June 25, 2007
Embassy of the United States of America
Belgrade

Charting a Euro-Atlantic Vision
The U.S. and Serbia on the 60th Anniversary of the Marshall Plan

The U.S. Embassy in Belgrade in association with the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) invites media representatives to attend a speech to be given by U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Michael C. Polt on Tuesday, June 26.

The Marshall Plan is one of history's great success stories. On this anniversary occasion, Ambassador Polt will discuss the Marshall Plan's vision of a European continent whole, free and at peace and the U.S. commitment to seeing Serbia become fully part of that vision and an integrated Europe.

Open and public discussions of differing points of view are central tenents of a healthy democracy. We support institutions, organizations, responsible media and individuals which are committed to telling the truth and informing citizens about the events and issues that affect them, such as Kosovo issue or Serbia's obligations towards ICTY. True democratic society should aim to present all views about sensitive issues and strive to be realistic and honest.

The speech will take place on Tuesday, June 26 at the Center of Fine Arts Gvarnerius. Journalists interesting in covering this event should be on Tuesday, June 26, at the Center of Fine Arts Gvarnerius, George Washington street 12, Belgrade, no later than 12:45 pm. After the speech, the audience and the media will be given the opportunity to ask questions.

Ambassador Polt delivers the speech
Ambasador Polt govori

Ambassador Polt delivers the speech
Ambasador Polt govori

Guests
Gosti

25. jun, 2007
Ambasada Sjedinjenih Američkih Država
Beograd

Vizija evroatlantske budućnosti
Sjedinjene države i Srbija na 60-godišnjicu Maršalovog plana

Ambasada SAD u Beogradu u saradnji sa Nezavisnim udruženjem novinara Srbije (NUNS) poziva predstavnike medija da u utorak 26. juna prisustvuju javnom obraćanju američkog ambasadora Majkla K. Polta

Maršalov plan je jedan od upešnijih istorijskih projekata. U znak obeležavanja ovog projekta, ambasador Polt govoriće o Maršalovom planu sa vizijom Evropa kao celovite, slobodne i miroljubive i američke privrženosti viziji da Srbija u potpunosti postane deo integrisane Evrope.

Otvorene i javne debate o različitim pitanjima su ključne za razvoj zdrave demokratije. Mi podržavamo institucije, organizacije, odgovorne medije i pojedince koji su posvećeni istini i informisanju građana o procesima koji ih se tiču, kao što su pitanje Kosova i obaveze Srbije prema Međunarodnom krivičnom sudu u Hagu. Prava demokratska društva teže da predstave sva stanovišta o osetljivim pitanjima na realističan i iskren način.

Ambasador će održati govor u utorak, 26. juna, u Centru za lepe umetnosti Gvarnerius. Novinari koji žele da izveštavaju sa ovog događaja treba da budu u utorak 26. juna u 12:45 časova u Centru za lepe umetnosti Gvarnerius, Džorža Vašingtona 12, Beograd. Nakon govora, publika i novinari će imati mogućnost da postavljaju pitanja.

Charting A Euro-Atlantic Vision
The U.S. and Serbia on the 60th Anniversary of the Marshall Plan

Ambassador Michael C. Polt
Guarnerius Cultural Center
June 26, 2007

Good afternoon. I had hoped to deliver today's remarks at Belgrade University's Faculty of Political Science, out of particular respect for the professors and students of the Center for the Study of the United States. To my disappointment, the Faculty decided not to allow media coverage of my remarks, apparently fearing repercussions from government sources. While this is an unfortunate commentary on the state of freedom of expression, it also makes my comments today even more important. The Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia -- NUNs -- immediately agreed to jump in to co-sponsor this event instead. Open and public discussion of differing points of view are central tenents of a healthy democracy. Current differences between the United States and Serbia make this more -- not less -- important.

A confident democratic joint future for Europe and the United States is exactly what U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall envisioned sixty years ago this month, when he gave a speech at Harvard University that signaled a dramatic transition in history. The Marshall Plan he outlined helped reconstruct much of a devastated Europe and with it sealed a permanent transatlantic partnership. Out of this Plan emerged today's united Europe and the enduring vision of a continent whole, free and at peace. Since the end of the Cold War, most of the now free nations of Europe have walked the path of George C. Marshall, of Robert Schuman, and many other visionaries.

Today Serbia, freed from both Communism and bloody Nationalism, stands at a crossroads of realizing that vision for its people and for its relationship to Europe and the United States.

A newly formed democratic government in Serbia has laid out an ambitious set of goals for the future of the country. These goals include European integration, cooperation with the ICTY, the reform of social and economic policies to improve people's everyday lives and the fight against crime and corruption. These are all goals that lead Serbia to the peaceful and prosperous future envisioned by George Marshall for Europe 60 years ago. However, there is one further goal of your government that runs counter to that vision and with which the United States disagrees -- the future status of Kosovo. Together with other members of the international community, particularly the Contact Group, and under the strong leadership of former Finnish President Maarti Ahtisaari, we have accompanied Belgrade and Pristina on more than a year of negotiations to seek a resolution to Kosovo's status. The two sides cannot and will not agree.

In July 1947 LIFE magazine wrote an editorial about the Marshall plan saying "What Americans like about the Marshall Plan is that it points toward the triumph of a rational idea. While history often is far from rational, the Marshall Plan is a reminder that problems do have rational solutions, that some ideas are better than others, and that it is even possible to think them up well in advance of a crisis." I would submit to you that President Ahtisaari's proposal is just such a plan. This fair and thoughtful solution, if implemented constructively by the two sides under the watchful eye of the international community, will free Serbia to seize the future, while honoring its past and its present. The people of Serbia -- especially the young generation -- should encourage the current leadership to seize this opportunity. Not doing so today will surely damage Serbia's generation of tomorrow.

American educational reformer John Dewey said that "Democracy is a conversation." That is the essence of diplomacy – a continuing active discussion that enables two countries to better understand each other, to work on resolving differences or to learn to live with them, but to pass various crossroads on the way to a common future.

I have been in Belgrade for more than three years now, and my colleagues and I have worked hard to make our relationship work; to make it mutually beneficial. We want you as friends and partners, yet we note that the majority of Serbians still consider us an adversary. We most assuredly are not, but our assurances don't really matter. It only matters what you believe and what you act on when dealing with us.

This is not to say that you have not treated us with your legendary hospitality and with respect. You have. But at the same time you readily seek support from others when you doubt America's commitment to our relationship or our judgment on sensitive issues. That is your right. This is your country. The definition of Serbia's best interest can only be made by Serbians. At the same time, the consequences of Serbia's choices are carried by its citizens -- you.

So let's talk about your choices. The people of Serbia have proudly chosen a democratic future time and time again. In September 2000, you voted against Slobodan Milosevic and denied him the right to continue to distort what it meant to be Serbian. When he refused to step down, you took to the streets in non-violent protest. You demanded new leadership, an end to hatred and division, and you got it.

In 2001, when you elected Zoran Djindjic as Prime Minister, you again cast your vote for democracy and freedom. You chose a leader that represented the best that Serbia has to offer, a leader with a sense of pride as strong as his sense of responsibility, and a leader who wanted a democratic future for his people.

His memory lives on in the liberal democratic movement of this country.

When you voted on January 21 of this year, you AGAIN supported the democratic bloc. And now, under the new Spring Coalition Government, you again have the chance to insist your democratically elected leaders act on the future you have chosen, and that you deserve. You did not vote for a confrontation with America and your European neighbors. You did not vote for a Kosovo in Serbia at the expense of all your other interests. And you did not vote for an angry retreat to a past shed during those hopeful days of October 2000. In the 21st Century post-Cold War world you do not need to choose between opposing ideologies. This is the century of freedom of choice, freedom to be the best free society you can be and freedom to choose more than one set of friends.

In this year's celebrations of the 125th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our two countries, we have recalled our long history of friendship. It is good to remember, but it is not nearly enough. We have been through a lot together – and apart – in the past decade, and it is time to make new history by building a new future.

In my eyes that building process has already begun. There is no turning back – but your progress can be slowed by falling victim to harmful rhetoric, to empty phrases of nationalism, and by settling for unfulfilled promises for a better future. The cynical words "this is Serbia, after all" does not have to be the slogan of Serbia's new generation. The past is not more important than the future. If you accept such a backward- looking assertion, you are allowing yourself to be condemned to live in the past while the world around you has captured your future.

This is unquestionably a difficult time for Serbia. Your options at your crossroads are not easy or pretty. They are tough and even painful, but they are also rather obvious. Some in this country have argued that taking one or another of these painful paths will lead to political suicide. Maybe so. Maybe not. But a path must be chosen, one that is good for the country and the people.

I will tell you – not as the American Ambassador, but as a citizen of the United States, regardless of any political party affiliation – I was intensely proud of a statement by one of our political leaders when I heard the following response to a question on his view of U.S. engagement in Iraq and its impact on his own political fortunes. He said: "What young Americans are suffering and sacrificing (there) every day makes my political ambitions totally irrelevant."

Our former Secretary of State, Colin Powell, a man who is much admired for his courage and leadership both as a military officer and a diplomat – said that great leaders are almost always great simplifiers who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand. This is what all of us who chose democracy want – leaders that offer decisive, strong and direct options that address what we as citizens the people want most, whether we are Serbian, American, or any other nationality –- peace and prosperity. We want to live in safety and security; we want good jobs, good health, and good education for our young. That is what we demand from our leadership to help us achieve. That is also what we, as empowered and enlightened free citizens, have to work for ourselves. In America, the first words in our more than 200 year-old constitution are "We, the people..." not "They, our leaders..."

So, once we agree that the future is ours to build, what kind of a future do we want together; do YOU want for yourselves?

Polls show that about 80% of Serbians support membership in the EU and a similar percentage supports membership in NATO's Partnership for Peace. That's a start. The U.S. and Europe want to help you fulfill your goal of becoming a fully successful, prosperous, democratic and integrated nation. We want Serbia to resume its rightful place as a full partner in a Europe whole, free and at peace, a Europe that is America's most important friend and partner. Here is how America has invested more than $300 million the past three years to accomplish this:

- establishing and intertwining civic and governmental institutions that develop and nurture our active relationship;

- helping to rebuild a strong Serbian economy that will provide good jobs, increase family income, and give Serbians reason to stay in Serbia rather than to find a better life elsewhere;

- supporting local government throughout your country as government closest to the people and best able to work together with the business and civic community to improve economic conditions and democratic institutions;

- attracting foreign investment by helping you and pushing you to privatize your economy further, eliminate corruption, and abolish needless bureaucracies;

- supporting the Serbian defense sector and making your military fully interoperable with ours for your future in NATO if you wish to apply for membership;

- focusing on Serbia's youth and increasing even further our exchanges ($3 million this year alone) between American and Serbian young people.

Now that I have urged you not to live in the past, but to seize the future, let me retrace some of my steps.

A successful future is impossible to achieve without an honest examination of the past and the strength to be self-critical. A nation needs to have a constant conversation with itself, to ask and re-ask the fundamental questions "Who are we?" and "Who do we want to be?" This dialogue – between citizens, leaders, the media, civil society, educators, and especially the young generation – this internal and continual dialogue, keeps democracy alive and responsive. It allows countries to define and redefine themselves, and allows their relationship to the world around them to evolve. This is a useful rather than a destructive use of past experience to help shape one's future.

No matter what country we belong to, defining who we are as a people is invariably a long, difficult and emotional journey. It is a journey that never ends, but it is one that you in Serbia (and we in the U.S.) began hundreds of years ago and one in which you can both feel great pride as well as honest regret.
It is not always in times of great victory or achievement that we redefine ourselves. It is often in the most difficult times, when we face defeat, that we can learn the most about ourselves as individuals and about our national character. In contrast to our national stereotype, America constantly questions itself and its actions. No one, no one, casts a more critical eye on the United States than its own citizens, its press, its civic society, and our own leaders. No one knows more about our successes and failures than we do ourselves.

Permit me to encourage you to be equally self-critical. You have every right to be proud of your country's history and to be angry over some of its recent past. You should not allow either past discredited leaders or past failures of your country to define you. But you must also not allow this past to be explained away. You own both the good and the bad of yesterday. You live with the consequences of both.

Get Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic out of your lives and into the hands of justice – now. They belong there and not among you. Let Kosovo go. It is not coming back. Work with Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo to help an independent and multi-ethnic Kosovo to be the best country it can be and a friend to a strong and successful Serbia.

Is such an effort political suicide? Treason? Injustice? Or is it courageous leadership, true patriotism, and rational consequence management? Your decision will signal whether social change has occurred in Serbia.

American civil rights activist Cesar Chavez said that "once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot un-educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride."

As you stand at Serbia's crossroad, I encourage you to choose the right path with pride. The path will be rocky, but we will continue to walk it with you, as we have for the last 125 years.

We are ready to travel. We hope your Serbia is too.

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