[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 25 (Monday, June 27, 1994)]
[Pages 1308-1309]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With 
President Arpad Goncz of Hungary and President Michal Kovac of Slovakia

June 21, 1994

    The President. May I first just make an opening comment here. The 
United States is very honored to have the Hungarian President, Mr. 
Goncz, and the Slovak President, Mr. Kovac, here. They are on their way 
to New York to receive a well-deserved award for their common commitment 
to democracy and reform. They have supported both, steadfastly and with 
great courage and consistency. And I have personally enjoyed very much 
the relationship that we have had working together on the Partnership 
For Peace concept and in many other areas, and I look forward to their 
progress.
    And I congratulate the people of Hungary and the Slovak Republic for 
their steadfastness, even in the face of great difficulty, and their 
leaders for their genuine leadership ability. So, it's a great honor for 
us to have them here in the White House. And we will be talking about 
the role the United States will be playing with them and the other coun- 


[[Page 1309]]

tries of Central and Eastern Europe, now and in the years ahead, in this 
meeting.

Partnership For Peace

    Q. Mr. President, is Russia going to sign the Partnership For Peace 
tomorrow in Brussels, that you know of?
    The President. We hope so. We hope they will be doing it in the next 
few days. I'm not sure exactly whether all the details have been worked 
out. But when President Yeltsin and I spoke a couple of days ago about 
the Korean matter, we talked a bit about that. And I expect them to join 
the Partnership For Peace sometime in the next few days.

North Korea

    Q. And have you opened up a channel to North Korea in the aftermath 
of former President Carter's----
    The President. Well, we have a channel of communications to them. 
And we have followed up President Carter's statements to me and his 
letter of understanding with a communication to the North Koreans, and 
we will be waiting to hear back. And we expect and hope to hear back 
within a couple of days about whether President Carter's understanding 
of what they said is correct.

Legal Defense Fund

    Q. President Clinton, have you decided whether to launch a legal 
defense fund?
    The President. I have nothing to say about that.

Note: The President spoke at 10:44 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these 
remarks.