USIA - Transcript: Romanian President Constaninescu Welcomes Clinton, 97-07-11

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From: The United States Information Agency (USIA) Home Page at <http://www.usia.gov>

TRANSCRIPT: ROMANIAN PRESIDENT CONSTANINESCU WELCOMES CLINTON

(Thousands greet Clinton in Bucharest) (1360)

"This image is accurate, but incomplete, because, at the same time, the United States is also the permanent symbol of the struggle for freedom and democracy everywhere in the world."

Calling President Clinton "a strategist of peace," the Romanian president said that Clinton "is the president who created the opening of the North Atlantic Alliance to the new European democracies, making this initiative the cornerstone of his foreign policy. He is the President who understood that Romania has definitely chosen democracy, market economy, and freedom."

Referring to the Madrid NATO Summit just ended, Constantinescu said, "In Madrid, the North Atlantic Alliance declared Romania a privileged partner for the second round of its enlargement, provided that the economic and political reforms do not stop.

"We know these reforms will continue because we designed them and desired them above all for ourselves and for our own well-being."

Following is a translation of President Constaninescu's speech, translated by the U.S. Information Service in Bucharest, as delivered:

(Begin transcript)

ROMANIAN PRESIDENT EMIL CONSTANTINESCU'S SPEECH IN UNIVERSITY SQUARE, BUCHAREST, JULY 11

We are here together in a place which is a symbol of freedom, a place where people died for their freedom. In the square where we are right now, thousands of people with open hearts and bare hands confronted tanks and bullets in December 1989, in the name of values for which many of their parents and grandparents had died in front of execution squads, in communist prisons and in concentration camps, or in the loneliness of the exile.

We are here together in a place which is the symbol of democracy.

Hunger strikers spent weeks on end on this piece of land with grass on my right. Also, for weeks on end, many people spoke from this balcony of the University, the greatest personalities of Romanian culture and science, peasants, workers, and especially many, very many young people, students and schoolchildren.

It was here that we discovered the supreme form of freedom: human solidarity.

We are here together in a place which is a symbol of faith. In this square, facing the guns, young people were shouting with us: "God is on our side!" And it was also here that we returned in November 1996, after the victory of democracy in Romania, when we came here to thank God for having supported us.

We welcome the American President, Bill Clinton, here, between these two buildings -- symbols of Romanian resistance through culture: the University of Bucharest and the National Theatre.

Mr. President, over an ocean placed by God between us, we laid out a man- made bridge today -- a bridge of common values we believe in and which we are capable of institutionalizing. With us here today are the shadows of all those Romanians who died refusing to believe a lie -- the shadows of those who, during 45 years of communist rule, continued to believe only in truth, dignity, and human rights. Their belief triumphed, and the fact that an American President is here -- the first American President to visit a democratic Romania -- is further proof that our country today, born again through sacrifice, has powerful and true friends today.

To many people, the United States is above all a model of economic success, a showcase of market economy, efficiency, prosperity, and military power. This image is accurate, but incomplete, because, at the same time, the United States is also the permanent symbol of the struggle for freedom and democracy everywhere in the world.

In two world wars, and later on in Korea, in Vietnam, and in the Persian Gulf, young Americans fought and died for the freedom of nations thousands of kilometers away from the places where they were born. Their parents, American taxpayers, paid the costs of large-scale military operations.

Mr. President, a few weeks ago we participated together in The Hague ceremonies celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Marshall Plan -- a symbol of European rebirth, of the crucial help of an America which had not forgotten the Continent where most of its citizens were born. The map of the world is no longer divided into continents separated by oceans. It is drawn by people from various and far-away regions who believe in the same values.

Thomas Jefferson, one of the Founding Fathers of the American Revolution, said that "to rebel against tyranny means to listen to the wish of God." Today's Romania, which shed blood to break away from communism, wants to build a strong partnership with the United States, setting out from precisely these shared values: freedom, prosperity, initiative, and tolerance.

World history had its great war strategists and the United States had many such personalities. But, in a world which increasingly channels its priorities towards cooperation and coexistence, President Clinton is a strategist of peace. He is the President who created the opening of the North Atlantic Alliance to the new European democracies, making this initiative the cornerstone of his foreign policy. He is the President who understood that Romania has definitely chosen democracy, market economy, and freedom, and he came to Bucharest to bring this message to you in person.

In Madrid, the North Atlantic Alliance declared Romania a privileged partner for the second round of its enlargement, provided that the economic and political reforms do not stop. We know these reforms will continue because we designed them and desired them above all for ourselves and for our own well-being.

We shall not stop, because the overwhelming majority of the Romanian people want to live in a stable and prosperous country. We shall not stop, because we have found our strength and self-confidence again. We shall not stop, because we cannot pull onto the sidelines, waiting for the train of history to pass us by.

In seven months, Romania earned another image in the world -- a true image of a different reality. This is, above all, to the Romanians' credit. Therefore, I want to thank you, my fellow citizens, again for your everyday efforts, for the way you understood that a better life involves sacrifice, and that the time has come to replace words with deeds.

I speak to you now, the people in this square, and also to the people in the other cities and towns and in the remotest villages of Romania. To those who are watching or listening to us now, but also to those who are working or suffering, to those in the country and to those scattered in the four corners of the world, I say: Only thanks to you, could we represent with dignity and honor Romania's cause in the world. I bow before you and thank you.

Thanks to you, the President of the United States of America is here today. Each and every one of you are his hosts. You are welcoming him with the traditional and warm Romanian hospitality.

Mr. President, dear friends, to be free is, above all, being responsible for your own destiny. These are the words of Mircea Eliade, one of the Romanians who chose America as the land of their fulfillment. Romania is free today -- and fully responsible for her destiny.

Today, Romania has friendly relations with all her neighbors and Romanians respect and understand each other. These relationships are characteristic of all of Romania's citizens, irrespective of their ethnic origin and religious beliefs. This makes Romania today a pillar of stability in a region still convulsed by conflicts, misunderstandings, hatred, and wars.

Relying on our thousands of years of history, I want to assure you, Mr. President, that America can count on the Romanians' wisdom, balance, and common sense, whenever the need arises.

In a world of interdependences, nothing can be achieved on one's own. There is only one way: Together, towards the third millennium!

Let's do it together! We can succeed only together!

(End transcript)

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