    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [November 19, 1999]
    [Page 2114]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Arrival in Athens, Greece
    November 19, 1999

        Hello. Thank you all for coming out to greet us. My family and our
    American delegation are very glad to begin our visit to Greece. Thank
    you very much.
        I have come here as a philhellene, a friend of Greece. And I look
    forward to experiencing that wonderful quality of Greek hospitality
    known to all the world as filoxenia.
        Through this visit I want the American people to see the changing
    face of Greece: the powerhouse of southeast Europe with the highest
    growth rate in the EU, a booming stock market; a nation on a fast track
    to join the European Monetary Union; an old democracy that is a model
    for the young democracies of the Balkans; the gateway to their markets;
    a driving force in the effort to rebuild war-torn nations and to bring
    them into Europe.
        We look to ancient Greece for inspiration, but we look to modern
    Greece for leadership and partnership. Tomorrow I want to speak with the
    people of Greece about what we can do together to build a Europe that is
    undivided, democratic, and at peace for the first time in history and
    about how, together, we can overcome the remaining challenges to that
    vision by stabilizing the Balkans and achieving lasting reconciliation
    between Greece and Turkey, with resolution of all outstanding issues,
    including Cyprus.
        Our nations have so much in common. We are allies with a shared
    commitment to peace and security; democracies with a long tradition of
    impassioned political debate about issues that affect our lives and
    engage our convictions. Above all, we are two nations proud of our past
    but focused on the future.
        I look forward to that future and to our partnership with confidence
    and hope. And I look very much forward to our visit with you.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 7:02 p.m. at Ellinikon International
    Airport.