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THE WHITE HOUSE

                  Office of the Press Secretary
                     (Prague, Czech Republic)
______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                       January 11, 1994

                       PRELIMINARY DRAFT OF 
                  PREMARKS BY PRESIDENT CLINTON

                         First Courtyard  
                          Prague Castle
                      Prague, Czech Republic

6:50 P.M. (L)

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Thank you very much. First, I want to express my thanks to President Havel for his warm welcome. I'm coming back to Prague only for the second time in my life. I was here 24 years ago in this same week, in a very different role in life.

I've been deeply impressed by the progress made by the Czech Republic, and was deeply impressed by the meeting I had today with the President and the Prime Minister and with other leaders of the government. I reaffirmed the fact that the security of this Republic, and of the nations of Central and Eastern Europe are important to the security of the United States and to Europe and to the Atlantic Alliance; that the Partnership For Peace is the beginning of a genuine security relationship which can lead to full membership in NATO; and that we must also be mindful of the economic dimension of security.

For it's difficult for nations to pursue good policies and to reflect democratic values unless they can also offer the hope of success for the people -- to the law and try to contribute to the welfare of the society. So we've talked about these things, and I look forward to talking tomorrow with all the leaders who will be here together in perhaps somewhat -- what we -- I am very -- President Havel supports --

QUESTION ASKED IN CZECH

THE PRESIDENT: That issue has not been resolved, so since it was not discussed -- I suppose it's theoretically possible. NATO is a security alliance in which all the members will -- to assume certain responsibilities for the welfare of the entire group. One of the things I want to emphasize about the Partnership For Peace is that the security relationship that will permit, immediately, the military commanders of NATO to begin to work with the military leaders of each country involved in the Partnership to look at the Ukraine, to look at -- exercises, to deal with the whole range of issues which will help to move toward --

Q President Havel, sir, can you tell us how concerned are you about the rise of ultranationalists and communists in the parliamentary elections in Russia? Does that cast a cloud over this region?

PRESIDENT HAVEL ANSWERS

END6:53 P.M. (L)