Published every Monday by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC 20408, the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents con- tains statements, messages, and other Presidential materials re- leased by the White House during the preceding week. The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents is pub- lished pursuant to the authority contained in the Federal Register Act (49 Stat. 500, as amended; 44 U.S.C. Ch. 15), under regula- Distribution is made only by the Superintendent of Docu- ments, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. The mailing first class) and to foreign subscribers for $68.75 per year, payable to the Superintendent of Documents, Government Print- ing Office, Washington, DC 20402. The charge for a single copy is $2.00 ($2.50 for foreign mailing). There are no restrictions on the republication of material ap- pearing in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents. Week Ending Friday, December 22, 1989 News Conference of President Bush and President Mitterrand of France in St. Martin, French West Indies December 16, 1989 Discussions Between the Leaders President Mitterrand. Ladies and gentlemen, we have just completed our political conversations, and we have spoken for several hours of those subjects which seem most important, given the turn of events in the world. You already have the lists, I can imagine, just in your own minds. First of all, the evolution of Europe, and naturally Eastern Europe, and particularly Eastern Germany, without forgetting others. Our recent meetings with Mr. Gorbachev-the conclusions, or what we could infer from these conversations, enabled us to compare points of view and our impressions. And at the same time, we dealt with all the subjects connected to the ICSC Conference on various forms of disarmament and the forms of assistance, namely bank, vis-a-vis Eastern countries. And moving from this very major problem, we dealt with other matters, such as Lebanon, for instance. And we considered the evolution of attitudes vis-a-vis the problems arising for peace and the various pressing statements of the Secretary of State, Mr. Baker-what we both thought about it and what could be done to take into account the rapid evolution of events and situations. It would be ridiculous to let themselves be superseded by events, and at the same time, one needs to assess them. Things move fast. They moved very fast during these past few weeks, and they might move very fast in the coming weeks. And let us seriously consider what is going on from day to day without losing sight of desirable perspective. Well, this is a list. It's a pure descriptionwhat I'm doing here. I'd like to leave it up to you to stress those points you're most interested in. But first of all, I would like to say how very pleased I was to be able to receive President George Bush. It is a very great pleasure and a very great honor for our country as we are here at home in French land and our neighbor and personal friend, as well, came to talk with us, to talk about the experience acquired during these difficult days, our feelings and our values. And I must say that from most points of view we reached a harmony of views and were able to develop a common policy not only amongst ourselves but with others. And therefore, I would like to repeat here how very pleased we were in St. Martin to be able to receive George Bush not only as the President but also because of the people he represents. And it occurred very informally, as you see as it always does. I felt somewhat the same atmosphere we had in Kennebunkport in the home of George Bush. And it continues exactly in the same spirit. And I would very much like this to go on for a long time. Thank you. President Bush. Thank you, Mr. President. Let me simply thank you for your hospitality—everyone else in St. Martinand to say that, as with our earlier talksnot just in Maine but in Paris at the time of that glorious celebration, off in the corner at NATO-I learned a lot. I can say to this distinguished group that I feel that France and the United States, regarding these dynamic changes that are taking place, are very close together. And I would also add that I think it is very important that France and the United States be close together as we discuss the changes that are taking place. So, sir, thank you very much for your warm hospitality. I have only one complaint-put it this way-one regret, and that is that we have to leave this beautiful paradise on such a short time schedule. But you were wonderful to come all this way. And from the American side, my sincerest thanks to you, sir. President Mitterrand. So it's rather difficult to settle in paradise, isn't it? |