[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.