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THE WHITE HOUSE

                        Office of the Press Secretary 
                    (Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts) 
_______________________________________________________________________ 
For Immediate Release                                   August 26, 1997 

STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY

National Security Advisor Samuel Berger announced today the appointment of Donald K. Bandler as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European Affairs, effective August 25. He will succeed Alexander Vershbow.

Mr. Bandler, a career Foreign Service Officer, has been Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy to France since 1995. During the past eight months, he was Charg' d'affaires and U.S. Observer to the Council of Europe. Prior to that, he served as Director of the State Department's Office of Israel and Arab-Israeli Affairs, and represented the U.S. in the Middle East Peace Process environmental negotiations. He had earlier European assignments in Bonn during German reunification, in France, and in Washington as Coordinator for the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. He is a frequent speaker on U.S.-European and security affairs.

A native of Pennsylvania, Mr. Bandler received his B.A. from Kenyon College, and a J.D. from George Washington's National Law Center. He and his wife Jane Goldwin Bandler, a psychological counselor, have two daughters and a son.

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