[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.