It is a victory for people of every heritage in the former Yugoslavia. It offers tangible hope that there will be no more days of dodging bullets, no more winters of freshly dug graves, no  more years of isolation from the outside world.

The agreement is a victory for all of those who believe in a multi-ethnic democracy in Bosnia- Herzegovina.Securing that goal will require an immense effort in the days ahead. But that effort can now begin now that the war that has torn the country apart has finally come to an end.

The agreement was a victory for all those in the world who believe that with determination a principled peace is possible. That conviction was shared by three brave American diplomats who gave their lives in pursuit of peace in Bosnia -- Bob Frasure, Joe Kruzel, and Nelson Drew.We honor their memories here today. I'm So pleased that their families are able to be with us in the audience today.

But the victory achieved here will not be secure unless we all get to work to ensure that the promise of this moment is realized. The parties have put their solemn commitments on paper. In the coming days and weeks, they'll have to put these commitments into practice, extending  them to every mayor, every soldier, every police officer on the territory of Bosnia- Herzegovina.

The United States and the international community will have to work hard to help them succeed. It is profoundly in our self-interest to do so.

As we move forward, we must be both realistic and clear-eyed.We should not assume that the  people of the former Yugoslavia have resolved all of their historic differences. But we should also remember that we have now an opportunity to put behind them the horrors of the last four years.The war was waged against civilians; it is they who are the real winners today. The American people should be proud of their help in achieving this result today. The war in Bosnia has been a challenge not only to our interests but to our values. By our leadership here, we have upheld both.

I trust that one day we'll look back at this time and say: Dayton was the place where fundamental choices were made. This is the place where the parties chose peace over war, dialogue over destruction, reason over revenge; and this is where each of us has accepted the challenges to make the choices made here meaningful and to put them into effect so that they will endure.

Thank you very much.Now, I would like to introduce former Prime Minister Carl Bildt.

(Applause.)

MR.BILDT: Presidents, Mr.Secretary, it is easy to start a war but difficult to conclude a  peace. What has been achieved here in Dayton has been achieved not without difficulty. But the important thing is that it has been achieved.

Important as that achievement here of Dayton is, we must understand that it represents but the beginning of peace. We must all be deeply aware of the challenges and the difficulties in the days and the weeks and the months and the years that lie ahead of us. We'll meet in a short time in Paris to sign these agreements, and after that we will meet in London to discuss how the difficult parts of this comprehensive peace package can be properly and fully implemented.

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