[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[July 10, 1992]
[Pages 1106-1107]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 1106]]

Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With Prime Minister Jozsef 
Antall of Hungary in Helsinki, Finland

July 10, 1992

Refugees

    Q. ----give U.S. money for Bosnian refugees being in Hungary?
    The President. Well, we're going to discuss a lot of questions here 
with my esteemed friend, and I'll have a better feeling for that after I 
discuss these matters. But it's a great honor and pleasure to see him. 
He has our full confidence, I can tell you that.

Eastern Europe

    Q. Do you think the changes in Eastern Europe are really 
irreversible?
    The President. Well, I hope so and think so. I don't hear any word 
here other than trying to cement democracies and freedom. That's what 
this is all about, human rights as well.

U.S. Naval Deployment and Czechoslovakia

    Q. Mr. President, I'll try again--a question.
    The President. Try it.
    Q. Is the United States going to be part of the WEU's decision to 
send six ships in a monitoring mode?
     The President. Well, there's been a lot of rumors about naval 
vessels. In fact, somebody was asking me earlier about new deployments. 
There have been no ships--since I've been here I've made no decisions of 
change. We have two task forces in the Mediterranean; one has been up 
and in and out of the Adriatic. But just to lay that to rest, there is 
no change, and no decisions have been made about further deployment of 
naval forces.
    I look forward to seeing my dear friend here, who is doing a great 
job in terms of democracy and freedom. He's got a lot of refugee 
problems; we want to talk about that.
    We had a meeting yesterday with President Havel. There's another 
problem. We talked about the emergence perhaps of two Republics, the 
splitting up of Czechoslovakia. We just strongly emphasized the need for 
that to be peaceful and to have it done by constitutional means. And it 
gave me a chance to express my appreciation to him, respect for 
President Havel, just as, again, I would say the same about Mr. Antall. 
The changes that these countries are undertaking are enormous, and they 
have the full respect and support of the United States.

Yugoslavia

    Q. Do you think this conference has achieved anything that's going 
to help stop the fighting in Yugoslavia?
    The President. I think the more you talk about these problems, the 
concerted effort you saw taken between WEU and NATO, I think those 
things are very helpful. And everyone is determined to get humanitarian 
aid in there just as soon as possible and hopefully to stop the flow of 
refugees that are burdening many countries.

Czechoslovakia

    Q. Have you accepted it as a fait accompli, the breakup of 
Czechoslovakia?
    The President. No. All I say is whatever happens ought to be 
constitutional, it ought to be within their rights to self-
determination, and it ought to be peaceful. And I would take my guidance 
on that from the respected President Vaclav Havel.
    Q. Mr. Antall, can we ask you a few questions?
    The Prime Minister. There will be no second Yugoslavia out of 
Czechoslovakia.

Refugees

    Q. You might be wanting to comment about this notion of a high 
commissioner for refugees, you know, with the ethnic Hungarians and 
Romania and all, do you take hope from that? Is that a good thing?
    The Prime Minister. We find it very important. On the basis of 
previous experience I can say it will be good not only for Hungarian 
minorities but other minorities, too. But, of course, you understand 
that we are very much involved and interested because this is going to 
be an alternative to

[[Page 1107]]

recognize and respect the borders. And we hope that there will be no 
conflicts because of this.

Bilateral Discussions

    The President. I might add one thing on this question. One of the 
enormously productive byproducts for me in a multilateral meeting like 
this is a chance to have so many bilateral meetings. And I would cite 
Hungary as a good example. It is important to the United States that we 
stay in touch with the Hungarian leaders and see that we don't have any 
disconnects, see that we can help wherever help is wanted. And so we 
have these big communiques that come out of these meetings and all the 
pronouncements, but I find here, just as I did at the United Nations 
years ago, that you learn a lot and you can get a lot done in these 
bilateral meetings.
    I don't know whether you agree with that.

European Security

    The Prime Minister. I completely agree with Mr. President. And at 
the same time I can also say that American presence in Europe is very 
important indeed from the point of the security of the European 
Continent. And as Prime Minister of Hungary, I can say NATO is one of 
the most important guarantees of European security. Therefore, apart 
from supporting European integration, we are committed as supporters of 
the transatlantic thought.
    The role of NATO is seen even more important seeing the changes in 
the former Soviet Union and in the Eastern European region. I say so not 
only now and here; I said also the same in June 1990 when I was in 
Moscow. I was there as Prime Minister suggesting and proposing to 
dismantle the Warsaw Pact. I'm the only one being in office among those 
prior prime ministers now.

U.S. Naval Deployment

    Q. Mr. President, if we have two task forces in the Adriatic, why do 
you say there's no change?
    The President. We don't have two task forces in the Adriatic; I said 
Mediterranean. If I didn't, I made a mistake.
    Q. Well, are there any in the Adriatic?
    The President. There might well be. There have been. They've been up 
and out, in and out of the Adriatic over the last few weeks. But I was 
trying to respond to a question. I have made no new decisions since 
being here on deployment of naval forces. Somebody had a story to that, 
and it is simply not true. But the fact that they've been in the 
Adriatic has been well-known.

                    Note: The exchange began at 11:29 a.m. at the 
                        Helsinki Fair Center. Prime Minister Antall 
                        spoke in Hungarian, and his remarks were 
                        translated by an interpreter. A tape was not 
                        available for verification of the content of 
                        these remarks.