The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release May 9, 1996
Remarks By The President
In Photo Opportunity With
President Stephanopoulos Of Greece
The Oval Office
10:45 P.M. Edt
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.
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.
President Stephanopoulous: 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.
* * * * *
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.
Q Mr. President, a month ago in this same office, you
had a meeting with the Greek Prime Minister and you had discussed
about 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.
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.
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 three and
a half 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.
The Press: Thank you.
End 10:55 A.M. Edt