Monday, May 13, 1996

 

ISSN: 0511-4187; Volume v32; Issue n19

 

Remarks prior to discussions with President Stephanopoulos and an exchange with

reporters. (Pres. Bill Clinton and Greek Pres. Konstandinos Stephanopoulos)

(Transcript)

Total number of pages for this article: 2 FULL TEXT

 

 

� May 9, 1996

 

 

� Greece-U.S. Relations

 

 

� President Clinton. Let me say that it is a great honor for me to

welcome President Stephanopoulos here to celebrate the ties that bind

the United States and Greece. And we look forward to discussing the

many, many issues between our two countries, including the situation in

the Aegean, which we strongly feel should be resolved without any force

or threat of force, according to the international agreements and with

respect to the territorial integrity of all parties involved.

 

 

� I'm looking forward to this, and I'm very glad you're here, Mr.

President.

 

 

� China-U.S. Trade

 

 

� Q. Are you afraid of a trade war with China, Mr. President?

 

 

� President Clinton. Excuse me?

 

 

� Q. Are you afraid of a trade war with China?

 

 

� President Clinton. No, I don't think so. The United States, I think,

has been more open to Chinese products than any other country. We buy an

enormous percentage of their exports, a far larger percentage than our

share of the world economy. And we are - tried to aid the transition of

the Chinese economy and to have a constructive relationship with them,

but we have a right to preserve the integrity of our own laws and

especially our intellectual property laws.

 

 

� The United States has been fortunate to lead the world in the

production of a lot of electronics and computer related equipment and

software. And the products of the mind and the laboratories in America

should be protected under international agreements, and they should be

entitled to that in every country. That's all we ask.

 

 

� Q. Do you expect them to budge before May 15th?

 

 

� President Clinton. Well, I hope we can resolve the differences between

the two countries before May the 15th. We're working hard on it. I hope

we can. And we'll do our best to resolve it.

 

 

� The President would like to make a statement.

 

 

� Greece-U.S. Relations

 

 

� President Stephanopoulos. I now want to say how pleased I am to be in

the United States on an invitation for such a state visit. I would like

to convey to the American people the greetings of the entire Greek

people and their admiration. The Greek people are fully aware of the

fact that democracy is founded on efforts such as the ones that the

United States and Greece make and based on the ideals that our two

countries express.

 

 

� And I would like to assure you that the problems that arise in the

Aegean are not at all our responsibility. We always try, and we succeed,

in behaving according to international law.

 

 

� Thank you, Mr. President.

 

 

� President Clinton. Thank you very much.

 

 

� [At this point, one group of reporters left the room, and another

group entered.]

 

 

� Q. Good morning, Mr. President.

 

 

� President Clinton. Good morning. Have we got everyone in? Let's wait

until we have everyone in.

 

 

� Q. There are two Stephanopouloses in the same office.

 

 

� President Clinton. There are two Stephanopouloses in the same office.

 

 

� Q. How do you feel about it?

 

 

� President Clinton. I feel very good about it. I asked George this

morning if there are any relations between himself and the President,

and he said he had been searching for one desperately, but he hadn't yet

found it. [Laughter] He was still hoping to find one.

 

 

� Let me say, first, how very pleased I am, on behalf of all the people

of the United States, to welcome President Stephanopoulos here. The ties

between America and Greece are well known. The vitality, the importance

of the Greek-American community to our country, I think, is well known

to the people of Greece. But our partnership for so many years now has

meant a great deal to the United States, and I look forward to working

to strengthen it.

 

 

� I also look forward to our discussions of a wide variety of issues. I

know we will discuss the matters in the Aegean. I want to say again that

we believe these matters should be resolved according to international

law, without any force, without any threat of force, and respecting the

territorial integrity of all the parties. And we believe that a lot of

progress can be made in that part of the world, and that the future of

Europe and the future of the Mediterranean region and, indeed, to a

large extent the future of democracy everywhere depends upon our ability

to work in good faith, to work through those issues.

 

 

� So I'm looking forward to this meeting, and very pleased to have the

opportunity to host it.

 

 

� Aegean Peace Process

 

 

� Q. Mr. President, a month ago in this same office, you had a meeting

with the Greek Prime Minister and you had discussed these problems we

had with Turkey. Do you think there is any chance for Turkey to go to

the International Court? Do you have any information about that from

Ankara?

 

 

� President Clinton. Well, I believe there is a chance. I was

encouraged. Of course, the representatives of the two countries met in

Bucharest recently, and I believe will meet again in Berlin soon. And I

think there is a good chance it can be resolved. I believe we have taken

a position that is the proper one, and I believe it's consistent with

the position that the Greek Government has staked out.

 

 

� Balkan Peace Process

 

 

� Q. How will you define the role of Greece in the Balkans?

 

 

� President Clinton. Excuse me?

 

 

� Q. How will you define the role of Greece in the Balkans?

 

 

� President Clinton. Well, first of all, I want to thank Greece for

their support of the operation in Bosnia, and the President, in

particular, I know, has tried to play a constructive role in dealing

with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, in dealing with the

problems in Albania.

 

 

� I believe that Greece will have to be involved in order to have a

comprehensive resolution of the problems in the Balkans, and goodness

knows we have worked hard for that. And we have seen in the last few

years what a terrible price we pay if the problems are not resolved

peacefully in the Balkans.

 

 

� Cyprus

 

 

� Q. Anything on Cyprus, Mr. President? On Cyprus issue? On Cyprus?

 

 

� President Clinton. Well, as you know, I have spent quite a lot of time

myself on the Cyprus issue in the last 3 1/2 years. I am sorry that it

hasn't produced any more positive results. But we are exploring now the

possibility of what else we can do there, and I want to discuss that

with the President. And I'm hopeful that the United States can play a

constructive role there. And I'm hopeful that it can be resolved. But

that is something we need to discuss.

 

 

� NOTE: The President spoke at 10:45 a.m. in the Oval Office at the

White House. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Konstandinos

Simitis of Greece. A tape was not available for verification of the

content of these remarks.