U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE DAILY PRESS BRIEFING (May 12, 1995)

From: hristu@arcadia.harvard.edu (Dimitrios Hristu)

Subject: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE DAILY PRESS BRIEFING (May 12, 1995)

David Johnson

DEPARTMENT/STATEMENT

[...]

FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

Bosnia

-  Update on Fighting ...............................  3

-  Wounding of French Peacekeeper ...................  3-4

-  Recent Remarks by A/S Holbrooke, Amb. Albright ...  3

-  Dual Key Arrangement .............................  3-4

-  Report of UN Secretary General/FM Juppe Mtg. .....  4

-  Contact Group Meeting ............................  4-5

DPB #68

[...]

Q David, what do you have on the situation in Bosnia, particularly around Sarajevo? Are things as grim as they are reported to be?

MR. JOHNSON: The reports that I have indicate that fighting involving Bosnian Government, Bosnian-Croat, and Bosnian-Serb forces continues in the Orasje pocket and Posavina in Northeast Bosnia, and that sniping and mortar fire continue in and around Sarajevo.

The United States Government wishes to express its sorrow and outrage at the grave wounding of a French peacekeeper in a sniping incident in Sarajevo yesterday. The French contingent has sacrificed greatly in carrying out a dangerous humanitarian and peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. We continue to believe that UNPROFOR has done a good job under extremely difficult circumstances.

Assistant Secretary Holbrooke spoke about air strikes in the context yesterday of the slow but sure strangulation of Sarajevo, a matter we have discussed in great detail in recent days, particularly, Assistant Secretary Holbrooke and Ambassador Albright.

Mr. Holbrooke urged the U.N. to call on NATO for assistance to prevent that strangulation from continuing. He also said that NATO support is vital for U.N. operations and without it the U.N. could be driven out of Bosnia.

QQ Well, the dual key arrangement is still in effect around Sarajevo, right?

MR. JOHNSON: That is correct.

QQ And UNPROFOR has said that they are not going to turn their key.

MR. JOHNSON: And we have made our feelings known about that and encouraged them to reconsider their opinion.

QQ And have they said that they would?

MR. JOHNSON: I don't have anything of a further reaction from them on that.

QQ Is this part of the -- do you think that the dual key is one of the things that is pushing Boutros-Ghali to call for a relook at the policy?

MR. JOHNSON: I'll let the U.N. Secretary General's spokesman talk about what his reasons are for calling for a review of the policy. Clearly the dual key approach has been a complicating factor, although we have recognized all along that in order to protect troops on the ground, you need to have the cooperation and permission of their commander to do so. And so whatever formulation may be worked out in the future, whether it is for Bosnia or any other future mission where the U.N. and NATO or the United States and the U.N. are involved, would need to take account of that concrete fact, and that is that people have to be protected who are on the ground.

There may be other reasons for the Secretary General to want to reconsider the issue related to various remarks others have made about the continuity of their forces in the region, but I'll leave that up to the U.N. to describe for you.

QQ Have we encouraged the U.N. to review the policy?

MR. JOHNSON: I'm unaware of anything specific on that, excepting our very public statements by our Ambassador to the U.N. concerning their failure to call in NATO air support in the last few days.

QDavid, do you have anything on the meeting between Boutros- Ghali and Alain Juppe in Paris, anything regarding the Chirac Government's policy toward retaining their troops or removing their troops from Bosnia?

MR. JOHNSON: We have made ourselves clear on a number of occasions in the past how much we admire the work that the French peacekeeping contingent has been doing, and I just said earlier today how outraged we were -- and are -- at the sniping incident yesterday which gravely wounded a French peacekeeper, but I think I'll leave it to Mr. Juppe's spokesman and the U.N. spokesman to comment on U.N.-French meetings.

Q Okay, but the French have not informed us directly as to the results of this meeting or to the new policy of the new French Government.

MR. JOHNSON: I'm unaware of any such conversation, and also would note that the new French Government is still a few days from taking office.

Q A couple of questions on --

MR. JOHNSON: Can we finish with this?

Q Do you have anything, any read-out on the Contact Group meeting today?

MR. JOHNSON: I don't. I would note for you that Contact Group political directors met today in Frankfurt to continue discussions on a package which provides some sanctions relief for Milosevic in return for his recognition of Bosnia, and enhanced efforts to monitor the border closure between Bosnia and Serbia. They also discussed the precarious security situation both in Bosnia and Croatia.

Assistant Secretary Holbrooke, who is the United States' representative at that meeting, is enroute to New York right now, and we awaiting his return for a more detailed read- out.

Q David, do you have any sense that Milosevic is closer to saying yes than he has been?

MR. JOHNSON: I don't want to characterize that reaction in light of the fact that I have --

Q There are reports that they were making progress on working out a package with Milosevic.

MR. JOHNSON: The work is continuing. The Contact Group having met today, though, and me not having a full read-out on that, I think it would preclude me from trying to give you a very helpful indication on that. We are hopeful and we are continuing to work.

Q Are you also aware of a report from the U.N. that some people in Bihac have been so long without food that they were asking the U.N. for poison to put themselves out of that misery --

MR. JOHNSON: That's a not a report that I'm familiar with, no.

[...]

(The briefing concluded at 1:41 p.m.)

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