measures to support the process of economic development and integration in the region. He emphasized that the NATO action in Kosovo had not been an attack on the Serbian people, but a step towards ensuring a secure and prosperous future for all the peoples of the region, and said that Serbia would be a welcome member of the Stability Pact as soon as Milosevic was no longer in power and a democratic regime was introduced.

World's leaders address the media

After the conclusion of the First Summit of the Stability Pact in Sarajevo, a number of the world's leaders responded to questions from the media. German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, expressing his conviction that the Stability Pact is a good start to the process of economic development in the region, said that it would not be possible without both foreign and private investment. The priority task of the Pact countries is to build an economically and politically stable region, which can be achieved only with long-term assistance to the region in an integrated Europe. British Prime Minister Tony Blair also emphasized economic development and foreign investment, calling for barriers to free trade in the region and in Europe to be removed. French Premier Jacques Chirac acknowledged the need for Europe to commit itself to improving economic and political relations between the countries of South Eastern Europe, which will also, one day, become members of the European Union.

President Clinton visits Third Gymnasium in Sarajevo

After holding a number of bilateral meetings, along with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, with senior members of the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its Entities, President Clinton visited the Third Gymnasium in Sarajevo, receiving an enthusiastic welcome and a gift from its pupils.

Serbian Orthodox Bishop Artemije

Speaking at a press conference after the Summit, Bishop Artemije said, "Unless the regime of Slobodan Milosevic is replaced, none of the problems in the region will be resolved on a principled and just basis."

=A9 Copyrights Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BIH