CLINTON: EUROPE TO TAKE LEAD ROLE.Byline: John M. Broder The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times On the eve On the Eve (Накануне in Russian) is the third novel by famous Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, best known for his short stories and the novel Fathers and Sons. of a key NATO NATO: see North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO in full North Atlantic Treaty Organization International military alliance created to defend western Europe against a possible Soviet invasion. decision on how to assemble a large peacekeeping force peacekeeping force n → fuerza de pacificación peacekeeping force n → forces fpl qui assurent le maintien de la paix for Yugoslavia For Yugoslavia (За Југославију) is a political alliance that existed in the Republic of Montenegro from the late 1990s to 2001. , President Clinton said Monday that Europeans would contribute most of the force and would pay most of the cost of rebuilding Yugoslavia. In a Memorial Day address at Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery, 420 acres (170 hectares), N Va., across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.; est. 1864. More than 60,000 American war dead, as well as notables including Presidents William Howard Taft and John F. Kennedy, Gen. John J. , Clinton said the decision to intervene in Kosovo was aimed at saving lives, including American lives. NATO military leaders are expected to finalize planning for the Yugoslav peacekeeping force at a meeting in Belgium today. The president stressed that a large majority of the troops in the force will come from other NATO nations and perhaps countries outside NATO like Russia and Ukraine. The force is expected to number about 50,000 troops, including roughly 7,000 Americans. ``I know that many Americans believe that this is not our fight,'' Clinton told an audience of active-duty and retired military personnel amid the crowded rows of bone-white crosses at Arlington cemetery Monday morning. ``But remember why many of the people are laying in these graves out here - because of what happened in Europe and because of what was allowed to go on too long before people intervened. What we are doing today will save lives, including American lives, in the future.'' In his 20-minute speech, Clinton made no mention of diplomatic efforts to resolve the Balkan conflict, which have followed a meandering course over the past month through Moscow, Helsinki, Berlin and Belgrade. But White House aides said Clinton spoke for 30 minutes Monday morning with Sergei Stepashin, the new Russian prime minister. Officials said the two discussed progress on the diplomatic front and agreed to a meeting today in Bonn among the three principal negotiators - Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland and Viktor Chernomyrdin, the Russian special envoy for the Balkans. The three diplomats are expected to brief Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany after their meeting, officials said. It is likely that Chernomyrdin and Ahtisaari will travel to Belgrade later in the week to speak with President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia, an administration official said. A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Stepashin initiated the call to Clinton and that the president was ``cautiously optimistic'' Monday that the talks in Europe this week Europe This Week is a business show aired on CNBC Europe, presented by Guy Johnson, from 6pm to 6:30pm CET (5pm to 5:30pm WET) on Fridays. Europe This Week could lead to some progress. He said some leaders detected ``a little movement'' by Milosevic toward accepting the NATO conditions for ending the bombing of Yugoslavia There were two aerial bombings of Yugoslavia in history.
Clinton used the Memorial Day address to repeat NATO's core demands for ending the aerial bombardment of Serbia, the dominant republic of what remains of Yugoslavia. Clinton said Serbia must withdraw its forces from the province of Kosovo, where they have been carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing that has displaced more than 1.5 million Kosovars of Albanian descent from their homes. He said the Kosovo refugees must be able to return home in peace. And he said Serbia's government must accept a peacekeeping force in Kosovo ``with NATO at its core.'' The president also replied to complaints from domestic critics on both the left and right that the United States had become excessively entangled en·tan·gle tr.v. en·tan·gled, en·tan·gling, en·tan·gles 1. To twist together or entwine into a confusing mass; snarl. 2. To complicate; confuse. 3. To involve in or as if in a tangle. in a regional conflict, now in its 10th week, that does not threaten vital American security or economic interests. ``In this military campaign the United States has borne a large share of the burden, as we must, because we have a greater capacity to bear that burden,'' Clinton said. ``But all Americans should know that we have been strongly supported by our European allies; that when the peacekeeping force goes in there, the overwhelming majority of people will be European; and that when the reconstruction begins, the overwhelming amount of investment will be European,'' he said. ``This is something we have done together.'' CAPTION(S): photo PHOTO President Clinton lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery; commemorates nameless war dead. [Am. Hist.: Brewer Dictionary, 1118] See : Burial Ground during Memorial Day ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery. Khue Bui/Associated Press |
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