[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
[December 13, 1993]
[Pages 2163-2164]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on the Russian Elections and an Exchange With Reporters in Bryn 
Mawr
December 13, 1993

    The President. I'd like to, first of all, congratulate the Russian 
people on having their first parliamentary election--it was a clear 
democratic exercise throughout the country--and to say how very pleased 
I am that the new constitution was adopted because this now lays a 
foundation for a long-term--a legitimacy for democracy and for the 
expression of popular will that will not be just solely dependent upon 
the occasional election for President. So I think that is also very, 
very good.
    In terms of the results of the parliamentary elections themselves, I 
am informed by our people there that we don't yet really know what the 
results are going to be because a lot of the votes and a lot of the 
major areas have not been counted yet and it's not clear what the final 
distribution will be.
    I will say this, I'm not particularly surprised by the showing of 
the ultranationalist party, because the Russian people have suffered a 
lot in the last few years. And you saw the same sort of thing happening 
in Poland, where there had been a lot of economic adversity. It's hard 
for people to go through these changes and not have a certain percentage 
of them vote for candidates which articulate protests most forcefully. 
So I wasn't particularly surprised.
    I do think that it will be possible for a majority of people who 
favor democracy and don't favor a dramatic change of course in foreign 
policy for Russia to put together a coalition in the Parliament who can 
work with the President and go forward. So I'm quite hopeful.

[[Page 2164]]

    But I think in any country where ordinary people are having a hard 
time you're going to have some significant protest vote, including the 
United States.

Russia

    Q. Mr. President, do you anticipate any change in your policy, 
American policy toward Russia in terms of aid, in terms of galvanizing 
the allies to somehow address this protest movement and try to diffuse 
it?
    The President. Well, let me answer you this way. First of all, we 
need to wait in terms of--I anticipate no change in my policy in general 
terms towards Russia. I think we ought to wait and see how the votes 
come in, what the distribution of seats in the Parliament will be and 
how it all shakes out. It will be quite some time before you have a real 
feel for what's going to happen.
    But I do think that the vote in Poland and this vote send a signal 
about how difficult it is to convert from that old Communist system to a 
market economy at a time of global recession, when the ability of any 
other nation or group of nations to give a big infusion of capital to 
provide temporary security is not there. If you look even in East 
Germany in the recent votes, where they've gotten a massive amount of 
money from West Germany, still just the transition process is extremely 
painful. And keep in mind all these changes, these economic and 
political changes, are playing out in the former Soviet Union and in 
Eastern Europe, the former Warsaw Pact countries, at a time of global 
recession when there is deep frustration and alienation among middle 
class voters in the wealthiest countries.
    So this should not be too surprising. I think what it means is that 
we have to think through our approach to these nations and remember that 
there has to be a lot of sensitivity to the ability of ordinary working 
people to navigate their way through all these tough changes and at 
least be able to imagine how they're going to come out on top at the 
end. And I think that there will be a little more sensitivity to that, 
hopefully not just in the United States and Europe and Japan but also in 
the international organizations themselves.

Multilateral Trade Negotiations

    Q. One of the things that people have been looking for is a way of 
breaking through the global recession or the GATT talks. What is your 
sense of where that stands now? Have they cleared away enough barriers 
to get an agreement by Wednesday, or are they still hung up on the 
audiovisual----
    The President. Well, I've not received a final report today. As you 
know, I did quite a bit of work on it yesterday. I had a talk with Prime 
Minister Balladur and Prime Minister Major and Chancellor Kohl, and our 
folks, they're all working very hard. And the United States, I think, 
has certainly bent over backwards on all the issues outstanding that 
required us to show some flexibility. We have shown some, including in 
the audiovisual area and certainly in the agricultural area and some 
other areas.
    I think it would give a big boost of confidence if we could get it 
done, but it's important that it be a good agreement. And I'm hopeful, 
but I don't know much more than I did yesterday afternoon real late. I'm 
hopeful, but I can't say for sure.

Russia

    Q. Will the election affect, at all, your scheduled trip to Russia 
next month? For example, will you meet with Mr. Zhirinovsky during your 
visit to Moscow?
    The President. I've made no decisions. I haven't even had a chance 
to talk about that. I had always assumed that when I went there after 
the parliamentary election that there would be some opportunity for me 
to relate to the parliamentarians as well as to the President. That's 
something we had always assumed. But in terms of who and how and what 
the specifics are, there have been absolutely no discussions of that. 
They haven't had time yet. They've just had the election.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 2:21 p.m. at Bryn Mawr College. During the 
exchange, a reporter referred to Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the 
Liberal Democratic Party in Russia.