[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
[November 22, 1999]
[Page 2140]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 2140]]


Remarks Following Discussions With Prime Minister Ivan Kostov of Bulgaria and an Exchange With Reporters in Sofia
November 22, 1999

    Prime Minister Kostov.  I have just asked the President to say a few 
words before he goes out of the Council of Ministers. He was kind to 
respond, and I thank him for that.
    President Clinton. Well, first, I want to say again how pleased and 
honored I am to be in Bulgaria and how strongly I support and admire the 
political, economic, and military reforms that the Government has 
undertaken and how grateful I am for the support that Europe and the 
United States received during the recent difficulties in Kosovo.
    I think it is very important for the United States to support 
Bulgaria's aspirations for political, economic, and military integration 
into the West and to support the Stability Pact and the economic and 
political revitalization of all of southeastern Europe.
    I would like to make one other point, which is that I am especially 
grateful for Bulgaria's policy and history of tolerance and cooperation 
among different groups of people within this country. If that had been 
the policy of Serbia in these last 10 years, we would be living in a 
very different and better time.
    Thank you very much. Thank you.
    Q. [Inaudible]
    President Clinton. No, that did not come up. But we talked generally 
about the importance of doing things that would be economically 
beneficial to Bulgaria. I would remind you, my Secretary of Commerce, 
Mr. Daley, was here just a few weeks ago 
for an economic conference. And we are moving ahead with a whole set of 
plans, which I hope will be highly beneficial to Bulgaria economically. 
But we did not discuss the specific question you asked.
    Thank you.

Note: The exchange began at 12:50 p.m. at the Council of Ministers 
Building. A tape was not available for verification of the content of 
this exchange.