THE WHITE HOUSE

                    Office of the Press Secretary

_____________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                   June 21, 1994

                     REMARKS BY PRESIDENT CLINTON
         IN PHOTO OPPORTUNITY WITH HUNGARIAN PRESIDENT GONCZ
                      AND SLOVAK PRESIDENT KOVAC


                           The Oval Office

10:44 A.M. EDT


             PRESIDENT CLINTON:  May I first just make an opening
comment here.  The United States is very honored to have the
Hungarian President, Mr. Goncz, and the Slovak President, Mr. Kovac,
here.  They are on their way to New York to receive a well-deserved
award for their common commitment to democracy and reform.  They have
supported both steadfastly, and with great courage and consistencies.
And I have personally enjoyed very much the relationship that we have
had working together on the Partnership For Peace concept and in many
other areas; and I look forward to their progress.
        
             And I congratulate the people of Hungary and the Slovak
Republic for their steadfastness, even in the face of great
difficulty, and their leaders for their genuine leadership ability.
So, it's a great honor for us to have them here in the White House.
And we will be talking about the role the United States will be
playing with them and the other countries of Central and Eastern
Europe now and in the years ahead in this meeting.
        
             Q    Mr. President, is Russia going to sign the
Partnership For Peace tomorrow in Brussels, that you know of?
        
             THE PRESIDENT:  We hope so.  We hope they will be doing
it in the next few days.  I'm not sure exactly whether all the
details have been worked out.  But when President Yeltsin and I spoke
a couple of days ago about the Korean matter, we talked a bit about
that.  And I expect them to join the Partnership For Peace sometime
in the next few days.
        
             Q    And have you opened up a channel to North Korea in
the aftermath of former President Carter's --
        
             THE PRESIDENT:  Well, we have a channel of
communications to them.  And we have followed up President Carter's
statements to me and his letter of understanding with a communication
to the North Koreans.  And we will be waiting to hear back, and we
expect and hope to hear back within a couple of days about whether
President Carter's understanding of what they said is correct.
        
             Q    President Clinton, have you decided whether to
launch a legal defense fund?
        
             THE PRESIDENT:  I have nothing to say about that.
        
             THE PRESS:  Thank you.

                                 END10:48 A.M. EDT