[EXCERPTS] TRANSCRIPT: PRESIDENT CLINTON'S PRESS CONFERENCE, APRIL 30, 1998

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
April 30, 1998
PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE PRESIDENT
East Room



THE PRESIDENT: 

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The debate over NATO enlargement has been a model of bipartisan
action. I want to thank Senators Lott and Daschle, Senators Helms and
Biden for their leadership on this issue. I hope for a strongly
positive vote in the Senate later today, because by admitting Poland,
Hungary and the Czech Republic we come even closer than ever to
realizing a dream of a generation -- a Europe that is united,
democratic and secure for the first time since the rise of nation
states on the European continent.


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Q: Thank you, Mr. President. This is for Hungarian national
television. What is your message, sir, to those nations, particularly
to Hungarians, millions of them living below the poverty line, I mean
the Hungarian poverty line? Will they be better off by joining a
military alliance? Some critics here say that this like putting the
cart before the horse. Military comes first; economic integration just
second. What's your take on that? Thank you.


THE PRESIDENT: Well, first, I think it's a very legitimate question.
It is a legitimate question. It's a question that bothered me, for
example, when some other countries not nearly as prosperous as
Hungary, were asking to be considered for NATO membership. For the
United States and for other NATO members, we have to trust the elected
representatives of the countries involved -- in this case, Hungary,
Poland, and the Czech Republic -- to make the right decision on that.


My view is, if it can be afforded -- for Hungary, Poland, and the
Czech Republic -- if it can be afforded consistent with a commitment
to economic growth and benefits, preserving the social contract for
the people, it will be good economically over the long run for
Hungary, because it will tie Hungary more closely to the emerging
global economy of democracies, it will identify Hungary even more
clearly as a responsible nation capable of helping NATO solve other
peacekeeping problems, and it will remove any lingering questions,
however rational or not, about Hungary's security. So I think it will
be good for the economy over the long run if it could be managed now.


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(end transcript)