THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ______________________________________________________________ BACKGROUND BRIEFING BY SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL April 19, 1994 The Roosevelt Room 5:30 P.M. EDT SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I'll be very quick, and I'll do it in a kind of shorthand and just ask the questions I can be most helpful on. And I'll either answer them or evade them. The President met again this afternoon for about an hour and a half. His advisors came back to him with refined options after the meeting this morning. We have developed initiatives that we will be taking to the North Atlantic Council probably within the next few days. We will also be consulting either this evening or tomorrow morning with our allies in Europe, with Moscow, and in New York at the United Nations. The initiatives will be both diplomatic and -- are considering both diplomatic and military issues. One of the initiatives that we will be discussing with others, although this is not an issue for the NAC, will be how we can tighten the sanctions in the wake of the events at Gorazde. Again, I emphasize that this is not the only thing we're doing, it is one of the things we will be doing. And we will also be continuing to consult with the Congress this evening and tomorrow. Questions. Q What's the military initiative? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: As before, we prefer to take it to the allies before taking it to you. Q Is it fair to say -- the President today indicated that there was some variation of a plan that was proposed by the Boutros Boutros-Ghali yesterday. Is that -- SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: It would certainly address the issues that Boutros-Ghali raised, yes. Q Did he decide on air strikes? Did he make any formal decisions? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We will be making initiatives to the NAC that would be responsive to Boutros-Ghali's -- but I cannot say -- Q Did they go beyond -- SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I can't get into the details. Q Is it fair to say that you're not rejecting the concept? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: No, we're not rejecting the concept. Q Right now the Serbs are shelling Gorazde. They're moving elsewhere, and what you've said is -- I would read, if I were them, as encouragement to go a little further. Is there anything you can tell us that would discourage the Serbs now from continuing to shell Gorazde and moving elsewhere in Bosnia to take territory? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I can't imagine why, if you were a Serb, you would find encouragement in what I just said. Q Because you said before that you were going to tighten sanctions, and they're really afraid of that -- and that you would consult with allies. SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I said in the next sentence that is not the only thing we are doing -- Q Well, tell us please, or tell them please -- if you won't tell us, then tell them through us what it is that they might fear if they go further in their attacks. SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: As I said, we will be going to the North Atlantic Council with new initiatives that will involve both military and diplomatic issues. I don't know how words could be plainer than that. It is very important here that we combine both the military and power relationships on the ground with the diplomatic. The use of power without diplomatic ends is purposeless, and the use of diplomacy without power will fail. Q Are there new diplomatic initiatives in this package? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Did you say something to me? Q Did you want to put that on the record? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Sure. Q What is "sure"? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: If you want to put on the record -- Q What did you say sure to? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: No, I'm saying sure to -- I'm sorry. It was suggested that I -- Q Are there new diplomatic initiatives in this package, things we did not get see? Or is it an expansion of existing -- such as the Muslim and Croat agreement and other things that you've done? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, the diplomatic goals remain the same. But we will be suggesting diplomatic ways of proceeding now to try to get the negotiations back on track. Q? Will the President attend a summit with Boris Yeltsin? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: He'll address that issue this afternoon -- Q Have you made a decision? Q? What is your goal? What is the ultimate goal -- just to simply stop the fighting, roll back any Serb gains? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: The ultimate goal here is to achieve a settlement of the Bosnian conflicts through negotiation among the parties. And it is our view that you cannot do that without addressing the military issues on the ground. And again, the key here is to harness power and diplomacy. Q On what terms would you settle? Status quo or -- SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: As we have said many times, the settlement has to be achieved by the parties. We are not going to dictate to the Bosnian government or anybody else what that would be. What we could is, through NATO, to help create the conditions under which the parties can achieve such a settlement. In the end, the end of the war will only come through a negotiated agreement. But our judgment is there will not be a negotiated agreement unless we have addressed the military situation. Q Is there some sort of drawing of the line in your proposal -- some people would call it an ultimatum to the Serbs that they have to stop doing certain things without being specific about it? Q Is lifting the arms embargo included in what -- Q address any aspect of how tough this proposal is on the Serbs when they get a chance to see it? Can you address how they ought to view it? I mean, obviously seriously, but -- SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Seriously. Q Just to follow onto what Jack just asked, today Boris Yeltsin came out with a very strong demand that the Serbs pull back outside Gorazde and relinquish the territory that they've gained in the last week or so. Is that addressed in your proposal? Is that one of the things that you talk about in what you're taking to the Council? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We need to look at not only what happens in Gorazde, but what happens beyond Gorazde as well. And our initiatives will be addressing the larger issues. We very much welcomed what Yeltsin said . Let me add that what is important here is not what the Bosnian Serbs, or anybody else says, but what they do. And we would hope after the events of the last weekend that our allies, and apparently the Russians and others, have reached the same conclusion -- that is acts, not words, that matter now. Q Are you feeling the allies will go along, especially the French and Brits with troops on the ground? I was thinking of the NATO initiative -- SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Last August and at the NATO Summit and before the Sarajevo ultimatum, we worked things through very well with our allies, and we would expect that we can work them through here with similar success. Q Is your reluctance to spell out right now the military initiatives tied to the fact that you first want to get the allies on board, so that you don't float something that they shoot down in the next 12 hours, which has happened before in regard to Bosnia? Is that why you're being cagey? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We believe that we owe it to them to present the initiatives to them before we present initiatives through the press. That is simply the best way for allies to deal with each other. Q What about an international conference? Q Did you talk about the hostages and the implications of air strikes on those U.N. hostages? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I'm sorry? Q The implications of air strikes on the U.N. hostages -- how can you deal with that dilemma? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: This has been, obviously, a -- factor for the United Nations, and we will be discussing with them in Bosnia how best we can deal with the situation of UNPROFOR personnel whose freedom has been -- Q? What about an international conference? Both Boris Yeltsin, who has now seems to have come around to a stronger position on the Serbs and proposed this conference, as well as the French who have the largest number of peacekeepers on the ground in Bosnia, are pressing very, very hard for the idea of an international conference quickly. Over the weekend we were told by senior administration officials and again yesterday that it was premature. President Clinton seemed to suggest that he was moving more in that direction. How do we read what the President said today? Are we now on board for an international conference and one in the next few days? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Our view is that we -- as the President said, this has some potential, but that you need to have prepared it very carefully; and that the conference, a conference at whatever level, can be best assured of success if you have -- if you're already in the process of addressing the military issues on the ground. Q Are any new U.N. resolutions required for any part of this -- Q Could he finish the question. Q Are you finished -- Q Well, can I follow up, then, with my question? So are you saying, you go to the NAC, you discuss the military and diplomatic, and then in a very short turn you would then be ready to go to an international conference; or do you feel there have to be other diplomatic initiatives taken before the ground is laid for an international conference? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We have to talk that through with our allies. Q want to know whether that's going to be on the agenda. SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: What? Q Whether the international conference is going to be on the agenda when you go to Europe or -- SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: It is on the agenda, as the President said this afternoon, in our consultations with the others. Q I just wonder whether it's serious, whether it really is getting serious consideration or whether -- SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes, again, I'm not specifying the level at which it would take place, but it is getting serious consideration. But there needs to be -- Q The NAC meets tomorrow. They meet every Wednesday. SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: That is not necessarily the NAC meeting that -- Q Could you say that -- we can't hear that. SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: That will not -- tomorrow's NAC meeting is not necessarily the NAC meeting that will address this. As I said, we will -- Q Tomorrow is the ambassadors meeting, right? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes. And we'll see, as I said, within the next few days, I think we would see this NAC meeting. But we have to consult with them -- Q Will Christopher go the NAC to make the presentation? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Not decided. Q At what level -- Q Could it be Bob Hunter or -- SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: If you recall, the last couple of times around, which were very successful, it was done through ambassadors. So we'll just have to see what is the most useful forum -- the level of American representation at the NAC meeting should not -- I repeat not -- be seen as a signal of our seriousness in bringing forward these proposals. And let me again emphasize that in August and at the NATO Summit and before Sarajevo, we had very successful meetings at different levels. Q Is any additional U.N. activity required? Q The most successful summit was when the President was there in Brussels. SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: It was very successful in getting the Sarajevo ultimatum. Q What is the policy in this interim period between the time you present these proposals and the time they're presumably adopted by the NAC? What is the policy in the next three or four days regarding intervening in Gorazde and protecting safe havens elsewhere? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Our policy is what is has been, which is that NATO and we are prepared to do everything that we are asked to do. And we have taken every opportunity, both privately and publicly to make that clear to the U.N. authorities. Q Does the Security Council need to take any further action in order to implement the proposals that you're putting before the NAC? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: It may turn out to be desirable. It is not, in our view, legally required. Q Will the President make an announcement of this policy in some way, and if so, in what format? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I have no doubt that the President will be speaking on this issue in the coming days. Q To the nation? Q Is he going make a speech on TV? Do we need to alert the network? (Laughter.) SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Not tonight or tomorrow morning. Q What's the appraisal here -- the assessment here of the threat to the civilians, in Gorazde especially? And in these two meetings now, has there been any discussion of what the public sentiment -- I mean, asked discourteously would be is the administration factoring in whether this will play in Peoria? Or it going to do what it thinks is ethically and diplomatically and militarily the wise thing to do? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: What matters both in Bosnia and here is how well we can succeed and we, NATO, can succeed in addressing the substance of the problems. That's what matters and that's what we've been discussing today. On the situation in Gorazde, yes, there is a serious humanitarian problem there; yes, we discussed that both this morning and this afternoon. Ambassador Albright is talking to the people at the U.N. to find out what their plans are to address this, and how we can be most helpful. Q? Do we think the peacekeepers should stay at least for the short run in Bosnia? I mean, the poor French couldn't do everything -- SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: The UNPROFOR troops? Q Yes. SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes, so they have been performing a valuable function. Q Well, I mean, you know, they're helpless when the Serbs come and storm an arsenal. Someone at State said they would have been slaughtered if they had put up any defense. They have to give way. Is there a point to keeping them? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, there was a case two days ago in which a British unit was attacked and responded and took out a number of bunkers, so it's a mixed -- Q I wanted to follow up on this issue of the Serbs' behavior in Sarajevo, and what is your thinking about that? What's your understanding of the situation? Do you think that truce is breaking down? What are you going to do about the Serbs -- in flagrant violation seizing back some of the -- SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We discussed that also both this morning and this afternoon. General Shalikashvili has been in touch with our own people and NATO commanders at various levels. I don't think I can tell you exactly what it is that we discussed, but this was a violation and needs to be addressed. Q What can you tell us about the tone of this mix of diplomatic and military action or proposal that you're going to make which will keep the Serbs from thinking that it is another allied -- something the President addressed earlier today. What are you going to do to keep them from perceiving it that way? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, you have two recent events. One is Sarajevo, which they obviously took very seriously and succeeded; and another is Gorazde in which the actions that were possible both under the current rules of engagement and because of the weather did not succeed. And so one can draw -- Q Do you have a new ultimatum? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: What? Q Is there going to be a new ultimatum? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I can't get into -- Q What are the serious military issues that you think NATO needs to address? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, as I said, certainly one of them is how to make sure that the Sarajevo exclusion zone is observed. And a second is to be responsive to Boutros- Ghali's -- Q Do you have an agreement with the Russians to consult with them before any action is taken? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: There are two situations here. When the President spoke to Yeltsin at the time of the Sarajevo ultimatum, he said that he would do everything he could, or words to that effect, to consult the before military action was taken. When it comes to close air support at the request of UNPROFOR, pursuant to Security Council resolutions that were passed unanimously by the Security Council, those are very quick tactical moves, and we cannot promise, although we try, to keep the Russians informed, although the Russians have representatives at UNPROFOR so that they know when these things -- MS. MYERS: I think this is a good place to wrap it up. Q that's all completely on background. MS. MYERS: Except for you had -- there was one quote that -- Q Can you just -- briefings of Congress? What is the President doing tonight? Is he calling on leaders -- SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: He's been on the phone. Q And is he calling Mitterrand, is he calling Major today, tomorrow -- SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: No, we'll in touch at other levels. And there will be a lot of calls to congressional leadership. Q What about the congressional leaders, staff level? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We'll be calling them -- Q Is it fair to assume -- Q Do you see any potential for immediate action in the field? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I'm sorry? Q Do you see any indication or potential for immediate action in the field? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: That could happen at any moment in terms of close air support. And now , on anything else, we will go -- well, close air support, it could happen at any moment always, by definition. And, as I said repeatedly in this room some weeks ago, the Sarajevo ultimatum did not end that Sunday evening. That is an existing policy. Q But as a result of this meeting today. SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: As I said, new initiatives, we go to the NAC. Q Are you considering an Oval Office address or something sometime in the next few days, this week? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Let's see where we go. Q Is it fair to assume that the President, in effect, gave -- to these -- in this military initiatives contingent on the allies going along? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, we have always said that we are not going to take unilateral military action, but it's not contingent on the allies going along. We have some initiatives -- Q That you're going to propose? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: The President believes that we have gained the progress we have made in Sarajevo; we've been getting the Bosnian-Croat accord through American leadership; and that we must and will continue to exercise that leadership with our allies in the days and weeks to come. Q Have the allies changed -- Q Well, when Chris went over there last year, he was basically told, go away -- the Europeans weren't interested. SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Let me remind you that since then, there is the August 2nd and August 9th decisions. There is the reiteration of the Sarajevo decisions of August at the NATO Summit; and there was the Sarajevo ultimatum. Q What I'm asking, though, is what's changed? Is your presentation going to be different? Are the ideas different? Or are the Europeans changing? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We have some new initiatives here. We think the situation in Gorazde has changed -- things on the ground and, we assume, in the way others look on this issue. Are you saying have we been -- are we now being somehow inconsistent in bringing new initiatives? No, we are not. We are building on the situation -- Q Well, do you think our NATO allies -- Q whether or not the President is leading and going to do things on his own, or whether this is going to be one of those situations where you go over there and the Europeans tell you no? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Leading and gaining a new alliance consensus as previously -- Q Well, do you think our NATO allies, particularly France and Britain, would support an idea to expand the exclusion zones into the other state barriers? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I'm not going to -- THE PRESS: Thank you. END5:53 P.M. EDT