    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [March 26, 1993]
    [Pages 360-366]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's News Conference With Chancellor Helmut Kohl of Germany
    March 26, 1993

    U.S.S. ``Theodore Roosevelt''

        The President. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Before we begin
    the press conference, I have a sad announcement to make. I have just
    been informed that five United States servicemen on a routine training
    flight with the United States ship Theodore Roosevelt have crashed at
    sea within a mile of the carrier. I want to express my deep concern over
    the accident. Just 2 weeks ago, I visited the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt
    and met the fine sailors and marines serving their Nation at sea there.
    I was profoundly impressed by their commitment, their dedication, and
    their professionalism. They made America proud. And I want to say that
    my thoughts and prayers are with the relatives and the shipmates of
    those five servicemen who are missing at sea.

    Discussions With Chancellor Kohl

        I want to begin by extending a warm welcome to Chancellor Kohl. We
    have had a wonderful visit. The personal chemistry between us, I think,
    was quite good. Helmut Kohl, over more than a decade of service in his
    present position, has proved himself time and again to be a true friend
    and staunch ally of the United States. Our peoples are closely linked
    with longstanding ties and common values. Our common bonds ensure that
    our two federal systems can learn much from each other. And indeed, I
    told the Chancellor that notwithstanding the persistent problems of cost
    in the German health care system, my wife had found a lot to learn from
    Germany.
        We are working, our two countries, on the establishment of a project
    conceived by Chancellor Kohl and very close to his heart, the German
    American Academic Council, which will promote exchanges of people in the
    areas of science and technology and about which he might want to speak
    more in a moment.
        During the cold war our two nations stood shoulder to shoulder in
    the common effort to contain communism in Europe. Today we must be
    leaders in the great crusade of the post-cold-war era to foster liberty,
    democracy, human rights, and free market economics throughout the world.
    If the world is to progress and prosper, the United States and Germany
    must work closely together. Our bilateral relationship is invaluable.
    Our relations are at the same time important in the context of the North
    Atlantic Alliance, the European Community, and the Conference on
    Security and Cooperation in Europe. In these three institutions, Germany
    serves as both an anchor of stability and a source of fresh initiatives
    to meet the challenges of our changing world.
        A paramount challenge for the West in our generation is helping to
    ensure the survival of democracy and economic reform in Russia and the
    other republics of the former Soviet Union. Germany, as the largest
    single donor of assistance to Russia, has demonstrated its firm
    commitment to this historic cause. The United States and Germany must
    now strengthen our partnership on this effort and work both bilaterally
    and multilaterally to support Russian reform. The Chancellor and I
    discussed this issue at great length today.
        I discussed with him the approach that I plan to take in the meeting
    with President Yeltsin at Vancouver. And I believe we are in agreement
    on the general approach. I know that we are committed to doing
    everything we possibly can to keep alive democracy and reform in Russia,
    and we believe it is in the immediate interests and the long-term
    interest of all of our people.
        We also believe that the rest of the G-7 countries must cooperate
    with us and with each other

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    to vigorously produce a program of support for Russia. We discussed in
    depth the troubling situations in Bosnia and elsewhere, and we conferred
    on trade and economics. We agreed that we must work hard to conclude the
    Uruguay GATT round this year, and we committed to work closely together
    in this endeavor.
        As two of the world's leading exporting nations, the United States
    and Germany have a powerful interest in expanding global trade. I
    assured the Chancellor that the United States intends to remain
    politically and strategically engaged in Europe and to maintain a
    significant military presence on the Continent. The budget that I am
    fighting for in the Congress now would permit us to maintain a troop
    contingent on the order of 100,000 troops in Europe. We believe that
    American and European securities remain indivisible, and that the common
    threads of the post-cold-war era require common action. At the same
    time, we also recognize that each of us are reducing our defense budgets
    and must be increasingly responsible for our own defense needs.
        Thirty years ago during his famous trip to Germany, President
    Kennedy toasted another great leader of the Christian Democratic Union
    and the German people, Konrad Adenauer, saying, ``These are critical
    days.'' The President's pronouncement reflected his concern then for the
    survival of freedom and even humankind at the height of the cold war.
        Today, thankfully the nuclear shadow is receeding from both our
    lands. And the wall that divided the German people is gone. But I would
    say again, these are critical days, for the actions we take together now
    will help to determine the fate of democracy, the prosperity of our
    people, and the peace of the world. In that work I could not ask for a
    better partner than Chancellor Kohl or the German people. And I want to
    say to him, I am delighted with this first visit, and I look forward to
    working with you in the days ahead.
        Chancellor Kohl. Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen. First, Mr.
    President, allow me to express my heartfelt sympathy on the loss and the
    fear, because we don't have any detailed information about the loss of
    life of five American officers. I hope very much that these soldiers may
    be able to return to their families safe and sound, because they serve
    the freedom and the security of their country, the United States of
    America. And without that service, there would be no freedom and peace
    and no reunification for Germany. And this is why I am very sad about
    the things that you have just had to present to us. And I should like to
    ask you to convey to the families of the people concerned my feelings of
    sympathy.
        Ladies and gentlemen, today I had my first meeting with the
    President of the United States of America. It was a friendly exchange of
    views. It is something that can be easily said in English; the chemistry
    is right. You said so, and I am pleased to take it up, indeed, the
    chemistry is right. We touched upon many issues, issues, many of which
    are very close to our hearts, at an important point in time of
    international politics, of European politics. And I was also able to
    present many things that are important to German politics.
        American-German relations, to put it in a nutshell, are for us,
    Germans and for me personally, today equally important if not more
    important than 30 years ago. More than 30 years ago, when I was for the
    first time elected to the German Parliament, the alliance between the
    Americans and Germans, the European-American alliance, was much more
    matter of fact, because we lived under the threat and in the fear of the
    war. Remember the Berlin blockade, the Berlin Wall, many challenges that
    we had to master together, down to the things that happened under John
    F. Kennedy in Cuba.
        Today, many of these people have been released. They're free again.
    But in Europe and in Germany, too, there are quite a few who believe
    that there were no dangers existent anymore now that the times are
    changed. For these reasons, American-German relations have become ever
    more important. The psychological environment has changed.
        I said to you, Mr. President, and I should like to repeat this here
    and now, in this house of Europe that we are in the process of building
    right now--and I should like to go into greater detail on that later
    on--it is of existential importance for me, a German, that the Americans
    have a flat in this house; that the American soldiers and troops, the
    presence in Europe and in Germany, documents that they're not there for
    decorative purposes but to defend freedom and security of people. The
    fact that we can further develop the relations in the economic field,
    and that includes that despite the problems that we have, we bring about
    a speedy and successful conclusion of the GATT round.

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    This is something that we touched upon, too. We agreed on that we want
    to work on this.
        You were so kind, Mr. President, to mention that in the cultural and
    scientific field, we have the intention to intensify relations between
    both our countries. You mentioned the German American Academic Council
    which is to be founded this year. I am very happy that you have agreed
    that once the necessary decisions have been taken in the next few weeks,
    we will found this economic council. This is important for the public in
    both our countries. It is for me very important that young Americans,
    that young Germans visit the other country, vice versa, that they get to
    know the people and their culture. To put it differently, Mr. President,
    that we plant many young trees so that we have a forest later on of
    things that we share, that we have in common.
        I should also like to add for those who might have heard different
    reports on this here in the United States, there is no alternative for
    the Germans to a policy that makes progress with European unification--
    and we are the engine of this development--and at the same time, places
    great care and value on American-German relations. This is never an
    either-or; it has to be a this-as-well-as-the-other. Both include each
    other and do not exclude one another.
        And I should like to say this. Because we are now confronted with a
    common challenge and major task, that is: We have to see to it that the
    spirit of reform, the willingness to establish democratic structures and
    a pleuralist society, market economic structures in Russia and the CIS,
    is continuing.
        I'm very grateful to you personally, Mr. President, for the
    determination and the courage that you have documented in the last few
    weeks in standing by Boris Yeltsin. I underline and subscribe to every
    single word that you said on this one, that reforms are successful in
    Russia. And both of us are aware of the fact that any type of setback
    will in the end turn out to be much more expensive than any type of
    assistance we have the intention of granting right now.
        We have discussed many issues and items on our plate. The members of
    our staff will continue prior to the meeting with President Yeltsin and
    the American President to continue to discuss these matters. Then we
    have the G-7 finance and foreign minister's meeting in Tokyo, the 14th
    and 15th of April. We want to send a message to the people of Russia
    that the West, under the leadership of the Americans and the American
    President, will do everything in its power to see to it that Russia and
    other successor states to the Soviet Union stand a chance to walk on
    their own path towards freedom.
        We, the Germans, and I outlined this earlier on to you Mr.
    President, as far as this question is concerned, are very committed, not
    only because we are neighbors of the former Soviet Union and the threat,
    if there was a relapse to form a dictator structures, would effect us
    first and foremost, but we do so because we have made our own
    experiences.
        We were standing in the Oval Office looking at the sculpture of
    Harry S. Truman, and I was reminded of the importance that the
    activities of George Marshall and Harry S. Truman had for Germany when
    the zero hour when we were outlawed in the world. These two stood up,
    stood by us, and assisted us. These were the fathers of the Marshall
    Plan, of a moral gesture of coexistence and cooperation. And this, to my
    mind, is fair to say: A flourishing industry and country has developed,
    the former Federal Republic of Germany.
        And if the Americans at that point in time had stood back and said,
    ``Well what do we care? The Germans shall see what will become of it.
    And if something good comes out of it, we'll be proud to say we
    assisted, and if not, we will say, we've always told you so didn't we,
    and therefore we stood back.''
        This kind of policy, a policy pursued by Harry S. Truman and George
    Marshall rules a successful recipe for the whole of Europe, West Europe.
    And this is why I should like to tell my American listeners here that
    you can learn lessons from history. And with a view to what is happening
    right now in Moscow, I think the message is what counts. The message
    indicating in what way the big countries of the western democracies and
    market economic systems feel committed to assist.
        Allow me also to say that we discussed in extenso, Mr. President,
    the developments in the former Yugoslavia. The Bosnian President
    happened to be here this morning, and we met briefly in the White House.
    We would wish to see that use is being made of all opportunities to see
    to it that a cease-fire occurs, that then peace can be reached. What is
    happening to the people there, day-in, day-out, belongs in numbers
    amongst the most terrible experiences

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    of this very century. And here again, I'm happy and grateful, Mr.
    President, that you and your administration have taken a clear position
    on this.
        Once again, thank you very much for this friendly reception, for the
    friendly and open talks that we had.
        May I perhaps just briefly announce, Mr. President, that I repeat my
    invitation to you and to your wife to come and to visit in Germany, and
    that you were so kind, Mr. President, to follow that invitation.

    Russia

        Q. Do you think that President Yeltsin emerges from the
    constitutional crisis that seems to be easing there, weakened or
    strengthened? And how would that affect the aid that you would propose
    to send to him?
        The President.  First of all, I think it's important that we not
    place too much importance on the momentary event, the day-to-day events,
    not because they're not heartening today, they are, but because it's
    difficult to know what's going to happen from day to day now. I have
    said always that I am proceeding to the summit with President Yeltsin
    with the firm intention of working with him and trying to propose some
    things that the United States can join with Germany and the other G-7
    countries. And doing that will be helpful in the short run and in the
    long run in promoting democracy and market economics and an improvement
    in the difficult economic situation they face. So I feel pretty good
    about where we are with it now.

    Bosnian Peace Agreement

        Q. Mr. President, how long would you give the Serbs to respond to
    the peace overtures, to the peace pact that's been signed by the two
    other parties? Would you favor imposing a deadline prior to lifting an
    arms embargo? And given the carnage in this place and the amount of arms
    that are there already, why would you even consider that to be a good
    alternative?
        The President. First, let me say that you heard the Chancellor say
    President Izetbegovic was here with us today. He met with the Vice
    President; then I went back to visit with him briefly. The Chancellor
    wanted to see him, too, so we just had an impromptu brief meeting.
        This signing by the Bosnians has just occurred. We're going to do
    everything we can now to put on a full-court press, first
    diplomatically, to secure the agreement of the Serbs. We will do what we
    can if there is any delay whatever in trying to strengthen the embargo.
    The embargo has already been quite effective in causing some economic
    difficulty. We expect the United Nations to take up the enforcement of
    the no-fly zone within the next few days. We will discuss a number of
    other measures, including the arms embargo, with our allies. As you
    know, it's not simply a decision for the United States. But I think that
    the main thing is that we now have two of the three blocs having agreed
    that we ought to have this. The Croats have signed; the Bosnian
    Government has now signed. We need to keep the pressure on, and we will
    do what we can. I don't want to rule in or rule out a specific timetable
    or a specific action, because the developments are recent and the
    decision has not been made on the specific timetable.
        Q. Mr. President, do you have any more reason to believe today than
    you might have earlier that our allies, particularly those who have
    troops on the ground there, would be more willing than they've been to
    see the arms embargo lifted?
        The President. I'll say this. Our allies are now more eager to see
    the no-fly zone enforced. And I think that the international impatience
    is going to grow rather rapidly with the Serbs if they want to continue
    the carnage in Bosnia, when not very long ago they acted as if they
    thought this was a pretty good deal.

    Aid to Russia

        Q. Mr. Chancellor, you've seen or you've heard--the President
    presented his--or gave you a good idea what's going to be included in
    his Russian aid package. Do you see it as being adequate, sir, or do you
    think it will make a difference over there?
        Chancellor Kohl. I think that indeed we have a possibility to
    cooperate. You may know that the Federal Republic of Germany has
    provided, by far, more than 50 percent of financial assistance to the
    states of the former Soviet Union. And I am very happy that the
    President has again taken a new initiative in the framework of the G-7,
    but going beyond that to wrap up a package of assistance to Boris
    Yeltsin and the reformist forces in the country.
        And I believe that this package should contain three to four
    elements to put it in a general

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    matter: bilateral assistance, multilateral assistance, then questions to
    provide relief goods to the country, but also specific types of
    assistance by way of providing help towards self-help. Let us think of
    the safety of civilian nuclear power plants in the former Soviet Union.
    In Munich, at the G-7 summit, we discussed that issue, too. And I'm very
    happy that the American President is taking up that idea to the question
    of the safety, you know, based on the experiences of Chernobyl, has
    turned out to be a central question touching each and every one of us;
    not a question that is restricted to Russia and the Ukraine but is
    addressed to all of us.
        And if we take all these issues together and wrap them up in a
    package, I think we stand a good chance to be successful. And I would
    like to express my support to the President on this.

    [At this point, a question was asked in German, and a translation was
    not provided.]

        Chancellor Kohl. Well, the only thing that we did was that we
    exchanged the information on that--the Federal Government in case a
    decision of the Security Council will be taking--what the Federal
    Government will do.

    German Constitutional Conflicts

        Q. [Inaudible]--satisfied with that report to solve the German
    constitutional conflicts that way?
        The President. I think he's been remarkably deft in his dealing with
    the issue so far.

    Aid to Russia

        Q. Thank you, Mr. President. Will you go further than President Bush
    did in your aid package to Russia, such as including long-term
    concessional financing or government guarantees? And can we expect the
    size of the package to be larger or less than the $24 billion that was
    attempted last year but not completed?
        The President. Well, of course, the package was not quite a $24
    billion package. It was in theory that, over a long period of years. But
    if you go back and look at what was actually released, the Congress
    specifically appropriated $650 million in aid and an $800 million
    appropriation under the Nunn-Lugar bill to help to denuclearize Russia
    and the other nuclear Republics. Most of that money has not been spent
    yet. And I say that not as a criticism.
        Let me back up and say one of the places where we started this
    discussion, in-house here, is to ask ourselves, what happened to the
    policy that was announced last year? What money has been appropriated
    and spent? What has been approved, but not spent? What are the problems?
    Are there any problems where the United States has not followed through?
    Are there problems where there are bottlenecks or failures in Russia?
    Are there problems because we said in theory we would support a few
    billion dollars in aid through international institutions, but Russia
    can't comply right now with the eligibility requirements for the IMF,
    for example? We analyzed all that.
        And so, when we finally put together this package, which has not
    been done yet--I'm in the middle of congressional consultations and
    talking with people outside as well as inside the Government--we will
    have made an honest effort to assess what happened to the last proposal,
    what the problems were, how to get around them. And I can't yet tell
    you--we've not yet made a final decision on the dollar value, but I
    expect it will be broadbased and comprehensive.

    Bosnian Peace Agreement

        Q. The sanctions so far have just about wrecked the Serbian economy,
    yet there doesn't seem to be any deterrent effect on the military
    aggression. With the developments in Srebrenica and related communities,
    what makes the administration think that further sanctions will have any
    impact on Serbian behavior?
        The President. I think the real issue is whether the cumulative
    impact of the events of the last few days will bring the Serbs to the
    signing table. That is, whether or not they really want so desperately
    to cleanse the Bosnian Muslims out of all their living space that they
    will defy now what is now for the first time, for the first time, the
    virtually unanimous opinion of all the governments that they will be in
    the wrong if they do not sign this agreement, which they had previously
    complimented. I don't know what's going to happen, Andrea [Andrea
    Mitchell, NBC News]. If I did, I would tell you.
        But let me say I think we have a chance to get a good-faith signing.
    I think we have to try. We have to give that a few days before we up the
    ante again.
        Q. Mr. President, well, what if the Serbs do sign this agreement?
    Are we still committed to sending U.S. ground forces in to enforce the

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    agreement within 72 hours? And what happens if there are some Serbs who
    don't honor the agreement and U.S. troops and other troops, peacekeeping
    forces, get in the way? That sounds like it's a prescription for some
    potentially bloody fighting to continue.
        The President. Well, all those decisions obviously would have to be
    made. We have not made those decisions yet. All I have said is that the
    United States would be prepared to participate in a multinational effort
    to help keep the peace. We believe that we'll be able to tell whether
    there is or is not a good-faith signing and whether there is or is not a
    peace. Of course, the whole reason you have peacekeeping forces is that
    from time to time the peace may be broken, but you hope it will be a
    general commitment to the peace. I still feel that that is an
    appropriate approach.

    Multilateral Trade Negotiations

        Q. Mr. President, both you gentlemen mentioned the GATT agreement
    and voiced optimism that a solution could be reached fairly shortly. As
    I recall, a little over a year ago, Chancellor Kohl was here and had
    been optimistic that perhaps it would be resolved before the Munich
    economic summit. Obviously that didn't happen. Currently there seems to
    be more tension between the U.S. and its trading partners than there was
    a year ago. What is it that makes you both optimistic that a
    breakthrough can be reached?
        Chancellor Kohl. Well, for me, there's no doubt about the fact that
    it was a mistake not to conclude it prior to Munich. And then we had
    many reasons after the summit had taken place. But I said to the
    President today that there is a convincing argument when we meet in
    Tokyo and read to the public the final document of the G-7 meeting, and
    Prime Minister Miyazawa stands up in front of 1,800 journalists and
    reads to them that the G-7 participants' countries are convinced that
    the successful conclusion of the GATT Uruguay round is an important
    precondition for fighting the recession, there would be an uproar of
    laughter greeting him. And some of you will take up the document from
    London and the document from Munich and hold it up in the air and wave
    it at the gentlemen. And in describing this to you, I think, and I said
    luckily so, luckily you know in what position we find ourselves in.
        But as I said, I have a serious argument in favor of a successful
    conclusion which people tend not to mention in the discussion. We all
    believe in a free international trade, and we need it if we want to get
    out of the recession. The Americans luckily are, as is clearly visible,
    on a good path out of it. But hardly ever do we talk about the third
    world countries. The economic situation in the third world countries is
    miserable. It is devastating, and the present recession affects the
    third world country far more than it affects the industrialized
    countries.
        And in the talks that I had with the President and Vice President
    Gore, we talked about the work that has to follow the conference of Rio,
    the UNCED. One cannot expect from us that in the question of the damage
    done to the tropical rain forest that we make progress on these issues
    if countries who undergo recessionist development are not being assisted
    by opening up the GATT Uruguay round and bringing it to a successful
    conclusion.
        I, however, do not believe that things have improved in the course
    of the last 2 years, and they will be even worsened if we wait another
    year for a conclusion. Therefore, I think that the Tokyo meeting and the
    threat of having about 2,000 journalists standing there laughing at us
    is quite a positive thing.
        The President. Let me make one other point. It is true that there
    have been a couple of points of contention since I became President.
    Both of them arose out of cases which developed well before I took
    office. But I also think you have to look at the upside in terms of the
    last 10 years. Just take our relationship with Europe: We have an
    agreement now on agriculture, if it can be held. We have an agreement on
    airline manufacturing and to what extent subsidies can be permitted and
    what is it not, if it can be held. We have experience now of the last 2
    years of what happened without a GATT agreement when we've had very low
    economic growth in Europe and a very persistent and lagging recession in
    the United States. And now with the United States making an effort to
    come out of this recession but the projected growth rates in Europe low,
    I think that there is an understanding that it is very difficult for one
    country to grow without more general growth throughout the world; and
    that Europe, the United States, and Japan, all in different ways, have a
    big stake in getting a GATT agreement that will set a framework that
    will permit us to promote global growth. That's why I think

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    we've got a good chance to make it, and I hope we do.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President's eighth news conference began at 2:31 p.m. in the
    East Room at the White House. Chancellor Kohl spoke in German, and his
    remarks were translated by an interpreter.