[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 47 (Monday, November 29, 1999)]
[Pages 2437-2438]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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

[[Page 2438]]

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.