Administration of William J. Clinton, 1994 / Apr. 22 881 was that we had evidence that the Haitians Cyprus in the next couple of days with regard might have been subject to some abuse by to the confidence-building measures. I think the people who were in control of the boat. that the ball has been sort of in Mr. And so for those reasons, we thought the ap- Denktash's court, and I hope he will take propriate thing to do was to bring them on it up. And then I hope that Greece and all in, which we did. others will support pushing forward. I have Q. Is this a change in the policy for the worked hard to resolve this since I've been future? in office, and I will continue to stay on it. The President. No change in policy. More later. [At this point, one group of reporters left the NOTE: The exchange began at 11:45 a.m. in the room, and another group entered.] Oval Office at the White House. In his remarks, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia the President referred to Matthew Nimetz, U.S. Q. President Clinton. Mr. President, are Special Envoy to the United Nations to resolve the conflict between Greece and Macedonia; you going to discuss the problem with Cyrus Vance, United Nations Special Envoy to the Greece and Skopje and the measures that Former Yugoslavia; and Rauf Denktash, leader of Greece has got against Skopje? the Greek-Cypriot community. A tape was not The President. Absolutely. available for verification of the content of this ex- Q. What do you believe about these meas- change. ures? The President. What I think is that we The President's News Conference have Mr. Nimetz over there and Mr. Vance. With Prime Minister Andreas We're trying to help work it out. I think that Papandreou it's very much in the interest of Greece and Europe and the world community for the April 22, 1994 matters to be worked out between the two Bosnia countries, and I think they can be. The President. Good afternoon, ladies Q. How committed are you to delaying the and gentlemen. Before I comment on my process until Greece's concerns are satisfied, meeting with Prime Minister Papandreou, I sir? would like to make a brief statement about The President. I think it's obvious that developments with regard to Bosnia today. we've shown a real concern for Greece's con- About 2 hours ago in Brussels, NATO's cerns. That's one of the main reasons I sent North Atlantic Council reached agreement a special envoy over there, and we're trying on new steps to address the crisis in Gorazde to work through it. We'll discuss that today. and to promote a negotiated settlement in We just started outÐwe haven't even had Bosnia. our discussions yet. As NATO Secretary General Manfred Q. There's been some criticism that the Woerner just announced, the North Atlantic U.S. side has not exercised enough of its Council decided that continuing Bosnian goodÐ[inaudible]Ðto Skopje and to come Serb attacks against Gorazde justify firm ac- up with a solution. tion. Therefore, the North Atlantic Council The President. We're working hard on decided that the commander in chief of that now, and we'll continue to. I think there NATO's Southern Command, United States will have to be some changes from the point Admiral Leighton Smith, is authorized to of view of Skopje. conduct air strikes against Serb heavy weap- Q. Are you going to visit Greece, sir? ons and other military targets in the vicinity The President. Oh, I'd love to do that. of Gorazde unless three conditions are met: I've never been there. First, unless the Bosnian Serbs immediately Cyprus cease their attacks against Gorazde; second, Q. What about Cyprus? unless by 8 p.m. eastern daylight time tomor- The President. We're working hard on row evening, the Bosnian Serbs pull back Cyprus, and I thinkÐI hope there will be their forces at least 3 kilometers from the some movement from the Turkish side on city's center; and third, unless by 8 p.m. to- VerDate 09-APR-98 14:59 Apr 16, 1998 Jkt 010199 PO 00000 Frm 00061 Fmt 1244 Sfmt 1244 C:\TERRI\P16AP4.022 INET03 882 Apr. 22 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 1994 morrow evening, the Bosnian Serbs allow Nowhere are the challenges of this era United Nations forces, humanitarian relief clearer than in the Balkans. Greece and the convoys, and medical assistance teams freely United States share an interest in working to enter Gorazde and to permit medical evac- to resolve the conflict in Bosnia and to pre- uations. vent it from spreading into a wider European This decision provides NATO forces with war. The Prime Minister and I discussed the broader authority to respond to Bosnian Serb most recent developments, and I under- attacks. The Bosnian Serbs should not doubt scored my view that further NATO action NATO's willingness to act. is necessary to restore the momentum toward In addition, the North Atlantic Council has peace. begun to meet again to decide on authoriza- We also talked about the effect the embar- tion for NATO action concerning other safe go on Serbia is having on other nations in areas. I applaud NATO's decision, the re- the region. We discussed the Former Yugo- solve of our allies, and once again, the leader- slav Republic of Macedonia, and the United ship of NATO Secretary General Woerner. States understands the serious Greek con- The United States has an interest in helping cerns on this issue. Over the past week, both to bring an end to this conflict in Bosnia. sides have been working with Cyrus Vance Working through NATO and working along and my special envoy, Matthew Nimetz, to with Russia and others, we are determined narrow their differences. We are hopeful that to save innocent lives, to raise the price for an agreement can soon be reached that will aggression, and to help bring the parties back lead to the lifting of the trade embargo and to a negotiated settlement. a resumption of a dialog to resolve the legiti- mate differences which Greece is concerned Greece with. Now let me say what a pleasure and an The Prime Minister and I also discussed honor it has been for me to welcome Prime Cyprus. The United States supports the U.N. Minister Papandreou back to the United confidence-building measures. Those meas- States. Last night we celebrated the Prime ures grew out of discussions with President Minister's arrival at a reception at Blair Clerides soon after he took office, and we House, and today we had a very productive hope that both sides will support them. My meeting here at the White House. It has coordinator for Cyprus, Bob Lamb, has just been about 20 years since the Prime Minister returned from talks with both sides. A settle- has been to America, and he told me today ment in Cyprus would benefit all the nations that 50 years ago this year, as a young man, in the region, especially Greece and Turkey, he saw President Roosevelt in a touring car two vital members of NATO. right outside the White House. I have asked the Turkish Government to In a sense, every one of us in this country address the status and working conditions of has roots in Greece. After all, the Periclean the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul. And faith in freedom helped inspire our own rev- I encourage Prime Minister Papandreou to olution. The Athenian model of democracy ease his government's objections to the level helped to shape our own young republic. The of European Union assistance to Turkey. We common values that we share have made must do what we can in these areas to pro- Greece and the United States allies. Half a mote greater understandings between these century ago, our two nations stood together two critical nations and, in the process, to to launch a policy of containment. Now with promote progress on Cyprus. the cold war over, we are joining to meet As a former professor here in the United new challenges and seize new opportunities. States, Prime Minister Papandreou personi- Consider, for example, the U.S.-Greece fies the durable ties between Greece and Business Council which was just recently es- America. It's been a pleasure to welcome him tablished. It will enhance the economic con- here as the leader of his nation. And I look tacts between our two nations, contacts that forward to continuing to work with him generated nearly $1 billion in trade last year based on the good relationship we have es- alone. tablished in the challenging period ahead. VerDate 09-APR-98 14:59 Apr 16, 1998 Jkt 010199 PO 00000 Frm 00062 Fmt 1244 Sfmt 1244 C:\TERRI\P16AP4.022 INET03 Administration of William J. Clinton, 1994 / Apr. 22 883 We face some thorny problems; together, I ervation, indeed: our fear that, step by step, am convinced we can make some progress we may be dragged into a land war which in dealing with them. would be really, by modern standards, a trag- Mr. Prime Minister. edy much greater than we have seen in Bos- Prime Minister Papandreou. Mr. Presi- nia. dent, I want to express deep appreciation for So far as the question of the Balkans is your invitation to me to visit you in Washing- concerned, Greece is a country that seeks ton, to continue a discussion that we started peace and wants to play an active role, eco- in Brussels a few months ago.