THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                           (Yulee, Florida)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                       May 27, 1999

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

I welcome the decision of the International War Crimes Tribunal to indict Slobodan Milosevic and four other senior Serbian leaders for crimes against humanity and war crimes. It will reassure the victims of Belgrade's atrocities in Kosovo and it will deter future war crimes by establishing that those who give the orders will be held accountable. It will make clear to the Serbian people who is responsible for this conflict and who is prolonging it. I call on all nations to support the Tribunal's decision and to cooperate with its efforts to seek justice.

For six years, the United States has strongly supported the work of the Tribunal, and urged it to pursue its investigation of war crimes in the former Yugoslavia as far up the chain of command as the evidence leads. The Congress recently approved my request for supplemental funding for the Tribunal, which will provide $9 million for the Tribunal trust fund, $4 million for technology that will speed up our providing information to the tribunal, $10 million to interview Kosovar refugees, and $5 million for forensic teams to go into Kosovo once conditions there allow the gathering of evidence.

The objectives of NATO's military effort remain unchanged. The Kosovar refugees must be able to go home with security and self-government; Serb forces must leave Kosovo; and an international security force with NATO at its core must deploy. We intend to persist with our efforts until our objectives are achieved.

30-30-30