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Message from U.S. Sec State Madeleine K. Albright I am pleased to be able to support this website outlining the activities of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, which the United States strongly supports. In July 1999, President Clinton and other leaders of the international community gathered in Sarajevo. They agreed to develop a common strategy for regional stability and growth. The Stability Pact is a straightforward bargain: the international community will work to integrate the countries of the region into the European and transatlantic mainstream; the countries of the region will work together to create the conditions by which this can be possible. There are early signs that the Stability Pact bargain is working. Stability Pact countries have launched an Anti-Corruption Initiative and intensified cooperation to fight cross-border crime. An "Investment Compact" has been established to create conditions conducive to private enterprise. The European Commission has declared its intention to devote close to 12 billion Euros in the region between 2000 and 2006. Other initiatives are under way in the areas of economics, security, democratization and human rights. But much remains to be done in the months ahead to turn this initial promise into on-the-ground realities. The countries of the region must implement the commitments that they have made. And we must put the international community's economic and financial resources to work to make a visible and real improvement in people's lives. A peaceful, stable and prosperous southeastern Europe is not possible without a new Serbia. This is why the United States and our European partners are supporting the forces of democratic change within Serbia, by calling for early free and fair elections at all levels, and providing support for a free press, independent labor unions, and local nongovernmental organizations. When true democracy comes to Serbia, the isolation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia will end, and international economic assistance will start to flow. Our hopes are high for a stable, democratic, and prosperous southeastern Europe. There are no easy solutions. But a majority of states in the region are now democratic; there is a shared understanding that violent conflict is unacceptable; and there is a strong interest from the international community to see southeastern Europe fully integrated into the Euro-Atlantic community. The United States will do its part, as we work with our Allies and partners in pursuit of a Europe whole, free and at peace. |
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