George Robertson Quotes (83 Quotes)

This initiative is quite simply historic, and even revolutionary,

I see this as turning a page on past disagreements and turning to new chapters of dialogue and cooperation on matters of mutual interest,

get serious about producing a political solution ... and to focus urgently on producing an agreement.

I have absolutely no doubt that the alliance will, as it has promised, stand by its ally Turkey, which happens to be a neighbor of Iraq, ... There is no dispute about that at all.

He said Macedonia was on the brink of bloody civil war. ... the breach of two unilateral declarations of military restraint put in place is deeply regrettable.

Yes, of course it would because there would be no veto over NATO operations by Russia or any other non-NATO members, that's never been the situation and Mr Putin has made it clear that he does not want it either,

There is a disagreement on timing at the moment by a small number of nations, but there is no disagreement on substance at all. This is not some sort of bust-up.

Let the people of Yugoslavia be quite clear, ... The bombing can end at any time. It's in Milosevic's hands, and he knows our conditions, which are reasonable and sensible, and nothing less than full compliance will do.

If there were to be clear and unambiguous evidence that (Yugoslav President Slobodan) Milosevic was meeting the conditions, and that he seemed to be doing so, then we would consider a bombing pause to allow an orderly withdrawal of his forces,

It is going to be missed, but people are going to have to get used to it because it's going to stay. There will be no resurrection this time.

This help is being undermined and threatened by this unacceptable resort to violent action,

The military targets ... have been successfully hit,

The priority for us is to achieve a common understanding,

an honest disagreement inside NATO.

The world is watching and the politicians know they have an obligation that they must fulfil. NATO has delivered -- it is now up to the parliamentarians to deliver again.

The 18 NATO allies -- members of the integrated military structure -- agreed today to task military planners to begin their work and advice on preventive deployment of AWACS airplanes, NATO support for deployment of theater missile defenses of Turkey, and support for allied chemical and biological defense capabilities,

It is the fact that the (ethnic Albanian rebels are) handing over these weapons and disbanding as organisation. That is the critical issue involved here today.

He should not attempt to steal this election and should listen to the verdict of his people,

There is a chance for a breakthrough and I certainly am urging the Macedonian Government to seize that opportunity,

Sikirica as camp commander is accused of genocide, violation of laws and custom of war and grave breaches of the Geneva Convention as well as being criminally responsible for the acts of subordinates in committing murder, torture, inhuman acts and crimes against humanity,

Our meeting today sends a clear signal that we remain determined to bring peace and stability to the entire Balkans region.

He is in the free world again. I have no doubt he will express his views.

We sat and glowered at each other for 40 years, then we tiptoed around each other for 10. Now we are in an era of substantial and practical cooperation. Russia is a special and major partner,

Draskovic called yesterday for the Serbian state media to tell the truth about the Kosovo conflict, and to stop lying to the Serbian people, ... (It) blows a hole in the facade of Belgrade's unity. In quite a remarkable and very revealing interview, Mr. Draskovic accused his fellow leaders in Yugoslavia of, I quote, 'Lying to the people that any day now we are going to prevail over NATO that NATO is about to collapse, and Russia is on the verge of starting World War III.'

When people ask us what damage did we do to the Serb troops, the answer to that is 'enough.' We did enough damage inside Kosovo, and inside the federal republic of Yugoslavia, to get Milosevic to capitulate and to get Milosevic to adhere to the objectives and the demands that we set out,

It is hoped that the stronger implementation force will be available in the next few weeks to get into Kosovo at the earliest opportunity because we are planning for success,

I see this as a kick-starting of the process of cooperation which is vitally important for both East and West in the Euro-Atlantic area just now,

considering the depth of anger.

We want joint decision-making in certain areas which would need consensus 'at 20' and obviously we would work to get it, on the other hand nobody can deny the right of NATO to act as 19 if it decides to do so,

We've made a very clear statement of solidarity with Turkey,

an offer of assistance in response to President Boris Trajkovski's request to NATO to contribute to the protection of the international monitors who will oversee implementation of the peace plan in Macedonia.

I think there must be great concern that this will descend into a spiral of violence and potentially into civil war.

Today was multilateralism in practice and working,

We would have preferred to have had France as part of the overall decision, and of course France strongly believes in the defense of Turkey and is in absolute solidarity with Turkey,

a remarkable moment in the history of Macedonia.

It's a genuine trans-Atlantic partnership, a genuine trans-Atlantic forum where people argue and talk and debate, as you would expect in 19 democracies, and it is about collective security and collective defense, ... American Morning With Paula Zahn.

There could easily be in this country a return to violence unless everything that was agreed on is implemented,

We are focusing entirely on the defense of Turkey in the circumstances where that ally believes it is under threat and NATO as a collective security alliance with obligations that go along with that. (But) we're not part of any decision-making process that is tied to the United Nations.

Some 300 Tomahawk Cruise missiles have been fired, and around 100 air-launch Cruise missiles have been used, ... Coalition forces have attacked about 100 separate, precise military targets.

We had a very good and useful meeting and I was very pleased to get the Russian proposal on missile defence,

It opens the way to a peaceful and lasting solution to the crisis affecting this country.

It is now up to the Macedonian government and parliament to deliver on their part of the bargain, on promises solemnly made,

The withdrawal of Serb forces has begun to uncover the full horror of what has happened in Kosovo in the past few months,

This country is still on a knife-edge but in the last three days the government has regained confidence, regained ground and regained the initiative,

NATO's air campaign in succeeding in weakening (Yugoslav President Slobodan) Milosevic 's repressive capability, and we are exacting a heavy price for his ethnic cleansing activity, ... NATO's resolution remains unshakable.

We are still assessing the full impact of the damage we have inflicted. However, it is already clear we have inflicted substantial damage on Saddam's chemical and biological war machine and set back his ambition to threaten his neighbors,

The military objective was and remains to disrupt Serb violence and to weaken the military machine that has been the instrument of the genocidal attacks on the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo,

Despite the victory of democratic forces in Yugoslavia and its opening up to the world, the international community is not fulfilling its obligation to Yugoslavia,

I condemn the cowardly acts of the extremists and my message is simple the violence must end and their tactics will not be successful.

They will certainly not sleep any sounder in their beds as the result of today's action.