    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [January 30, 1991]
    [Page 80]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With Foreign
    Minister Antonios Samaras of Greece
    January 30, 1991

        Q. When are you coming to Greece, Mr. President?
        The President. Well, let me say I'm looking forward to coming to
    Greece. And I want to tell the Foreign Minister that I'd like very much
    to have the Prime Minister come here, because we have a strong
    relationship with Greece. We're delighted with the cooperation we are
    receiving. I view it as a partnership.
        And I don't know exactly on timing because we've had to delay a trip
    that might well have tied into a stop in Greece. But I hope you will
    tell the Prime Minister that--one, of our gratitude for the wonderful
    cooperation in this partnership approach we've got; two, of our
    commitment to Greece, longstanding, and to its security and to its
    prosperity.
        And I guess, really, my message to the Greek people would be one of
    gratitude for its steadfast standing shoulder to shoulder with the
    United States and many other countries in standing up against the
    aggression that Saddam Hussein has perpetrated.
        So, Greek-American relations are in good shape. And what we're going
    to talk about is how to make them even better, if we can.
        Q. Mr. President, does your resolve for implementation of all U.N.
    resolutions include the Cyprus issue as well?
        The President. Well, we've been looking at that for a long, long
    time. Quite clearly, it's not something that the United States can do.
    We've long favored support for the Secretary-General's initiative.
        But that's the last question I'll take--a very good one and an issue
    that I hope can be resolved. We've got a full-time, a very able
    Ambassador who remains involved on it in multilateral--Mr. Ledsky. We
    have a good Ambassador in Athens who has our full confidence. So, I hope
    we can be helpful. But that's a problem that I'd love to see solved, in
    keeping with these U.N. resolutions.
        Thank you all very much.

                        Note: The exchange began at 10:05 a.m. in the Oval
                            Office at the White House. In his remarks,
                            President Bush referred to Prime Minister
                            Constantinos Mitsotakis of Greece; President
                            Saddam Hussein of Iraq; United Nations
                            Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar de la
                            Guerra; Nelson C. Ledsky, U.S. Special Cyprus
                            Coordinator; and Michael Sotirhos, U.S.
                            Ambassador to Greece.