[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 7 (Monday, February 22, 1999)]
[Pages 253-257]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's News Conference With President Chirac of France

February 19, 1999

    President Clinton. Please sit down. Good afternoon. President Chirac 
and I, as always, have had a very good meeting. We had a lot to discuss, 
and we have a lot to do together.
    Most importantly, today we are working together to end the fighting 
in Kosovo and to help the people there obtain the autonomy and self-
government they deserve. We now call on both sides to make the tough 
decisions that are necessary to stop the conflict immediately, before 
more people are killed and the war spreads.
    The talks going on outside Paris are set to end on Saturday. The 
Kosovo Albanians have shown courage in moving forward the peace accord 
that we, our NATO allies, and Russia have proposed. Serbia's leaders now 
have a choice to make: They can join an agreement that meets their 
legitimate concerns and gives them a chance to show that an autonomous 
Kosovo can thrive as part of their country, or they can stonewall. But 
if they do that, they will be held accountable.
    If there is an effective peace agreement, NATO stands ready to help 
implement it. We also stand united in our determination to use force if 
Serbia fails to meet its previous commitment to withdraw forces from 
Kosovo and if it fails to accept the peace agreement. I have ordered our 
aircraft to be ready, to act as part of a NATO operation, and I will 
continue to consult very closely with Congress in the days ahead.
    The challenge in Kosovo and the one we have addressed in Bosnia 
underscore the central role NATO plays in promoting peace and stability 
in Europe. Today the President and I discussed the 50th anniversary 
summit, which will be held here in Washington in April, to admit Poland, 
Hungary, and the Czech Republic as new members, and to set NATO's course 
for the new century.
    The conflicts in the Balkans also highlight the need to strengthen 
stability across southeast Europe. The United States and France are 
pleased to announce today that we will pursue a new initiative we hope 
other allies will join, to increase cooperation with southeast Europe's 
emerging democracies on security matters, to coordinate security 
assistance to them from NATO countries, to promote regional cooperation 
and economic development.
    The President and I also discussed our common efforts to reform the 
global financial system and to support economic recovery in countries 
that have been so hard hit. Last fall, working with other G-7 nations 
and key emerging economies, we set out a comprehensive agenda: making 
financial systems more open and resilient, improving international 
cooperation on financial oversight. Just this weekend in Bonn, our 
finance ministers will address these topics, and the creation of a new 
financial stability forum.
    We're moving ahead on promoting sound lending practices and 
strengthening protections for the most vulnerable members of societies 
when crisis strikes. We need to do more to reduce the debts of the 
poorest, most heavily indebted nations, as they seek to meet basic human 
needs and undertake economic reforms. And I thank President Chirac for 
championing this cause for such a long time. Our budget makes a 
significant new investment in that challenge, and we proposed ways to 
help the IMF, with its existing resources, do the same.
    On these issues we're aiming to make real progress by the time of 
the June G-8 summit in Cologne, Germany. I very much appreciate the 
President's leadership in this area.
    We discussed the continuing challenge of promoting economic recovery 
in Russia and working with Russia to prevent its weapons of mass 
destruction, missiles, and technologies from falling into the hands of 
outlaw nations and terrorists. We will continue our cooperation on 
securing peace in the Middle East. We talked about the Middle East peace 
process at some length. We talked about our common determination to 
restrain Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program.
    We want to expand cooperation in Africa, promoting peace in the 
Great Lakes region, encouraging an African Crisis Response capability. 
And today we are announcing that we're joining together with African 
nations in an effort I spoke about first last year in Senegal, building 
an African Center for Security Studies, to promote peace and democracy.

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    Finally, Mr. President, I want to thank France for showing 
leadership by ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. One hundred 
fifty-two nations have signed the treaty, which would end nuclear 
testing forever and make it harder for more nations to develop nuclear 
weapons. Once again I want to express my hope that our Senate will also 
provide its advice and consent for ratification this year.
    Mr. President, the floor is yours.
    President Chirac. Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, first of all, 
I want to say how happy I am to be once again here in the United States 
and here in Washington. I'm happy to be in this country, which is where 
everything is always moving, this country which constantly surprises the 
world, and a country which for a long time I have been very fond of. And 
when I feel well, I feel happy, and once again I'm happy to be the guest 
of President Bill Clinton. And I think everyone knows the regard and the 
friendship I have and I've had for a long time for President Clinton, 
and I want to thank him once again for his hospitality.
    The President has covered, more or less, all the subjects that were 
on the agenda of our talks, so I'm going to make two remarks only. The 
first is to say that our agreement on the present problems in Kosovo is 
an unqualified agreement. It's complete agreement. We're almost at the 
end of the time allotted for trying to work things out at Rambouillet, 
and after President Clinton, I would like to say to the two parties and 
in particular to President Milosevic, who in fact holds more or less the 
key to the solution, that the time has come to shoulder all his 
responsibilities and to choose the path of wisdom and not the path of 
war, which would bear very serious consequences for people who would 
make that choice, for themselves and for their people. It's a very heavy 
responsibility that they would be taking if they were to do that.
    I've already had occasion to say that, as far as the Europeans are 
concerned, it is our continent which is involved here, and we want our 
continent to be at peace, and we will not accept that situation, such as 
the present situation in Kosovo, should continue.
    My second remark concerns a subject which President Clinton has not 
mentioned but that we have talked about at some time and that for me 
it's the big problem, for the big issue for the beginning of the next 
century, and that is what President Clinton raised himself about a 
couple of months ago, in a talk he gave--the question of humanizing 
globalization, making globalization more human. Everyone understands 
that globalization is both inevitable and also it bears progress, and 
this can be understood every day, ever more. And this is something that 
must be--a process that must be encouraged. It's a good thing.
    But everyone I think can also understand that there are or can be 
social consequences of this, and it's really our job to control them. 
And it's one of the big challenges I think of this society in the years 
to come. And for we, the Europeans, it was really very gratifying to 
hear the President of the United States put this issue to the fore of 
matters that the world has to contend with. And I entirely agree with 
what he has said. And it's also a question that we have talked about 
among ourselves.
    Otherwise, President Clinton has, in fact, covered everything we 
have been talking about, so I won't add anything because I entirely 
agree with him. And of course, I also agree to reply to your questions 
on these important issues for the whole world.
    President Clinton. [Inaudible]--French and American journalists, 
beginning with Mr. Hunt [Terence Hunt, Associated Press].

Kosovo/Iraq

    Q. President Clinton, President Milosevic refused to meet with the 
U.S. Envoy today, Christopher Hill, and said that he would not give up 
Kosovo, even at the price of a bombing. Is there any possibility that 
NATO would extend the Saturday noon deadline for reaching an agreement? 
And what do you say to President Yeltsin of Russia when he said that, 
``we will not allow Kosovo to be touched?''
    And for President Chirac, did you and President Clinton find 
agreement today on the issue of Iraqi sanctions?
    President Clinton. First, let me say I think it would be a mistake 
to extend the

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deadline. And I respect the position of Russia, and I thank the Russians 
for supporting the peace process, as well as the proposed agreement. We 
had many of the same tensions in Bosnia, where ultimately we wound up 
working together for peace. I believe that is what will happen.
    I would like to go back to the--just very briefly--to the merits of 
the argument that Mr. Milosevic made. He says that if he accepts this 
multinational peacekeeping force, it's like giving up Kosovo. I 
personally believe it's the only way he can preserve Kosovo as a part of 
Serbia. Under their laws, Kosovo is supposed to be autonomous but a part 
of Serbia. Its autonomy was effectively stripped from it years ago.
    We are now trying to find some way to untangle the injuries and 
harms and arguments that have come from both sides and permit a period 
of 3 years to develop within which the Serbian security forces can 
withdraw, a police force, civil institutions can be developed--we can 
give them a chance to prove that they can function together.
    I don't think, unless we do this, there is any way for the integrity 
of Serbia ultimately to be preserved, because of the incredible 
hostility and the losses and the anger that's already there.
    So I'm not trying to--at least from our part, and I believe 
President Chirac and all the Europeans feel the same way--we're trying 
to give this a chance to work, not trying to provide a wedge to undo 
Serbia.
    Mr. President.
    President Chirac. Well, I entirely share the position expressed by 
President Clinton. I would doubt that--I'm convinced that the only 
possibility for Mr. Milosevic, the only way he can keep Kosovo within 
internationally recognized frontiers, as of course, planned in the 
Yugoslav constitution, a high degree of substantial autonomy, 
substantial autonomy--the only way he can keep the situation is to 
accept the proposals that are made today. Any other solution, I repeat, 
would involve for Mr. Milosevic some very serious consequences, indeed.
    Q. If everything fails tomorrow, what could then prevent a military 
strike on the part of NATO? If there is no agreement tomorrow, what 
would then prevent----
    President Clinton. I think there would have to be an agreement 
before the strikes commence. I don't think there is an option. Because 
keep in mind, part of what we have asked is that President Milosevic do 
things that he has already agreed to do, as I said in my opening 
statement. And we would--the NATO nations have decided and have given 
the Secretary General authority to pursue a strategy which would at 
least reduce his capacity to take further aggressive military action 
against the Kosovar Albanians.
    This assumes, of course, that he doesn't accept it and that they do, 
as we discussed. But that would be my position. I believe that is both 
our positions.
    President Chirac. Without a shadow of a doubt.
    President Clinton. Helen [Helen Thomas, United Press International]?

The Presidency/Lessons of Impeachment

    Q. President Clinton, what lessons have you learned from your 13-
month ordeal? Do you think the office of the Presidency has been harmed? 
And what advice would you give to future Presidents?
    President Clinton. Well, of course, I've learned a lot of personal 
lessons, most of which I have already discussed. And Presidents are 
people, too. I have learned, again, an enormous amount of respect for 
our Constitution, our framers, and for the American people. And my 
advice to future Presidents would be to decide what you believe you 
ought to do for the country and focus on it and work hard. The American 
people hire you to do that and will respond if you work at it and if 
they sense that you're doing this for them.
    Q. And you don't think the office of the President has been harmed?
    President Clinton. Oh, I think the Constitution has been, in effect, 
reratified. And I hope that the Presidency has not been harmed. I don't 
believe it has been. I can't say that I think this has been good for the 
country, but we will see. I expect to have 2 good years here.
    I think the American people expect the Congress and me to get back 
to work, expect us either not to have any destructive feelings or, if we 
do, not to let them get in the way

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of our doing their business. These are jobs--these are positions of 
public responsibility. These are--and the United States has great 
responsibilities to its own people and to the rest of the world. And I 
don't believe that any of us can afford to let what has happened get in 
the way of doing our best for our own people and for the future. And I'm 
going to do my very best to do that. And I think that we should all 
discipline ourselves with that in mind.

Banana Trade Dispute

    Q. My question is to both Presidents. Have you talked about bananas? 
Because this is an American-European problem but also a problem for 
France because of the Caribbean bananas. And have you found a 
compromise? Could President Clinton explain to me why the United States 
is being so aggressive on this business? Because to my knowledge, and 
contrary to France and Europe, the United States themselves don't 
produce bananas.
    President Clinton. Yes, we talked about it. [Laughter] And we're 
being quite strong about it because we do have companies involved, and 
there are people involved in other countries, not just the Caribbean--
Central America, for example--and because we think the trade law is 
clear. We won a trade dispute. We won. And we have been trying to--
there's been a finding here, and we've been trying to work out a 
reasonable solution with the Europeans, especially with the British, and 
others, and there has been no willingness to resolve this.
    We don't want to provoke a trade crisis, but we won. And from our 
point of view--this is one place where we disagree--the Europeans are 
basically saying, ``Well, you won this trade fight under the law, but we 
still don't think you have a meritorious position. Therefore, we will 
not yield.'' Well, when we lose trade fights, we lose them. And if we're 
going to have a global trading system and a system for resolving 
disputes--which, most of us believe, normally take too long, anyway--and 
if we're, all of us, expected to have a reasonable resolution when we 
lose--and that's what you'd expect the United States to do--then that's 
what we want from Europe.
    We took this matter through the normal chain of events, and we won. 
And I think most people in Europe believe we shouldn't have won, but 
sometimes we lose cases we think we shouldn't have lost, too. And 
therefore, we would like a resolution of this consistent with the 
finding of international trade law.
    President Chirac. I would simply add this, that yes, we did talk 
about this problem, and President Clinton just said that the United 
States had companies--corporations involved. And my answer is that we 
have the actual workers who are involved. And I also added that the 
banana in the Caribbean was obviously the best, the best banana in the 
world, and that, therefore, they had to be safeguarded and in the 
interest of mankind, and I counted on him to understand this. [Laughter]

Hillary Clinton's Possible                            Senate Candidacy

    Q. I wonder if you could share with us some of your thoughts about 
the pros and cons of--Senate seat in New York--Mrs. Clinton----
    President Clinton. Well, first of all, I think it's important that 
you all understand--I think you know this--this is nothing that ever 
crossed her mind until other people began to mention it to her. To me, 
the most important thing is that she decides to do what she wants to do. 
And I will be strongly supportive of whatever decision she makes and 
will do all I can to help on this and any other decision from now on, 
just as she's helped me for the last 20-plus years. If she decided to do 
it and she were elected, I think she would do a fabulous job.
    But I think that it's important to remember this is an election 
which occurs in November of 2000, and she has just been through a very 
exhausting year. And there are circumstances which have to be 
considered, and I think some time needs to be taken here.
    I also think that even in a Presidential race, it's hard to keep a 
kettle of water boiling for almost 2 years. And so I just--from my point 
of view, this thing is--it's a little premature. And I would like to see 
her take--my advice has been to take some time, get some rest,

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listen to people on both sides of the argument, and decide exactly what 
you think is right to do. And then, whatever she decides I'll be for.

Kosovo

    Q. Mr. President, if it appears that the Serbs--they have to be 
sanctioned because they refuse the presence of NATO troops in Kosovo, 
have you the assurance that the Kosovo Liberation Army will renounce its 
demands on independence?
    President Chirac. Well, as I said before, the pressure that we are 
exerting, legitimately, especially we're exercising on both parties, on 
both sides. And we replied to a question on Serbia because the question 
was on Serbia, but let's be perfectly clear: A lot will depend on the 
personal position adopted by Mr. Milosevic.
    But it goes without saying that if the failure, the breakdown, was 
caused by the Kosovars, their responsibility, sanctions of a different 
kind, probably, but very firm sanctions would be applied against them. 
We haven't--there's no choice. I mean, we don't have to choose. We want 
peace; that's all.
    President Clinton. First of all, I can entirely support what 
President Chirac said. But if I could just emphasize that the agreement 
requires that they accept autonomy, at least for 3 years and sets in 
motion a 3-year process to resolve all these outstanding questions. 
Three years would give us time to stop the killing, cool the tempers. 
And it would also give time for the Serbs to argue that if they return 
to the original constitutional intent, that is, to have genuine autonomy 
for Kosovo, as Kosovo once enjoyed--that that would be the best thing 
for them, economically and politically. And people would have a chance 
to see and feel those things.
    Right now--after all that's gone on and all the people that have 
died and all the bloody fighting and all the incredibly vicious things 
that have been said, you know, we just need a timeout here. We need a 
process within which we can get the security forces out, as Mr. 
Milosevic said he would do, before--and build some internal institutions 
within Kosovo capable of functioning, and then see how it goes. I think 
that's the most important thing.
    And so, yes, to go back to what President Chirac said, yes, both 
sides have responsibility. Their responsibility would be to acknowledge 
that that is the deal for the next 3 years, during which time we resolve 
the long-term, permanent questions.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President's 168th news conference began at 3:44 p.m. in the 
East Room at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to President 
Slobodan Milosevic of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and 
Montenegro); Christopher Hill, U.S. Ambassador to the Former Yugoslav 
Republic of Macedonia; and President Boris Yeltsin of Russia. President 
Chirac spoke in French, and his remarks were translated by an 
interpreter.