[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book I)]
[July 1, 1994]
[Pages 1172-1173]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 1172]]


Interview With Klaus Walther of ZDF German Television
July 1, 1994

President's Trip to Germany

    Mr. Walther. Mr. President, what are your expectations in front of 
the first trip to the united Germany? You will have a speech in front of 
the Brandenburg Gate; the Wall has come down. What will your message be?
    The President. Well, first of all, let me say it's an incredible 
personal honor for me to be able to go as the first President to a 
united Germany. One of the formative political images of my childhood 
was seeing President Kennedy stand there in Berlin at the Wall and give 
his speech. So, for all of us in America, it's been a source of great 
joy to see the Wall come down and to see what is happening now in 
Germany.
    My message will be that we've torn down the walls, but now we have 
to build the bridges. We have to unite Europe, and we have to move 
forward on security issues, on economic issues to make a better world.

U.S. Military in Germany

    Mr. Walther. What will be the significance of the remaining troops 
in Germany for the future?
    The President. I think it's quite important. I think it's a 
statement that the United States puts great importance on our 
relationships with Europe, with NATO, and with Germany, especially, and 
that we have a common security future with NATO.
    One of the great successes, I think, of the last year has been the 
Partnership For Peace, the establishment of cooperative relationships 
between NATO and now 21 other countries, 19 from the former Communist 
bloc and Sweden and Finland. So this is a very exciting time, I think, 
and the United States, as long as Europe wants to be our partner, should 
maintain that partnership and should stay in Europe.

Germany-U.S. Relations

    Mr. Walther. Let me return to Germany. Is Germany still the most 
important ally of the United States?
    The President. Germany is a critically important ally, always has 
been, certainly since the end of the Second World War. And I think that 
if you look to the future, the kinds of things we have to work together 
on, the way our interests tend to converge and the way we see the world, 
the relationship I have enjoyed with Chancellor Kohl, all the things we 
work together on, Russian aid, international peacekeeping, a whole range 
of issues, trying to find a solution in Bosnia, the German people and 
the American people and their Governments need to work very, very 
closely together, not only for the well-being of Europe but indeed for 
the entire world.

Central and Eastern Europe

    Mr. Walther. America is the last remaining world power, and there is 
more aid necessary than first expected to build up the East. Is the 
United States willing to increase their contributions for the East, 
because Germany and Europe, they have spent billions of dollars?
    The President. Yes. I think we should do more, and we will. There is 
a limit to how much we can do. We've been very active in Russia and in 
other republics of the former Soviet Union. And we are trying to 
maintain a very vigorous international defense posture as a superpower 
in the cause of peace. And of course, that costs a lot of money. But I 
do believe in Central and Eastern Europe, we should be more active, and 
we will be. There are limits to what we can do, but we will be more 
active.
    Mr. Walther. Talking about peace, does it bother you that the old 
powers in the former Eastern bloc countries are getting back into power 
again?
    The President. Well, it depends on what they do. I mean, change is 
difficult. And the changes that a lot of those former Communist 
countries are going through are quite painful. And I think it is only 
predictable that from time to time the election results will vary, 
depending upon the mood of the people, the level of personal security 
they feel, the level of results being achieved. That is inevitable.
    And as long as there is a continued commitment to openness and 
democracy and human rights and to working with the West, I don't think 
we can be deterred from our policies by particular elections. After all, 
you know, none of us always agree with the outcome of every election in 
our own countries.

[[Page 1173]]

Bosnia and the United Nations.

    Mr. Walther. Mr. President, your administration started to solve a 
lot of international crises through the United Nations. The strategy 
failed, obviously, in Bosnia. When is U.S. unilateral action in the 
future appropriate or necessary?
    The President. First of all, I don't know that it has failed in 
Bosnia; it has not yet succeeded. That is, keep in mind, there has been 
an agreement between the Croatians and the Muslims. It is functioning. 
It has stabilized a lot of the country. There has been much more peace 
and less slaughter around Sarajevo and some of the other safe areas. So 
I think the United Nations, the United States working with the U.N. and 
working through NATO has done a lot there to improve the situation. And 
of course, we hope that the contact group will come up with a map that 
will result in a peace settlement.
    If you ask me the question, will the United States continue to work 
through the United Nations, the answer to that is yes, wherever we can. 
But we must be in a position to act alone when our own vital interests 
are at stake. That's what we did, for example, when I received proof 
that there had been an attempt to assassinate former President Bush in 
Iraq. But I wouldn't give up on the U.N. yet or on multilateral efforts. 
I still think there's a great deal that can be done there. I also think 
you're going to see variations of that. Look at Rwanda, where the French 
got, in effect, permission of the U.N. to lead in an area where they had 
an historic interest and historic ties. So I think we will be finding 
new ways for international cooperation for quite some years yet.
    Mr. Walther. Talking about United Nations, would you support Germany 
to be a member on the Security Council?
    The President. Yes. I have been publicly supportive of that for 
almost 3 years now.

NATO

    Mr. Walther. You talked about NATO, Mr. President. How do you 
envision NATO's future? There's no more threat coming from the East, and 
how do you envision NATO's future?
    The President. Well, right now what we're doing is using NATO to try 
to build a united Europe from a security point of view and to be 
available to take actions in Europe out of NATO's area. That's really 
the significance of what has happened in Bosnia, where the NATO planes 
have been involved in enforcing the no-fly zone and trying to enforce 
the safe area, where NATO planes can be called in if needed to try to 
preserve agreements and make sure both sides adhere to them. And I don't 
think there's any question that NATO has made a contribution to the 
progress that has been made in Bosnia.
    And the NATO Partnership For Peace is the most important thing we've 
done in the last several years, because it gives us the chance to have a 
united Europe, the chance, really, for the first time since nation 
states were in existence in Europe.
    So that's what I see. I think NATO should be working on integrating 
Europe from a security point of view; toward looking toward expanding 
its membership to other countries as appropriate; and toward the use of 
coordinated action, military capacity, outside its area of membership 
but within Europe.

Middle East Peace Process

    Mr. Walther. Mr. President, today Mr. Arafat is visiting the Gaza 
Strip. Is this a milestone in the development in the Middle East?
    The President. Yes, it's a very important trip because it symbolizes 
what has happened, which is that the Palestinians are beginning to have 
control over their own lives and affairs. It is a tribute to the courage 
of the Israelis and the Palestinians and to their leaders, to Mr. Arafat 
and to Prime Minister Rabin. And it's also a tribute to the peace 
process in which the United States, as you know, has been very actively 
involved.
    The only way to settle the problems in the Middle East is to 
continue the peace process. I saw King Hussein just last week. We are in 
close touch with President Asad. We are working with Lebanon. We are 
hoping for a comprehensive peace in the Middle East. And I hope this 
trip today will show that peace can be achieved and what a good thing it 
will be.

Note: The interview began at 12:10 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House.