    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
    [September 27, 1993]
    [Page 1623]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    White House Statement on the President's Meeting With Baltic Leaders
    September 27, 1993

        The President met today jointly with President Lennart Meri of
    Estonia, President Algirdas Brazauskas of Lithuania, and President
    Guntis Ulmanis of Latvia. It was the President's first meeting with the
    heads of state of the Baltic countries.
        The President expressed his admiration for the remarkable progress
    the Baltic peoples have achieved during the last 2 years in establishing
    democratic institutions and promoting economic reform. The President
    assured them of the strong U.S. interest in building close relations.
    The President reaffirmed U.S. support for reform and indicated the U.S.
    would move forward promptly on the new $50 million Baltic-American
    Enterprise Fund. The President also stated the United States intended to
    construct 5,000-7,000 housing units in Russia to facilitate the
    withdrawal of Russian forces from Estonia and Latvia.
        The President welcomed the recent withdrawal of all Russian military
    forces from Lithuania. He also reiterated strong U.S. support for the
    early, unconditional, and rapid withdrawal of the remaining Russian
    forces from Latvia and Estonia. The President noted that he had raised
    this matter in a number of recent discussions with Russian Federation
    leaders. The United States intends to be helpful to all parties
    concerned in promoting an amicable resolution of the withdrawal issue.
        The President also discussed concerns raised by the Russian
    Government about the treatment of ethnic Russians in Latvia and Estonia,
    while noting that international observers had found no evidence of human
    rights violations in those countries. The President expressed the hope
    that practical solutions could be achieved on this difficult issue. In
    this regard, the United States welcomes the constructive role played by
    the United Nations, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
    (CSCE), and the Council of Europe (COE) in helping to promote a
    resolution of all outstanding differences between Russia and the Baltic
    countries.