Letter to Congressional Leaders on Additional Measures Against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)

Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)

On May 30, 1992, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq., and the National Emergencies Act (NEA), 50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq., President Bush exercised his statutory authority to issue Executive Order No. 12808, declaring a national emergency with respect to the actions and policies of the Governments of Serbia and Montenegro and blocking Yugoslav Government property.

On June 5, 1992, pursuant to the above authorities, as well as section 1114 of the Federal Aviation Act (49 U.S.C. App. 1514), and section 5 of the United Nations Participation Act of 1945, as amended (UNPA), (22 U.S.C. 287c), the President exercised his statutory authority to issue Executive Order No. 12810, blocking property of, and prohibiting transactions with, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). This latter action was taken to ensure that the economic measures taken by the United States with respect to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) conform to United Nations Security Council Resolution 757 of May 30, 1992.

On January 15, 1993, President Bush exercised his statutory authority under IEEPA, the UNPA, and the NEA to issue Executive Order No. 12831 to impose additional economic measures with respect to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolutions 757 of May 30, 1992, and 787 of November 16, 1992. Those additional measures prohibited transactions related to transshipments through the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), as well as transactions related to vessels owned or controlled by persons or entities in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro).

On April 25, 1993, I exercised my statutory authority under IEEPA, the UNPA, and the NEA to issue Executive Order No. 12846 to impose additional economic measures with respect to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolutions 757 of May 30, 1992, 787 of November 16, 1992, and 820 of April 17, 1993. These additional measures blocked the property of businesses in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; charged owners or operators of property blocked under Executive Orders Nos. 12808, 12810, 12831, or 12846 all expenses incident to the blocking and maintenance of such property; ordered the detention; pending investigation, of all nonblocked vessels suspected of violating United Nations Security Council Resolutions 713, 757, 787, or 820 and the blocking of such conveyances or cargos if a violation is determined to have been committed; prohibited any vessel registered in the United States from entering the territorial waters of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; and prohibited United States persons from engaging in any dealings relating to the shipment of goods to, from, or through the United Nations Protected Areas in the Republic of Croatia and areas in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the control of Bosnian Serb forces.

On September 23, 1994, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 942, which requires the imposition of additional measures on the areas of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the control of the Bosnian Serb forces due to their refusal to accept the proposed territorial settlement of the conflict in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On October 25, 1994, pursuant to the above authorities, I expanded the scope of the national emergency declared in Executive Order No. 12808 to address the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States posed by the actions of the Bosnian Serb forces and the authorities in the areas of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina under their control and imposed additional measures in those areas to conform to United Nations Security Council Resolution 942 (1994).

The new Executive order:

—blocks all property and interests in property of (and transactions with): (1) the Bosnian Serb forces and authorities in those areas of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the control of those forces; (2) any entity organized or located in the Bosnian Serb-controlled areas; (3) any entity, wherever organized or located, which is owned or controlled directly or indirectly by any person in, or resident in, the Bosnian Serbcontrolled areas; or (4) any person acting for or on behalf of any person mentioned above;

—prohibits the exportation or provision of services by United States persons to Bosnian Serb-controlled areas or to any person for the purposes of any business carried out in those areas;

—prohibits vessels registered in the United States or owned or controlled by United States persons from entering the riverine ports of the Bosnian Serb-controlled areas; and

—prohibits any transaction that evades or avoids or has the purpose of evading or avoiding, or attempts to violate, any of the prohibitions of the order.

In addition, this order authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to take such actions and to employ all powers granted to me by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the United Nations Participation Act as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of the order, including the issuance of licenses authorizing transactions otherwise prohibited. The sanctions imposed in the order apply notwithstanding any preexisting contracts, international agreements, licenses or authorizations.

The new Executive order is necessary to confirm our commitment to a negotiated settlement of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia that preserves the territorial integrity of all the states there within their internationally recognized borders; to respond to the continued refusal of the Bosnian Serb party to accept the proposed territorial settlement accepted by the other parties; and to implement mandatory United Nations Security Council measures imposed on the Bosnian Serbs under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations in order to urge them to accept the proposed territorial settlement unconditionally and in full.

The declaration of the national emergency made by Executive Order No. 12808 and the controls imposed under Executive Orders Nos. 12810, 12831, and 12846, and any other provisions of those orders, to the extent that they are not modified by or inconsistent with this new order, remain in full force and are unaffected by this order.

Sincerely,

WILLIAM J. CLINTON