    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [May 20, 1991]
    [Pages 526-530]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's News Conference With Chancellor Helmut Kohl of Germany
    May 20, 1991

        The President. I had a chance to welcome Chancellor Kohl, the
    Chancellor of a united Germany. And I was delighted to do that and
    welcome him and his Foreign Minister, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, and others
    in his party. We've had a good meeting.
        We discussed the European security and the importance of NATO in
    terms of future security for Europe. We both agreed that we have a lot
    at stake in the successful conclusion of the Uruguay round. We had
    detailed discussions about the Soviet Union, and Chancellor Kohl shared
    with me his thoughts on that important question. And I had a chance to
    thank Chancellor Kohl for Germany's support during the war and to
    congratulate him for the leadership role that Germany took in trying to
    bring aid to the Kurds over there in Iraq.
        The Chancellor. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Mr. President,
    ladies and gentlemen, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you
    and all of our American friends for the unrelenting support which we
    have been given on our way to complete German unification.
        For over 40 years our American friends have guaranteed peace and
    freedom of the free part of our fatherland of what was then the Federal
    Republic of Germany. Millions of American soldiers have served their
    military service in our country, far away from their home country. We
    will never forget that because that was a precondition for the 3d of
    October, for the Day of German Unity.
        Today again we talked about the process of political unity for
    Europe, as we have

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    done numerous times during our telephone conversations. This is really
    what we have always wanted: to get the support of our American friends
    and partners. And I'm very pleased to be able to be part of that
    process, a process which Winston Churchill talked about already in 1946
    in his famous speech in Zurich, a process leading up to what he called
    then ``the united states of Europe.''
        And this process, heading towards political unity, economic unity
    within Europe, obviously also includes cooperation with the United
    States of America. German-American friendship and friendship between
    Europe and the United States is of existential importance for a future
    for all of us. And this also goes for NATO, which is why it is also
    important in the future that the United States maintains a substantial
    troop presence in Germany, but also in Europe as a whole.
        Mr. President, we talked about GATT, about the Uruguay round. The
    two of us know that it would deal a fatal blow to world trade if we
    would let protectionism come in and take the upper hand. That does not
    only hold true for us Germans, we, as one of the leading exporting
    nations in the world. A failure of GATT would also be a catastrophe for
    the developing countries. This is why we have to work very hard in order
    to bring about a success for the Uruguay round, for GATT. And although
    it is a very difficult subject, I think that we have cause to be
    carefully optimistic and to see--to state that things are actually
    moving.
        As far as the conflict--the war in the Gulf is concerned, I would
    like to mention here once again what I already told the President. We in
    Germany and we as Europeans, in Europe as a whole, we want to see his
    initiatives to be successful. We are very grateful for what Jim Baker
    did, and I hope that he will continue his missions and that this war,
    which has been won, will lead also to a peace which is won.
        The last thing I wanted to mention here has already been, I think,
    touched upon by the President, and let me say this in one brief
    sentence. We have a joint interest, and we as Germans have a particular
    interest, in seeing the reform movements in Central Europe and
    southeastern Europe and also in the Soviet Union to be successful.
        The President. May I suggest that, on the questions, we alternate
    one to Chancellor and one to me. I'd be glad to start.

    Soviet Union

        Q. Chancellor, would you like to see President Gorbachev have a role
    at the London economic summit?
        The Chancellor. President Gorbachev is going to play a role
    irrespective of whether he's actually bodily present or not. And I think
    that we have to take a break and talk about it in some detail, about
    what is going to happen at that summit.
        Q. Would you support it?
        The Chancellor. I would support what is reasonable and what is
    beneficial to both sides. And one has to weigh carefully the pros and
    cons, and one has to talk to them personally about this. And let me say
    that, at this very point here in this press meeting, I'm not yet in a
    position to have any sort of definitive answer to that, but I'll soon
    have one.
        Q. Mr. President, did the Chancellor ask you to give any increased
    aid to the Soviet Union? And where do you stand now on the request for
    $1.5 million in agricultural credits?
        The President. No, there was no specific request. I think there was
    general agreement that we'd like to be able to help the Soviet Union in
    every way possible. And we both expressed our confidence in President
    Gorbachev. Still under consideration.
        The Chancellor. I would like to underline this--taking this occasion
    to underline this, that we both completely agree in that--that we
    support Gorbachev here, that we completely agree with that.

    U.S. Troops in Europe

        Q. Chancellor, why do you want U.S. troops to remain in Europe? And
    President Bush, do you think they should stay there?
        The Chancellor. Because I think that in spite of the fact that the
    situation has obviously changed and that indisputably the danger has
    decreased, I still say and I still think that NATO makes sense, albeit
    in an adjusted form. It will have to develop. But I

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    still think that NATO should remain. It makes sense. And if NATO is
    there, then it makes sense that the United States maintain a troop
    presence.
        And let me say, I think that this is both in the American and in the
    European interest.
        Q. And, President Bush, your reaction to that?
        The President. I agree with it. NATO kept the peace for 40 years,
    and the U.S. is a significant participant in NATO, obviously. And we
    don't want to pull back into some sphere of isolation.

    Soviet Union

        Q. Mr. President, would you pay an invitation to Mr. Gorbachev for
    the G-7 meeting in London?
        The President. I agree with what the Chancellor said on that same
    question: that we're waiting and considering, and see what would be most
    helpful in terms of the economic recovery in the Soviet Union and
    Eastern Europe.
        Q. Mr. President, is it now----
        The President. Can you shoot it to the Chancellor? It's his turn.
    We're going in turns here. Or forever hold your peace, and I'll get
    around to it later.

    Yugoslavia

        Q. Mr. Chancellor, Yugoslavia seems to be falling apart at an
    accelerating pace. Is there anything that you believe that the United
    States and the NATO allies can do to try to halt the process from
    disintegrating into violence? And did you discuss that with the
    President?
        The Chancellor. I think that we can all do something. I don't think
    that this is something which will fall specifically into the sphere of
    confidence of NATO. I think the European Community could also do
    something here and must, indeed, do something here. And Yugoslavia must
    have a very vested interest in cooperation with the European Community.
    And I think that we are in total agreement here with our American
    friends that we must act together here, but that, as it is a very
    delicate subject, we must also be very prudent, very careful in the way
    we deal with it. It's, as I said, a very delicate, a very difficult
    problem which actually goes back centuries.
        The President. Now we'll go over here. Yes, sir.

    Iraq

        Q. Mr. President, is it now your policy not to lift sanctions
    against Iraq as long as Saddam Hussein remains in power? Is that a hard,
    fast position?
        The President. We will abide by the United Nations resolutions, of
    course. It is our policy that there will not be normalized relations.
    And it is my view that only if the sanctions are complied with will we
    be willing to--I mean, only if every provision of the United Nations
    resolutions are complied with would we, the United States, be willing to
    lift sanctions.
        Q. Are there any conditions under which sanctions could be lifted
    and Saddam Hussein still remain in power?
        The President. There are certain areas where Iraq, in order to
    comply with United Nations sanctions, must sell abroad. They've got
    funds set up to put some of their oil revenues into it. But all of these
    things are down the road. At this juncture, my view is we don't want to
    lift these sanctions as long as Saddam Hussein is in power.

    Soviet Union

        Q. Mr. Chancellor, you talk about the general support to Gorbachev.
    Did you discuss any specific measures you can take to help him?
        The Chancellor. We are in total agreement about one principle: it
    can only be help for self-help, because these reforms must actually be
    carried out in the Soviet Union itself. For example, a restructuring of
    the overall system there, actually bringing about what we call a
    federative structure. And this also goes for reforms leading up to the
    introduction of a market economy.
        This is, incidentally, a dramatic process. We, ourselves, have now
    experiences with the kinds of problems that you incur if you try to
    achieve that transformation if we look to the so-called new Lander, the
    Eastern Lander [States] of what is now the Federal Republic of Germany.
        Q. Mr. President, was progress made today by the negotiators on
    resolving the issues around the CFE treaty? And if those

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    issues are resolved, would you be willing to go ahead with a summit in
    June or July with President Gorbachev?
        The President. Are you referring to Mr. Moiseyev's visit?
        Q. I am, but I can't say his name.
        The President. I'm just getting briefed on it here. The answer is,
    not much progress. And they've not reported to me on that visit yet. But
    yes, we get that matter resolved and START resolved, I'd like to have a
    summit with Mr. Gorbachev.

    Iran

        Q. Chancellor Kohl, you recently spoke over the telephone with
    Iranian President Mr. Rafsanjani, and your Foreign Minister was recently
    in Iran. Did you discuss that subject with the President? Do you feel
    that Iran is opening to the West--wants to open to the West? Did you
    discuss the question of hostages?
        The Chancellor. Actually, we touched on this issue very briefly, but
    we're going to take it up at a later stage. I've actually had a number
    of telephone calls with President Rafsanjani. Hans-Dietrich Genscher was
    there and had very interesting discussions with him. And my impression
    is--and let me be very careful here--that after years of abstinence,
    they seem to be willing to show more of an openness, more of a
    willingness to actually have contacts and talks with the West, which
    will be in the common interest, particularly if the preconditions would
    develop favorably.
        A precondition, for example, would be that the American hostages are
    finally allowed to go home to their families. Let me say to you, I
    pointed this out very, very clearly in no uncertain terms to him. I told
    him that's more than just a question of improving the political climate
    here.
        The President. We have time to take one more question each.

    Kuwait

        Q. Mr. President, we've seen over the weekend trials in Kuwait. What
    is your assessment and what are your concerns about the nature of
    Kuwaiti justice right now?
        The President. I haven't had a report on the trials themselves yet.
    And when I read about them, I tried to put myself in the place of the
    Kuwaiti citizens who were brutalized by Saddam Hussein. I tried to think
    back, and it wasn't hard, to the brutality and the terrible grief that
    the families that stayed in Kuwait had. And I can understand that
    there's a lot of bitterness from those Kuwaitis who saw their country
    raped and pillaged in an unconscionable way.
        Having said that, I think it would be in Kuwait's interest to extend
    the fair trial to everybody and to be as compassionate as one can given
    the outrages that they faced.
        The last question's for the Chancellor.
        Q. Do I take that, sir, as meaning you think they can do a better
    job?
        The President. All I know of the trials is what I read in the paper
    today, and so I'd want to reserve on that until I understand exactly how
    the system works.

    World Economy

        Q. Chancellor Kohl, did President Bush reiterate the American
    request for lower German interest rates? And what's your position on
    that question?
        The Chancellor. Actually, we did talk about that in passing. But I
    think that the opinions here are well-known. We as Germans have an
    interest in seeing sound economic growth worldwide. And we are giving an
    important contribution to that, not least as a consequence of German
    unification. As a consequence of German unification, we have seen the
    German economy emerge--and I don't like that word all that well--emerge
    as a sort of locomotive, as a sort of engine motor of the worldwide
    economy. And I think that this is of advantage to all of us, which is
    why I think that discussing what can we do in order to push, in order to
    promote world economy is going to be a very important subject during the
    G-7 meeting in London.
        The President. Sarah [Sarah McClendon, McClendon News Service], you
    missed what I said. I said these were the two last ones. I'm very sorry.

                        Note: The President's 83d news conference began at
                            6:07 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White House.
                            The Chancellor spoke in German, and his remarks
                            were translated by an interpreter. In the news
                            conference,

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                            the following persons were referred to: Foreign
                            Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher of Germany;
                            Secretary of State James A. Baker III; President
                            Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union; President
                            Saddam Hussein of Iraq; Gen. Mikhail Moiseyev,
                            Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Union;
                            and President Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani of
                            Iran.