(Friday) night, a great deal of what was done was done accurately and professionally. Of course, everything is overshadowed, as we expect, by this one very, very bad mistake. |
(The) refugees have said time and time again that they will only go back if they see NATO in that peacekeeping force. They need to know that that force is built around that NATO core (and) that that force ... is not going to crumble like a pack of cards at the first sign of a challenge. |
Air operations continue. Nobody has taken any decision to halt them or suspend them yet, because we haven't yet seen any withdrawal of the Serb forces. |
All of us at NATO believe Gen. Clark has been outstanding ... winning very decisively the air operation in Kosovo. |
As a result NATO is taking certain precautionary measures. |
As far as the air campaign is concerned, there is no reason to suspend it. Conditions for that have not been met. We're going to keep it up so that (Milosevic) has a chance to rethink again the strategy of not following through on what he has agreed. |
At this rate, the Serb security forces would have more or less emptied Kosovo (of ethnic Albanians) in 10 to 20 days from now. |
At this stage we are not ready to settle for anything less than our objectives. |
Based on our experience in Bosnia, where a number of mass graves were uncovered, the form looks quite similar. |
By any standards, yesterday was a bad day for President Milosevic. |
Clearly there have been atrocities going on. Once we have achieved a situation where Yugoslav forces have withdrawn we cannot leave a humanitarian vacuum in Kosovo. |
Clearly, we want the refugees to be able to go back quickly. Those NATO governments who have agreed to receive those refugees have made it clear that this is on a temporary basis. |
Despite the bad weather, we were still able to successfully hit a number of ground targets in Kosovo. |
Details are very important here. Anything that means that Belgrade moves towards those five (NATO) conditions is something that we will welcome, but at the same time we will remain cautious, because details in this business are everything. |
Even though it took 72 days to get to this point, we -- within 72 hours -- are determined to seize the momentum of peace. |