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Remarks to the People of Germany’s old and new states have struggled in and sacrificed to make the larger dream of May 13, 1998 German unity come true. Now, barely 600 days before the beginning of a new century Thank you very much, Mr. President, and a new millennium, we must make unity Chancellor Kohl, to the leaders and members our mission for the continent as a whole and of the and Bundesrat, members for a new transatlantic community. of the Cabinet, members of the diplomatic For more than 1,000 years, from the time corps, Professor Schneider, and all the peo- of Charlemagne to the founding of the Euro- ple who have made us feel so welcome here pean Community, a unified Europe has cap- at the beautiful Schauspielhaus. Let me tured this continent’s imagination. Now, for begin by thanking the German Symphony the first time, the dream is within reach, and Orchestra for playing one of my favorite not through conquest, but through the deci- pieces, ‘‘The Eroica.’’ You were wonderful. sion of free people. Thank you very much. In 1994 I came to Europe to support your Mr. Mayor, thank you for your remarks. unity and to set forth a vision of partnership And, Chancellor, thank you for all that you between America and a new Europe, rooted said. in security cooperation, free markets, and vi- I am delighted to join all of you in the brant democracies. I asked all our countries historic heart of free and unified Berlin. Fifty to adapt our institutions for the new time, years ago the United States and its allies to help the new market economies of Eu- made a commitment to the people of Berlin. rope’s eastern half to thrive, to support the It began with the heroic airlift of 1948, con- growth of freedom and the spread of peace, tinued through the showdown with Soviet to bring the peoples of the Euro-Atlantic tanks at Checkpoint Charlie in 1961, and in- community more closely together. cludes nearly 100,000 American soldiers who On all fronts, we have made remarkable defended this city over the course of 40 years progress. NATO is taking on new missions and grew to love its people. and new members, building practical ties It lasted until East Germans bravely with Russia and Ukraine, deepening coopera- reached out across the wall and tore it down, tion among the 44 nations of the Partnership thus freeing all of us to make real a Europe Council. The European Union is growing, we had only dreamed of, an undivided con- and America and the EU are working to- tinent of thriving democracies where states gether to tear down more trade barriers and deal with each other not through domination strengthen new democracies. The OSCE, but dialog; where societies are governed not Europe’s standard bearer for human rights by repression but by the rule of law; where and freedoms, is now helping to make those the only barriers people face are the limits standards real, from supervising elections in of their own dreams. Today, Berlin is a sym- Albania to monitoring arms reduction in Bos- bol of what all Europe is striving to become. nia. Former Chancellor , who was With support from America and the Euro- Mayor of on the day the wall pean Union and especially with Chancellor went up, declared on that magical November Kohl and Germany’s farsighted leadership, night as the wall was coming down, ‘‘Es new market economies are taking root all wa¨chst zusammen was zusammen geho¨rt’’— across this continent. Russia has privatized ‘‘what belongs together is growing together.’’ more property than any nation in this cen- You have shown, citizens of Berlin, that he tury. Poland and Estonia are among Europe’s was correct. From the construction on the fastest growing economies. Since 1991, U.S. Spree turning Berlin into Germany’s capital and EU investment in Central and Eastern for the future to the renewal of Potsdammer Europe has quadrupled and trade has dou- Platz as a dynamic center of business, Ber- bled. lin’s rebirth embodies all our hopes for the We’ve encouraged Europe’s newly freed future. And from Munich to Potsdam, from nations from helping citizens groups in the Hamburg to Dresden, people throughout New Independent States to monitor their

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elections to strengthening the independence ship of Germany and its Chancellor for 9 of their judicial systems. In Russia alone, years. thousands of civic groups are beginning to Consider the historic changes you have take a role in shaping the destiny of this cen- wrought. You committed Germany again to tury. President Yeltsin has a new government lead in a united Europe—this time through of young reformers, fully capable of leading cooperation, not conquest. You took the risk Russia decisively into the future. of pushing for the European Monetary We have helped to make the peace take Union, knowing there would be bumps along hold from Bosnia to Northern Ireland. Every the way, especially with the strength of the day our ordinary citizens work to link our deutsche mark and the power of your own nations together, from sister cities such as economy. You shouldered the enormous cost Leipzig and Houston, to American students of your own reunification to make sure the flocking to all European countries, to young East is not left behind and to ease as much Romanians and Bulgarians now enrolled in as possible the unavoidable dislocation and our military academies. pain that goes along with this process. With all of this progress, as the Chancellor noted, many challenges still remain to our And you have done this while also taking common vision: the ongoing struggles of on the challenge that West Germany must newly free nations to consolidate their re- face in making a difficult transition to a global forms; the unfinished work of bringing Eu- economy, in which preserving opportunity rope’s eastern half fully into our transatlantic for all and preserving the social contract is community; the fear of those who lack the a challenge even for the wealthiest nations, skills to succeed in the fast-changing global as we see in America every day. All this you economy; the voices of hatred, intolerance, have attempted to do, and largely achieved, and division on both sides of the Atlantic, in 9 short years. whether masked in patriotism, cloaked in re- Though many German citizens may be un- ligious fervor, or posing as ethnic pride; Bos- certain of the outcome and may not yet feel nia’s fragile peace; Kosovo’s volatility; Cy- the benefits of your farsighted, courageous prus’ stalemate; the dangers that all our na- course, you are clearly on the right side of tions face and cannot defeat alone—the history. America honors your vision and your spread of weapons of mass destruction, orga- achievements, and we are proud to march nized crime, environmental degradation. with you, shoulder to shoulder, into the new And so my friends, 1998, no less than 1989, millennium. We thank you. demands our boldness, our will, and our We begin our common journey with one unity. Today I call on our nations to summon basic premise: America stands with Europe. the energy and the will to finish the work Today, no less than 50 years ago, our des- we have started; to keep at it until every na- tinies are joined. If Europe is at peace, Amer- tion on the continent enjoys the security and ica is more secure. If Europe prospers, democracy we do, and all men and women, America does as well. We share a common from Seattle to Paris to Istanbul to St. Peters- destiny because we move to a logic of mutu- burg are able to pursue their dreams in peace and build an even better life for their chil- ally beneficial interdependence, where each dren. nation can grow stronger and more pros- This is the opportunity of generations. To- perous because of the success of its neigh- gether, we must seize it. We must build a bors and friends. Therefore, we welcome Eu- Europe like Germany itself—whole and free, rope’s march toward greater unity. We seek prosperous and peaceful, increasingly inte- a transatlantic partnership that is broad and grated, and always globally engaged. open in scope, where the benefits and bur- If you will forgive me a personal observa- dens are shared, where we seek a stable and tion based on my service in the last 51⁄2 years, peaceful future not only for ourselves but for I must note that this magic moment in history all the world. We begin with our common did not simply arrive. It was made, and made security of which NATO is the bedrock. largely by the vision and determined leader-

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Next year the leaders of countries across even as those of us in wealthier nations con- Europe will gather in Washington to cele- front our own challenges on these fronts. brate NATO’s 50 years of success, to wel- America will continue to support Europe’s come the first new democracies from Eastern march toward integration. We admire the de- Europe as members, to keep NATO’s door termination that has made your economic open to others as they are ready to assume and monetary union possible, and we will the responsibilities of membership, to chart work with you to make it a success. We will a course for the century ahead with threats continue to encourage your steps to enlarge more diffuse but no less dangerous than the EU as well, eventually to embrace all those our founders faced. central Europe and Turkey. Yesterday’s NATO guarded our borders Our third task is to strengthen the hand against direct military invasion. Tomorrow’s and extend the reach of democracy. One im- alliance must continue to defend enlarged portant tool is the OSCE. Its broad member- borders and defend against threats to our se- ship projects a unity and moral authority un- curity from beyond them: the spread of paralleled on the continent. Today, the weapons of mass destruction, ethnic vio- OSCE is taking action on the ground from lence, regional conflict. NATO must have the advancing human rights in the Balkans to means to perform these tasks. And we must supporting democratic institutions in maintain and strengthen our partnership Belarus. with Russia, with Ukraine, with other nations At next year’s OSCE summit, we should across the continent who share our interests, encourage even greater engagement in the our values, and our dreams. areas where democracy’s roots are still frag- Advancing security also requires us to ile—in the Balkans and Central Asia and the work for peace, whether in Northern Ireland, Caucasus—and we must develop practical Nagorno-Karabakh, Kosovo, Bosnia, or Cy- new tools for the OSCE, such as training po- prus, to stand against intolerance and injus- lice to support peacekeeping missions and tice as much as military aggression. For rac- dispatching democracy teams to build more ism and inequality have no place in the future open societies. Only in this way can we deter we are building together. We must fight and diffuse crises that threaten our values them at home and abroad. and our securities before they get out of Second, we must do more to promote hand. prosperity throughout our community. Now, the secure, the free, the prosperous Transatlantic commerce, as the Chancellor Atlantic community we envision must in- said, is already the largest economic relation- clude a successful, democratic Russia. For ship in the world, encompassing more than most of this century fear, tyranny, and isola- half a trillion U.S. dollars each year, support- tion kept Russia from the European main- ing millions of jobs in both America and Eu- stream. But look at the future Russians are rope. now building, and we have an enormous Consider this: America’s investment in Eu- stake in their success. Russia is literally re- rope roughly equals that in all the rest of creating itself, using the tools of openness the world put together. And Europe’s invest- and reform to strengthen new freedom and ment in America has now created so many restrain those who abuse them, to ensure jobs that one of 12 U.S. factory workers is more competition, to collect taxes, fight employed by a European-owned firm. crime, restructure the military, prevent the Still, we must face the stark fact that pros- spread of sensitive technologies. We must perity is not yet everyone’s partner. Europe’s support this Russian revolution. new democracies confront the daunting chal- We will redouble our efforts with Russia lenge of transition to market economies in to reduce our nuclear arsenals, to lower the an age of globalization, which, as I have al- limits on conventional forces in Europe, to ready said, makes it more difficult to preserve fight the spread of materials and technology equality of opportunity, a strong social safety for weapons of mass destruction, to build a net, and a general sense of fairness. We must partnership with NATO in practical ways that continue to help these struggling countries, benefit all of us, to develop the ties between

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our people that are the best antidote to mis- NOTE: The President spoke at 6:30 p.m. in the trust. And we must not forget Ukraine, for Schauspielhaus. In his remarks, he referred to it, too, has the opportunity to reach both east President Roman Herzog of Germany; Professor and west and be a great force for Europe’s Frank Schneider, director, Schauspielhaus; and peace, prosperity, and stability. We should Mayor Eberhard Diepgen of Berlin. encourage reform and support it. The mo- ment in Ukraine is historic, and it is not a moment to lose. Remarks at a Dinner Hosted by Our fourth and final task is strengthening President Roman Herzog of our global cooperation. Let us make common Germany in Berlin cause of our common concerns, standing to- gether against threats to our security from May 13, 1998 states that flout international norms to the Mr. President, Chancellor, members of conflict brewing in Kosovo, from deterring the German and American delegations. First, terrorists and organized criminals to helping Mr. President, let me thank you for your Asia restore financial stability, from helping wonderful toast and for the spirit in which Africa to join the global economy to combat- it was delivered. It has been a truly wonder- ing global warming. In a world grown small- ful day to be in Berlin and to be in Potsdam. er, what happens beyond our borders touch- I am struck more than ever by the friendship es our daily lives at home. America and Eu- that joins our two nations. rope must work together to shape this world. Today I have been given many gifts, Mr. Now, as we pursue this agenda, there will President, but to come here tonight to hear be times when we disagree. But occasional Bach on the saxophone is more than I could lack of consensus must never result in lasting have ever dreamed. [Laughter] I thank you. cracks in our cohesion. Nor should the quest for consensus lure us into the easiest, lowest I am delighted to be in this historic hotel common denominator solution to difficult, where once one of my predecessors, Theo- high-urgency problems. When the world dore Roosevelt, stayed. As I’m sure all Ger- needs principled, effective, strong leader- mans here know who are students of Amer- ship, we must rise to the responsibility. ica, Theodore Roosevelt was a lifelong ad- These are our challenges. They are ambi- mirer of the German people. As a young man tious, but attainable. They demand of nations he spent time in Dresden, and he later wrote: constant unity of purpose and commitment, ‘‘From that time to this, it would have been and they require the support and the courage quite impossible to make me feel that the of our citizens. For without the courage of Germans were really foreigners.’’ ordinary people, the wall would not have The rebuilding of the Adlon is one of the come down, and the new Europe would not many steps taken in recent years to build a be unfolding. Now it falls to each of us to new future upon the foundation of Berlin’s write the next chapter of this story, to build and Germany’s past. Here, close to the Bran- up from what has been taken down, to ce- denburg Gate and the Reichstag, we see a ment together what is no longer walled apart, united Germany that will be a force for peace to repair the breaches that still exist among and prosperity in the next century. Tomor- our peoples, to build a Europe that belongs row we will commemorate the airlift, the together and grows together in freedom. Luftbru¨cke, the bridge we built together al- Our success in this endeavor will make the most 50 years ago. new century the greatest that Germany, But long before that, the people of Ger- America, Europe, and the world have ever many helped America to build bridges too. known. This is an effort worthy of the rich The Brooklyn Bridge was designed by a Ger- legacy of Berlin, the visionary leadership of man-American, John Roebling. And Ger- modern Germany, and the enormous obliga- man-Americans have been building other tion we share for our children’s future. Let kinds of bridges since the beginning of our us embrace it with gratitude, joy, and deter- country. After all, Germans helped to create mination. our Nation through revolution, helped to Thank you very much. preserve it through civil war, and they are

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