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Departure Statement [Prime Minister Bildt-Sweden]--Past Departure Statements 2/20/92 [OA 7568] [4]
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Departure Statement [Prime Minister Bildt-Sweden]--Past Departure Statements 2/20/92 [OA 7568] [4]
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s): FOIA Number: S, 2004-0742-F S FOIA MARKER This is not a textual record. This is used as an administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential Library Staff. Record Group/Collection: George H.W. Bush Presidential Records Collection/Office of Origin: Speechwriting, White House Office of Series: Speech File Backup Files Subseries: Chron File, 1989-1993 OA/ID Number: 13799 Folder ID Number: 13799-006 Folder Title: Departure Statement [Prime Minister Bildt-Sweden]--Past Departure Statements 2/20/92 [OA 7568] [4] Stack: Row: Section: Shelf: Position: G 26 22 3 3 (Smith/Grossman) February 4, 1992 Draft Four DEMIREL. TS PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: DEMIREL DEPARTURE STATEMENT TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1992 Mr. Prime Minister, it has been a great pleasure and privilege to meet with you / a man whose career stands like a monument to democracy and human rights / Suleiman Demirel. // Seven times the people of Turkey have sent you to serve as Prime Minister -- an office you have served / often with daring / always with dignity. // Your devotion to the Turkish people has been returned by their confidence in you. No wonder you said, when we met this past summer, "I'm going to be Prime Minister." Once again, your countrymen have proved you right. // Barbara and I will never forget last year's trip to Turkey. I recall, especially, the magic of Istanbul. / The Moslem muezzins. / The boats that graced the Straits of the Bosporous. / The lights that illumined the Asian and European parts of this city -- their skyline a silhouette against the night. // Most of all, I remember marveling at the friendship between our countries, friendship that spans two centuries. Today, as the Prime Minister and I mapped our path toward the future, we spoke of friendship -- and how it nurtures ties between our peoples. Perhaps Kemal Ataturk said it best: "Nations are bound more by sentiments than by treaties." // Turkey is indeed a friend of the United States. It is also a model to others. In a region of shifting sands and changing 2 tides, it endures as a beacon of stability. // I repeat what I told the Prime Minister: The United States will support its friend -- in its territorial integrity / its sovereignty and stability / particularly, in its war against terrorism. // We will work together to fortify the other pillars of our partnership -- among them, trade / diplomacy / NATO and CSCE membership / and a shared commitment to justice and human rights at a time when the veil of fundamentalism shrouds progress with prejudice and freedom with fear. // The Prime Minister and I reflected on how, last year in the Persian Gulf, our two countries faced aggression -- and then faced aggression down. / Toward that end, Mr. Demirel's government recently decided to extend the international military force which keeps Saddam from again attacking the citizens of his own country. // We will continue to work together through the U.N. to see that all Iraqi citizens get the food and medicine they need -- and the peace and freedom they deserve. // Today, we spoke of a world reborn through the Cold War's death -- of the plight of the new republics emerging from the old Soviet Union. Already, Turkey and the United States have joined hands to feed mouths -- rushing goods through Project Hope to needy friends in the Caucasus and Central Asia. / I wish to announce that our governments will expand that cooperation. We will seek new ways to help our new friends build democracy / recreate their governments / and join the community of nations. 3 Mr. Prime Minister, you once said, "Every question will be answered discussion will be open and free." In that spirit, we tackled the question of Turkish-Greek relations. / I applaud your government's commitment to improve relations with your neighbor, and am eager to see convened an international conference to approve the U.N. draft agreement on Cyprus. / I believe this plan offers the best hope for transforming the cycle of "an eye for an eye" into one which offers "a hand for a hand." Above all, we leave with the faith that our talks have covered much ground -- and charted new horizons. / The road toward progress may at times be difficult. It need not be lonely. / An old Turkish proverb reminds us, "A long journey is shortened by good companions." Mr. Prime Minister, let us make that journey together -- as we have before / as we will again. / May God bless the peoples of Turkey, and the United States of America. # # # # THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release February 20, 1992 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT UPON DEPARTURE The South Grounds 1:19 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Prime Minister, I am delighted to have welcomed you on your first official visit to Washington and to have shared very profitable, congenial talks. Prime Minister Bildt comes here at a time when Europe is being transformed, and when Sweden itself is beginning a new chapter in its history. As the Prime Minister remarked on his election night last September, the winds of political change blowing through Europe have finally reached Sweden. Well, he understands well his nation's past. Just more than 100 year ago, his great great grandfather was Prime Minister. But even more, Prime Minister Bildt represents a rising generation of leadership for a people seeking a new role in Europe and a new birth of freedom and initiative in Swedish domestic policy. We welcome Sweden's desire to play a more active part in the emerging global community. The Prime Minister is committed to democracy, to free markets. And I know that as active partners in the common endeavor to create a free, open and prosperous world, the United States and Sweden will make a real difference. Sweden and the U.S. share a deep and unswerving commitment to peace, and Sweden is a vital partner in our global nonproliferation efforts. A model peacekeeper, Sweden has shown its commitment to this function of collective security many times with distinction in the United Nations system. Sweden has taken a firm stand against terrorism, supporting our efforts to bring to justice those who sabotaged Pan Am Flight 103. And during the Gulf war, Sweden provided humanitarian and economic assistance. Our partnership in the service of freedom and democracy is not a new one. Americans and Swedes share more than 350 years of friendship, dating back to 1638 when the kingdom of Sweden established a colony along the Christina River in Delaware. American patriots of Swedish origin fought in our revolutionary war and signed the declaration of independence. Sweden was one of the first nations to sign a treaty of friendship and commerce with a newly independent United States. That legacy of partnership continues today on contemporary issues -- for example, through the new investor visa arrangements our government agreed upon today. And after today's talks I am confident that this friendship will continue to flourish. Mr. Prime Minister, let me explain to you our sincere thanks for this new spirit of cooperation and friendship. It strengthens our relations. And your visit has clearly helped build the basis for a solid partnership as we face together the challenges that lie ahead. Thank you for coming our way. And the best of luck to you, sir. MORE - 2 - PRIME MINISTER BILDT: Thank you, Mr. President, for your very warm words. They certainly show the degree of understanding between the two of us and between our two countries on the crucial issues of our time. Indeed, I am convinced that this meeting of ours today will be seen as the starting point for a closer relationship between Sweden and the United States. We share the ideals of democracy, of freedom, of the rule of law, and of a free market economy. But while the Cold War has certainly been warmed, we have yet to secure the new peace. And to secure that new peace will be the great challenge for both of our nations during the 1990s. If there is one single message that I would like to bring to you we've been discussing this -- in your country, Mr. President, it is that the active involvement of the United States will be as indispensable in the 1990s, when it comes to the solution of all of these issues, as it has been in the past. We need the vision, the determination and the strength of the United Nations when it comes to securing this new peace. Sweden is changing its policies to make our country a more active partner in the building of the new European future. We are entering the European union in order to be part of the core and the engine of the emerging new Europe. We are extending cooperation across the Baltic Sea to the newly-independent nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as to the democratic Russia. And we are energizing our own economy and our own society by the new policies demanded by the new times. Together we must do whatever we can to assist the transformation of the new states and democracies of Central and Eastern Europe. It is by doing this that we can secure the new peace and prevent a return not only to the confrontation of the past half century, but also to the devastating disorders of the centuries before. That must not be allowed to happen. But the cooperation between us stretches further than the building of the new system of cooperation in Europe. Let me just mention the efforts to secure a lasting peace in Middle East; the intercession of South Africa, the new role to be played by United Nations; the new global environment challenges to be discussed in Rio de Janeiro in June; the work to stop and punish terrorists and to hold the proliferations of weapons on mass destruction; and not the least, the vital efforts now underway to secure free trade through a successful completion of the Uruguay Round. On these and many other issues, Sweden and the United States have every reason to increase contact and cooperation. Mr. President, I well remember when first as a young student I stood by the Lincoln Memorial down there and read those so rightly famous lines of Lincoln, of the Gettysburg Address: that "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth." And to secure just that: "government of the people, by the people, and for the people" through the world is to secure the new peace that the dramatic changes of the last few years have finally made possible. Thank you very much, Mr. President. END 1:25 P.M. EST THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release December 12, 1991 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AND PRIME MINISTER CONSTANTINOS MITSOTAKIS UPON DEPARTURE The South Lawn 1:19 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Prime Minister and distinguished members of the Greek government, five months ago, I visited Athens -- the first visit by an American President to Greece in more than a generation. Today, in welcoming Prime Minister Mitsotakis to the White House, our two countries reaffirm the value of close contact to address common concern. Mr. Prime Minister, in the past three years, we've witnessed a world transformed -- and your continent has been right at the center of change. America sees Greece as a partner in meeting many of the challenges that cross borders and threaten the peace --, terrorism, international drug trade, ethnic conflict. In the Balkans, in the new Europe, in Cyprus, Greece remains a factor for stability, a champion of human rights -- a partner in the quest to forge a new world order -- peaceful, prosperous and free. The U.S. continues to be as concerned as we have been in the past with Greece's security and the sanctity of its borders. We continue to help Greece strengthen its defenses. And we support the progress your nation has made toward economic reform, liberalizing trade and investment. Opening Greek markets to investment from the United States and other nations will mean jobs and better living standards for Greeks and Americans alike. Our meetings today also focused on challenges that stand as obstacles to lasting peace in your corner of the world: The long- standing conflict in Cyprus -- and Yugoslavia's fratricidal civil war. Let me start with Yugoslavia. Who can fail to be moved by these heartrending images -- carnage and suffering on a scale that recalls the horrors of the Second World War rather than the hopes of the new era we've now entered. The U.S. supports the European Community's efforts, the EC's efforts, including economic sanctions, to stop the fighting. We remain convinced that a negotiated settlement -- helped along by the United Nations and the interested international community is possible, necessary and certainly long overdue. In the case of Cyprus, I again offer the good offices of the United States to overcome a source of bitter conflict between two of our valued allies. We continue to hope for an international high- level meeting on Cyprus as early as possible in 1992. with good-faith negotiations -- and the continued efforts of the United Nations Secretary General, we can make progress in producing a settlement acceptable to all parties. MORE - 2 - Mr. Prime Minister, let me just close by simply saying that Greece holds great meaning for Americans: Not only the millions who trace their own ancestry to your country, but, as relative newcomers now in our third century of democracy, as a people who revere Greece as the birthplace of democracy more than two millennia ago. It's been a very special pleasure having this opportunity to meet with you again, to have you and your able team here in Washington, D.C. today, and to wish Greece on behalf of all Americans every blessings for the new year. All yours. PRIME MINISTER MITSOTAKIS: I would like first to express my heartfelt thanks to President Bush for inviting me to Washington and receiving me at the White House so warmly. At this moment in history when democracy's flourishing throughout the world, it is a great honor for me as Prime Minister of Greece, where democracy was born 2,500 years ago, to come for an official visit to the United States, the champion of democracy in our times. The love of freedom and faith in democracy are two of the important ties that form a unique bond between Greece and the United States. And I welcome the opportunity this visit has given me to reinforce our special relationship in this season of hope and renewal. I am especially pleased that this visit allowed me to continue my private talks with President Bush and with our delegations to expand on the substantial and fruitful discussions we had in Greece last summer. As might be expected, we exchanged views on world developments and focused closely on what is happening in our region, the Balkans, where, as you know, Greece is playing an essential role in promoting peace and stability. We had a lengthy discussion on the Cyprus question, and I thanked President Bush for his personal commitment to help bring about a fair settlement that will end the long agony of the Cypriot people. I am certain that with the strong support of the President, the new Secretary General of the United Nations, building on the achievements of his worthy predecessor, will be able to lead the efforts of all of us to a speedy and successful conclusion on Cyprus. I want to stress that our talks marked one more milestone in the improving relations between our two countries, which, as you know, have made spectacular progress in the past two years. The ties between Greece and the United States are strong and special. We fought in two world wars together and waged a joint struggle to stop the spread of totalitarianism. But what makes it such a profound pleasure for all Greeks who come to the United States is that we recognize the highest ideals of this nation as native to our own. I am very confident that the special relationship between Greece and the United States, which reflects the common values of our two peoples and the strong friendship they have fostered will grow even stronger in the years ahead. Let me conclude by wishing everyone in the United States a very happy holiday season. END 1:30 P.M. EST