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U.S. Department of State
95/12/02 Sec Christopher Spain Bilateral Mtg
Office of the Spokesman
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
December 2, 1995
PRESS AVAILABILITY WITH
SECRETARY OF STATE WARREN CHRISTOPHER
AMBASSADOR MICKEY KANTOR
AND
FOREIGN MINISTER JAVIER SOLANA
AFTER THEIR BILATERAL MEETING
Viana Palace Ministry
Madrid, Spain
FOREIGN MINISTER SOLANA: (Translated from Spanish) First of all, allow
me to thank Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Ambassador Kantor
for their visit here to Madrid. It is not the first time that they visit
us, but today has a special importance for us. The Secretary of State
has been kind enough to come to Madrid, and to hold a working meeting
with the Spanish delegation 24 hours prior to the formalization of the
Summit between the European Union and the United States of America, and
I want to thank him for advancing his visit by 24 hours in order to work
together with us this morning.
I want to say that today's meeting has basically been in preparation for
tomorrow's. I want to emphasize the importance to the Spanish
Presidency to have been able to reach an agreement regarding the new
Transatlantic Agenda in record time. And you know that the Spanish
Presidency together with our friends from the United States, decided to
determine as a priority issue throughout these past months, providing a
new impetus to the relations between the European Union and the United
States of America. I reiterate that we have been able in a relatively
short period of time to carry out a large scale operation and this new
Transatlantic Agenda which will be signed tomorrow by President Clinton
with the President of the Government of Spain, and the President of the
Commission.
I want to take advantage of this opportunity to thank the people who
have worked so hard and so well. With regard to the American
delegation, some of them are with us this morning, and with regard to
the Spanish delegation, Carlos Westendorp, Mr. Villar and the Count that
have worked intensely over the recent months in order to reach this
agreement.
I would like to say as well, that we have logically spoken about other
things. We have spoken about Turkey, and we have expressed our firm
desire, both from the Spanish Presidency and the United States, to reach
in the upcoming days, the formalization of the Customs Union between the
European Union and Turkey. Turkey is an important country for all of us
and we all hope, both Spain and the United States, that Turkey may take
over its corresponding role in the present and in the future.
However, as this could not be, we have talked about Bosnia. And in
talking about Bosnia, I want, first of all, to offer my most sincere
thanks to Secretary of State Warren Christopher for his tenacious,
persevering work, throughout the past months in order to finalize the
peace agreements in Dayton. And I believe that without his tenacity and
his physical perseverance in Dayton in the last days, we would not be
where we are today, with peace on the tips of our fingers, a peace which
is now the responsibility of all of us to implement. In the name of the
Spanish government, and I believe in the name of the European Union, I
want to thank him personally for the work that with such intelligence
and such tenacity he has carried out.
We have a large task facing us. We have yet the task of implementing
these peace agreements, and we still have to deal with the entire effort
of the reconstruction of the European territory which unfortunately has
been destroyed by the war.
And at the same moment, I also want to thank you most sincerely for the
confidence that you and your government have deposited in me, so that I
may take over the position of the General Secretary of the Atlantic
Alliance. I am perfectly aware of the difficulties, of the challenges
that the Atlantic Alliance faces at this time. As I said before, I want
to reiterate that I will assume this responsibility, and will dedicate
my best efforts, my best energy and the best of my intelligence to lead
these great challenges we are facing at present to a successful end. I
basically point out two of these; the implementation of the peace
agreements in Bosnia Herzegovina, and the extension of the Atlantic
Alliance to Central and Eastern European countries.
Therefore, I want to thank the Secretary of State again, and Ambassador
Kantor, and all the friends who have joined us in Madrid. I thank them
for their presence in Madrid and for moving their trip forward so that
tomorrow's meeting may be a success, as I am certain that it will be.
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Good afternoon. I'm very pleased that the US-EU
Summit has given me a good reason to come back to Madrid and to spend
some time with my colleague and friend, Foreign Minister Solana. This
is a particularly auspicious and happy occasion. It gives me a good
deal of pleasure to be the first NATO Foreign Minister to meet with
Foreign Minister Solana since his selection as the next NATO Secretary
General.
He and I worked well together over the last several years and I can
testify that he's shown very strong leadership and determination in
building a very sound Transatlantic relationship. Certainly his
skillful diplomacy has contributed to an unusually successful six months
in the Presidency by Spain of the European Union. At a time of great
challenge in the Alliance, Minister Solana is really an outstanding
choice to serve as Secretary General. I congratulate him and I
congratulate Spain because I think this choice is a compliment to him
but also is a compliment to the road that Spain has traveled and the
recognition that is reflected in the choice of its Foreign Minister as
the next Secretary General.
The Dayton agreement, which the Minister kindly referred to, I think
shows once again the enduring strength of the Transatlantic Alliance.
Our combined military and diplomatic effort has brought us to a very
hopeful point working together. The United States and our European
allies are about to undertake a mission that is a true test of our
ability to meet the challenges of the post-cold war period.
This Madrid Summit that is coming up tomorrow, in which President
Clinton, Prime Minister Gonzalez, and as well as the President of the
European Commission, Mr. Santer, set the stage for a very important
meeting for cooperation between our two continents. Only six months
ago, here in Madrid, I called on the United States and the nations of
Europe to form a new Transatlantic Agenda and I am delighted that we're
now able to announce one tomorrow. At that time I said that every
generation must renew the partnership by adapting to meet the challenges
of the new time. I believe the Transatlantic Agenda that will be signed
tomorrow by our leaders will allow us to advance the very enduring
interest between the United States and Europe in security, democracy,
prosperity around the world. The Agenda reflects President Clinton's
very strong commitment to Europe and relationships with Europe, that
have been a central element of our foreign policy ever since President
Clinton took office now almost three years ago. Under the new Agenda
we'll move from periodic consultation to a sustained cooperation to
promote our common interests in four important areas. First, promoting
peace, development and democracy around the world. Second, combating -
and this is really a new Agenda - combating international crime,
terrorism and drug trafficking, meeting environmental challenges around
the world. Third, expanding global trade and eliminating the remaining
Transatlantic barriers. And fourth, building new bridges between the
peoples, not just the countries, but between the peoples of Europe and
the United States.
The new Agenda contains several priority initiatives. It includes
urgently needed efforts to bolster cooperation between our law
enforcement officials, to anchor central Europe and Turkey more firmly
in the west, and the Minister has referred to the very important
decision the European Parliament will make with respect to Turkey, we
strongly hope it will be approved. We are working together to support
the Middle-East peace process, as well as to fight nuclear
proliferation. My colleague, Ambassador Kantor, will explain our
initiative of a new Transatlantic market place, that will support
business and create new jobs. A high priority, of course, of the Agenda
will be working together to implement peace in Bosnia in addition to the
military cooperation that we will launch in our NATO meetings this week.
The United States and Europe will work together in the human rights
field as well as to ensure that there are free and fair elections in
Bosnia. We're working also together on economic reconstruction, an area
where the European Union has indicated that it will take the lead.
Let me conclude with a final word of appreciation for the role of Spain
in bringing peace to former Yugoslavia. The United States recognizes
the very considerable sacrifices that Spain has made in sending peace-
keepers to Bosnia as well as having Spanish air-crews fly by our side
and helping to move us to this important point, of hope in former the
Yugoslavia. I pay tribute to the people of Spain, for their willingness
to participate in this NATO effort and undergo the sacrifices. I want
to reaffirm the importance the United States and all the American people
place on our relationships with Spain as an ally, partner and a friend.
Now Ambassador Kantor will have just a few remarks.
Thank you Mr. Secretary and thank you Minister Solana, and
congratulations to you, and to all of us for this very fine choice.
AMBASSADOR KANTOR: I think it's more than appropriate that we're here
in Spain to initiate a new Transatlantic market place, as Spain
initiated the first Transatlantic market place five hundred years ago.
The Agenda and the Action Plan which President Clinton, Prime Minister
Gonzalez and President Santer will formally sign tomorrow confirms
really the strength of our bonds in the mutual interest in prosperity
and peace and raising standards of living that we all share. The market
place has four or five items that are most important to it. One is
confidence building, and we just initialed an agreement on the
enlargement question, on the question of the reference price system for
grains and we're delighted with that outcome and everyone who worked on
that deserves congratulations for reaching that agreement. We trust in
the near future it will be ratified by all sides. Second of course,
there'll be deliverables in 1996 in order to continue this confidence
building process, everything from mutual recognition agreements to
tariff reductions to, of course, working on government procurement in
other areas as well. Third, of course, the joint study, which is the
heart and sole of the Transatlantic market place will be initiated in
Urrare (inaudible?) Good discussion this morning about both sides
wanting to initiate that study as quickly as possible to look at
reducing and eliminating barriers to trade between these two great
trading partners. Fourth, of course, is to continue the business
dialogue, institutionalize it to build on that very successful meeting
in Seville, and to make that a permanent fixture as we move forward with
the market place. And last, of course, is the information technology
agreement which can't be overstated in terms of its importance.
I think we ought to recognize, as I complete my remarks, from an
economic stand point alone, how important this is. Fifty percent of the
world's trade is represented by activity involved with the European
Union and the United States both between us and with our trading
partners. We can have an enormous impact on world trade, on standards of
living, on growing jobs and on future prosperity.
And I want to thank you again for your leadership and thanks to
Secretary Christopher for his vision of what could happen here, and of
course, all of our colleagues who worked so hard on this agreement.
QUESTION: Hello. I would like to pose a question to Secretary of State
Christopher: What aspect has the United States valued most at the time
of supporting the candidate from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
to the General Secretary position of NATO? Thank you.
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Well there were many factors that went into our
support. First, let me emphasize it was a decision taken in the NATO
Council. It was taken unanimously, it was a decision that the countries
came to not just because the United States has confidence but the
confidence of all of us in Foreign Minister Solana. But very strong in
my mind, in the United States' mind was the support that Spain with
Foreign Minister Solana at its lead has given to NATO in Bosnia, to
furnishing troops and through the furnishing of aircraft to fly along
side the other NATO countries. Of course, his leadership in the
European Union and the great success of the Spanish Presidency during
the six months was a very strong factor. At rock bottom, though, I
suppose it's the great confidence that the President and I and other
United States officials had in his personal strength, the confidence
that we had that he would be a strong leader for NATO in one of the most
important and difficult periods of its time. He will go there with a
fine record, as Spanish Foreign Minister, but I believe the personal
qualities that we have sensed in him of strength, of high ability to
bring people together, but also to show leadership, that was at rock
bottom, I think, what motivated us most.
QUESTION: Yes, my question is directed to Secretary of State Warren
Christopher. The Spanish Presidency of the European Union has provided
an impetus, of course, to the new Transatlantic Agenda, but it has also
given an impetus to the exploratory conversations with Cuba, with hopes
of reaching a cooperative agreement, the first cooperative agreement
between the European Union and Cuba. Do you believe, Mr. Secretary of
State, that this agreement could contribute to, and facilitate the
transition in Cuba, or in contrary, do you think it could contradict to
a certain point, the North American foreign policy with regard to Cuba?
Thank you.
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: We have different policies with respect to Cuba,
but I believe we have the same goal, of wanting to achieve a free and
democratic Cuba. We have doubts about the speed with which the European
Union is moving in that direction, but I want to emphasize that that's
not a NATO issue, it's not an issue that will effect in any way Foreign
Minister Solana's new role as Secretary General of NATO, and we'll
continue to have dialogue with respect to Cuba. The United States'
position, I think, is well known, reflected in the Cuban Democracy Act.
this is, I say, not a NATO issue, and will not affect our relationships
in that extremely important alliance.
QUESTION: French radio. My question is for both of you. I would like
to know if the United States and if Spain, as President of the European
Union, have done anything towards the liberation of the French pilots in
Bosnia. First question. And the second question, Mr. Solana, are you
going to stay for the Madrid Summit?
FOREIGN MINISTER SOLANA: The first part of your question, in every
aspect we have done everything possible to liberate the two French
pilots. I remain hopeful that they may be freed in the very near
future. Perhaps, the Secretary of State has more precise information
than mine. I spoke just a few hours ago with the French Ministry in
order to exchange opinions on that specific problem.
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: There was a problem with the translation. The
French pilots were a matter of great concern and discussion at Dayton.
We emphasized to the countries involved, especially to the Serbian
leaders the great importance we attached to the release of the pilots.
This is an issue that's being worked upon very aggressively at the
present time, but I don't have any further information that I can give
you at the moment.
FOREIGN MINISTER SOLANA: I will be available to take over in my new
position at the moment that it is necessary. Logically, I have a
certain desire to continue here until the Madrid Council is over, but it
is not essential that it be so.
QUESTION: Mr. Solana, Al Goodman from CNN, do you anticipate, Sir, an
early visit to Bosnia perhaps even next week, to either Bosnia or to
advance troop locations elsewhere in Europe, would you describe what you
expect to do in the first couple of weeks on the job? In English, if
that's possible.
FOREIGN MINISTER SOLANA: Sure. (inaudible) I would like of course to
dedicate much of my time to Bosnia and to the implementation of the
(inaudible). I that will be the first challenge that I will have, and
whatever is necessary, going there physically or whatever is necessary,
be sure I will do it. I will be, to the most of my capacity to help in
success of this complicated operation that has to be a success. I said
before the political part of it has been done in a very successful
manner by the United States in cooperation with the European Union, the
success of Dayton, and we have now the difficult question of the
implementation. We have to succeed on that. I am sure that we will do
our best, so that it is successful.
OK, thank you very much.