    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 16 (Monday, April 25, 1994)]
    [Pages 880-881]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With Prime Minister Andreas
    Papandreou of Greece

    April 22, 1994

    Bosnia

        Q. Mr. President, are you going to start bombing, or are the allies
    going to start bombing Gorazde very shortly as a result of the NATO
    Council ultimatum?
        The President. They're meeting now. Let's see what they do, and I'll
    have more to say about it later.
        Q. Do you want the NATO allies to allow NATO to select the bombing
    targets and move more independently of the U.N.? And do you expect them
    to----
        The President. We want to continue to work with the U.N., but
    they're working--our people are there now, working on the arrangements.
    So let's see what comes out of the meeting today, and we'll--I'll have
    comments about it after they do.

    Haiti

        Q. Sir, I wonder if you could tell us why the Haitian boat people
    are being allowed this time, sir.
        The President. Well, two reasons: First of all, they were very close
    to the United States. The whole purpose of the return policy was
    primarily to deter people from risking their lives. Hundreds of people
    have already drowned trying to come here. These people were only 4 miles
    from the shore. The second

    [[Page 881]]

    was that we had evidence that the Haitians might have been subject to
    some abuse by the people who were in control of the boat. And so for
    those reasons, we thought the appropriate thing to do was to bring them
    on in, which we did.
        Q. Is this a change in the policy for the future?
        The President. No change in policy.

    [At this point, one group of reporters left the room, and another group
    entered.]

    Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

        Q. President Clinton. Mr. President, are you going to discuss the
    problem with Greece and Skopje and the measures that Greece has got
    against Skopje?
        The President. Absolutely.
        Q. What do you believe about these measures?
        The President. What I think is that we have Mr. Nimetz over there
    and Mr. Vance. We're trying to help work it out. I think that it's very
    much in the interest of Greece and Europe and the world community for
    the matters to be worked out between the two countries, and I think they
    can be.
        Q. How committed are you to delaying the process until Greece's
    concerns are satisfied, sir?
        The President. I think it's obvious that we've shown a real concern
    for Greece's concerns. That's one of the main reasons I sent a special
    envoy over there, and we're trying to work through it. We'll discuss
    that today. We just started out--we haven't even had our discussions
    yet.
        Q. There's been some criticism that the U.S. side has not exercised
    enough of its good--[inaudible]--to Skopje and to come up with a
    solution.
        The President. We're working hard on that now, and we'll continue
    to. I think there will have to be some changes from the point of view of
    Skopje.
        Q. Are you going to visit Greece, sir?
        The President. Oh, I'd love to do that. I've never been there.

    Cyprus

        Q. What about Cyprus?
        The President. We're working hard on Cyprus, and I think--I hope
    there will be some movement from the Turkish side on Cyprus in the next
    couple of days with regard to the confidence-building measures. I think
    that the ball has been sort of in Mr. Denktash's court, and I hope he
    will take it up. And then I hope that Greece and all others will support
    pushing forward. I have worked hard to resolve this since I've been in
    office, and I will continue to stay on it. More later.

    Note: The exchange began at 11:45 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, the President referred to Matthew Nimetz, U.S.
    Special Envoy to the United Nations to resolve the conflict between
    Greece and Macedonia; Cyrus Vance, United Nations Special Envoy to the
    Former Yugoslavia; and Rauf Denktash, leader of the Greek-Cypriot
    community. A tape was not available for verification of the content of
    this exchange.