THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY

National Security Advisor Samuel Berger announced today the appointment of Gregory L. Schulte as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Southeast European Affairs. He succeeds Ambassador Chris Hill, who is departing to be the United States Ambassador to Poland.

Mr. Schulte is from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he most recently served as a Principal Director under the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Threat Reduction. Mr. Schulte previously served on the NSC staff from 1998 to 1999 when he was responsible for overseeing implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords in Bosnia, efforts to counter the growing violence in Kosovo, the Kosovo air campaign, and the subsequent establishment of an international military and civilian presence. From 1992 to 1998, Mr. Schulte was assigned to the NATO International Staff in Brussels, Belgium. As Director of the Bosnia Task Force, Mr. Schulte was intimately involved in the preparation and oversight of NATO's first "out of area" operations, including its initial aerial and maritime monitoring activities, the later warnings and conduct of air strikes, and the eventual deployment of IFOR and SFOR. Mr. Schulte was originally assigned to the International Staff in 1992 as Director for Nuclear Planning. Prior to that, he served in the Pentagon as Director for Strategic Forces Policy and as an Assistant for Theater Nuclear Forces Policy.

30-30-30