Fact Sheet: Macedonian Borders

The Lie:

That Hillary Clinton was instrumental in opening up the borders of Macedonia to Kosovar refugees. Also, that she did so by landing in a dangerous war zone.

The Quote:

"I negotiated open borders to let fleeing refugees into safety from Kosovo." (from CNN's American Morning, March 5, 2008) and that she "traveled to the international border on the edge of the war zone" (her "factcheck" website).

The Vetting:

First - The only two people who back this claim up are Hillary and an aide that works for the Clinton campaign.

Second - The border opened one day before she landed, on May 14, 1999 (and only a very small section of it). This means, bar none, she did not negotiate to open the borders. As Ivo Daalder, a former NSC official under President Clinton who was responsible for the Balkans, said:

"There's the inconvenient fact that the agreement to open the borders happened the day before she got there.I have no doubt that the diplomats used the prospect of her visiting Macedonia to open the Macedonian borders. The question is, was she instrumental in negotiating the opening of the borders to all tens of thousands of refugees to pass? The answer is no."

Also, the government said it could be closed at any time. Additionally, refugees were too afraid to cross the very small section that was opened, anyway. (According to an AP report).

Third - According to the same AP report, Bill Clinton's presidential envoy to the Balkans at the time in question, Robert Gelbard (who advises Obama), states that:

"I cannot recall any involvement by Senator Clinton in this issue. The person who was able to get the border opened was Mrs. Sadako Ogata [the U.N. high commissioner for refugees]... [Hillary] had more of a role on some foreign policy issues than a lot of other first ladies, including, for example, the current one. My own firsthand experience, though, is that her role was limited and I've been surprised at the claims that she had a much greater role than certainly I'm aware of on the issues I was working on."

Also, Gelbard said he had questioned other U.S. officials directly involved and none remembered involvement by Clinton. Lastly, There were no public reports at the time of Clinton negotiating to keep the border open.

Fourth - (According to a great article by the St. Petersburg Times and CQ's Politifact website) Clinton visited the area for a little more than EIGHT HOURS (most of which was meeting with NGOs and refugees). It is impossible that she had legitimate and substantial meetings in the span of 10 minute meetings (don't forget she had to travel in between destinations, as well as take part in the scheduled photo shoots)

"She arrived at 9:20 a.m. and left at 5:45 p.m. According to the itinerary provided to news organizations, she arrived at the camp and was briefed on relief efforts at 10 a.m., toured the camp at 11 a.m., and met with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) at 1:30 p.m. The meetings all took place within the space of a single afternoon. The itinerary shows photo opportunities for the traveling press at 2:20 p.m. with Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski at the U.S. Ambassador's Residence; at 2:50 p.m. with President Kiro Gligorov at the president's residence; and at 3:30 p.m. with first lady Gligorov at the president’s residence."

Fifth - (According to factcheck.org) Hillary did not travel to an active combat zone, she travelled to a refugee camp that had been visited by Richard Gere and Bianca Jagger. Furthermore, "much of the "war" in Kosovo consisted of NATO airstrikes against the Yugoslav troops who had forced thousands of ethnic Albanians to flee Kosovo, and the nearest NATO ground troops were deployed in Albania, more than 100 miles away from Clinton."

Sixth - None of this is to say we should not admire Hillary Clinton's dedication to a humanitarian cause, and this is not to say she did not bring some attention to that section of the world, but humanitarianism isn't relevant presidential experience, (if it is, we should elect Angelina Jolie.)