    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [May 14, 1997]
    [Pages 601-602]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Message to the Congress on Conditions to the Flank Document of the
    Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty
    May 14, 1997

    To the Congress of the United States:
        In accordance with the resolution of advice and consent to
    ratification on the Document Agreed Among the States Parties to the
    Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe of November 19, 1990
    (``the CFE Flank Document''), adopted by the Senate of the United States
    on May 14, 1997, I hereby certify that:
        In connection with Condition (2), Violations of State Sovereignty,
    the United States and the governments of Belgium, Canada, Denmark,
    France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
    Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom have issued a
    joint statement affirming that (i) the CFE Flank Document does not give
    any State Party the right to station (under Article IV, paragraph 5 of
    the Treaty) or temporarily deploy (under Article V, paragraphs 1 (B) and
    (C) of the Treaty) conventional arms and equipment limited by the Treaty
    on the territory of other States Parties to the Treaty without the
    freely expressed consent of the receiving State Party; (ii) the CFE
    Flank Document does not alter or abridge the right of any State Party
    under the Treaty to utilize fully its declared maximum levels for
    conventional armaments and equipment limited by the Treaty notified
    pursuant to Article VII of the Treaty; and (iii) the CFE Flank Document
    does not alter in any way the requirement for the freely expressed
    consent of all States Parties concerned in the exercise of any
    reallocations envisioned under Article IV, paragraph 3 of the CFE Flank
    Document.
        In connection with Condition (6), Application and Effectiveness of
    Senate Advice and Consent, in the course of diplomatic negotiations to
    secure accession to, or ratification of, the CFE Flank Document by any
    other State Party, the United States will vigorously reject any effort
    by a State Party to (i) modify, amend, or alter a United States right or
    obligation under the Treaty or the CFE Flank Document, unless such
    modification, amendment, or alteration is solely an extension of the
    period of provisional application of the CFE Flank Document or a change
    of a minor administrative or technical nature; (ii) secure the adoption
    of a new United States obligation under, or in relation to, the

    [[Page 602]]

    CFE Treaty or the CFE Flank Document, unless such obligation is solely
    of a minor administrative or technical nature; or (iii) secure the
    provision of assurances, or endorsement of a course of action or a
    diplomatic position, inconsistent with the principles and policies
    established under conditions (1), (2), and (3) of the resolution of
    advice and consent to ratification of the CFE Flank Document.
        In connection with Condition (7), Modifications of the CFE Flank
    Zone, any subsequent agreement to modify, revise, amend or alter the
    boundaries of the CFE flank zone, as delineated by the map entitled
    ``Revised CFE Flank Zone'' submitted to the Senate on April 7, 1997,
    shall require the submission of such agreement to the Senate for its
    advice and consent to ratification, if such changes are not solely of a
    minor administrative or technical nature.
        In connection with Condition (9), Senate Prerogatives on
    Multilateralization of the ABM Treaty, I will submit to the Senate for
    advice and consent to ratification any international agreement (i) that
    would add one or more countries as States Parties to the ABM Treaty, or
    otherwise convert the ABM Treaty from a bilateral treaty to a
    multilateral treaty; or (ii) that would change the geographic scope or
    coverage of the ABM Treaty, or otherwise modify the meaning of the term
    ``national territory'' as used in Article VI and Article IX of the ABM
    Treaty.
        In connection with Condition (11), Temporary Deployments, the United
    States has informed all other States Parties to the Treaty that the
    United States (A) will continue to interpret the term ``temporary
    deployment'', as used in the Treaty, to mean a deployment of severely
    limited duration measured in days or weeks or, at most, several months,
    but not years; (B) will pursue measures designed to ensure that any
    State Party seeking to utilize the temporary deployments provision of
    the Treaty will be required to furnish the Joint Consultative Group
    established by the Treaty with a statement of the purpose and intended
    duration of the deployment, together with a description of the object of
    verification and the location of origin and destination of the relevant
    conventional armaments and equipment limited by the Treaty; and (C) will
    vigorously reject any effort by a State Party to use the right of
    temporary deployment under the Treaty (i) to justify military
    deployments on a permanent basis; or (ii) to justify military
    deployments without the full and complete agreement of the State Party
    upon whose territory the armed forces or military equipment of another
    State Party are to be deployed.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,

    May 14, 1997.

    Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on
    May 15.