Remarks at the Opening of the North Atlantic Council Meeting on Kosovo

Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary General. Mr. Secretary General, fellow leaders, let me begin by welcoming you warmly to the United States. We are honored to host this 50th Anniversary Summit of NATO. We meet to honor NATO's past, to chart its future, to reaffirm our mission in Kosovo, where NATO is defending our values and our vision of a Europe free, undivided, and at peace.

Today we send a clear message of unity and determination: to sustain our air campaign for as long as it takes; to stand firm in our conditions for ending it; to pursue diplomatic initiatives to meet those conditions; to increase political and economic pressure against the regime in Belgrade; to stand by the frontline nations threatened by Belgrade's actions; and to work with them for stability, democracy, and prosperity in southeastern Europe, so that when Mr. Milosevic's vision for the future is defeated, a better one can rise in its place.

We will seek to do this together with our European partners, and with Ukraine and with Russia. We will make clear what is at stake. Mr. Milosevic's forces burn and loot homes and murder innocent people; our forces deliver food and shelter and hope to the displaced. Mr. Milosevic fans the flames of anger between nations and peoples; we are an Alliance of 19 nations, uniting 780 million people of many faiths and ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds. Mr. Milosevic knows only one way to achieve his aims, through force; we have done everything we could to resolve this matter peacefully.

But when we fight, we fight to prevail—to prevail in this conflict and to build the undivided, democratic Europe that the founders of NATO envisioned 50 years ago.

Thank you, and welcome again.