THE
PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Mr. President, thank you very much for
your gracious hospitality that you and your wife have shown Laura and
me. Mr. Prime Minister, members of the government, distinguished
members of the clergy, distinguished citizens, and this important friend
of America, students, Mr. Rector, than you very much for your warm
greeting.
It's a great honor for me to visit this great city -- a city
that breathes with confidence, creativity and success of modern Poland.
Like all nations, Poland still faces challenges. But I am
confident you'll meet them with the same optimistic spirit a visitor
feels on Warsaw's streets and sees in the city's fast-changing
skyline. We find evidence of this energy and enterprise surrounding us
right now in this magnificent building. And you can hear it in the
air. Today's own -- Poland's orchestra called Golec's -- (laughter and
applause) -- is telling the world, "on that wheat field, I'm gonna build
my San Francisco; over that molehill, I'm gonna build my
bank." (Laughter and applause.)
Americans recognize that kind of optimism and ambition --
because we share it. We are linked to Poland by culture and heritage,
kinship and common values.
Polish glass makers built and operated the New World's first
factory in Jamestown, Virginia in 1608. Seeking the right to vote,
those same Poles also staged the New World's first labor strike. They
succeeded. (Laughter.) It seems the Poles have been keeping the world
honest for a long period of time.
Some of the most courageous moments of the 20th century took
place in this nation. Here, in 1943, the world saw the heroic effort
and revolt of the Warsaw Ghetto; a year later, the 63 days of the Warsaw
Uprising; and then the reduction of this city to rubble because it chose
to resist evil.
Here communism was humbled by the largest citizens' movement in
history, and by the iron purpose and moral vision of a single man: Pope
John Paul II. Here Polish workers, led by an electrician from Gdansk,
made the sparks that would electrify half a continent. Poland revealed
to the world that its Soviet rulers, however brutal and powerful, were
ultimately defenseless against determined men and women armed only with
their conscience and their faith.
Here you have proven that communism need not be followed by
chaos, that great oppression can end in true reconciliation, and that
the promise of freedom is stronger than the habit of fear.
In all these events, we have seen the character of the Polish
people, and the hand of God in your history. Modern Poland is just
beginning to contribute to the wealth of Europe -- yet, for decades,
you have contributed to Europe's soul and spiritual strength. And all
who believe in the power of conscience and culture are in your debt.
Today, I have come to the center of Europe to speak of the
future of Europe. Some still call this "the East" -- but Warsaw is
closer to Ireland than it is to the Urals. And it is time to put talk
of East and West behind us.
Yalta did not ratify a natural divide, it divided a living
civilization. The partition of Europe was not a fact of geography, it
was an act of violence. And wise leaders for decades have found the
hope of European peace in the hope of greater unity. In the same speech
that described an "iron curtain," Winston Churchill called for "a new
unity in Europe, from which no nation should be permanently outcast."
Consider how far we have come since that speech. Through
trenches and shell-fire, through death camps and bombed-out cities,
through gulags and food lines men and women have dreamed of what my
father called a Europe "whole and free." This free Europe is no longer
a dream. It is the Europe that is rising around us. It is the work
that you and I are called on to complete.
We can build an open Europe -- a Europe without Hitler and
Stalin, without Brezhnev and Honecker and Ceaucescu and, yes, without
Milosevic.
Our goal is to erase the false lines -- our goal is to erase the
false lines that have divided Europe for too long. The future of every
European nation must be determined by the progress of internal reform,
not the interests of outside powers. Every European nation that
struggles toward democracy and free markets and a strong civic culture
must be welcomed into Europe's home.
All of Europe's new democracies, from the Baltic to the Black
Sea and all that lie between, should have the same chance for security
and freedom -- and the same chance to join the institutions of Europe --
as Europe's old democracies have.
I believe in NATO membership for all of Europe's democracies
that seek it and are ready to share the responsibilities that NATO
brings. (Applause.) The question of "when" may still be up for debate
within NATO; the question of "whether" should not be. As we plan to
enlarge NATO, no nation should be used as a pawn in the agendas of
others. We will not trade away the fate of free European peoples. No
more Munichs. No more Yaltas. (Applause.) Let us tell all those who
have struggled to build democracy and free markets what we have told the
Poles: from now on, what you build, you keep. No one can take away
your freedom or your country. (Applause.)
Next year, NATO's leaders will meet in Prague. The United
States will be prepared to make concrete, historic decisions with its
allies to advance NATO enlargement. Poland and America share a
vision. As we plan the Prague Summit, we should not calculate how
little we can get away with, but how much we can do to advance the cause
of freedom. (Applause.)
The expansion of NATO has fulfilled NATO's promise. And that
promise now leads eastward and southward, northward and onward.
I want to thank Poland for acting as a bridge to the new
democracies of Europe, and a champion of the interests and security of
your neighbors, such as the Baltic states, Ukraine, Slovakia. You are
making real the words: "For your freedom and ours."
All nations should understand that there is no conflict between
membership in NATO and membership in the European Union. My nation
welcomes the consolidation of European unity, and the stability it
brings. We welcome a greater role for the EU in European security,
properly integrated with NATO. We welcome the incentive for reform that
the hope of EU membership creates. We welcome a Europe that is truly
united, truly democratic, and truly diverse -- a collection of peoples
and nations bound together in purpose and respect, and faithful to their
own roots.
The most basic commitments of NATO and the European Union are
similar: democracy, free markets, and common security. And all in
Europe and America understand the central lesson of the century
past. When Europe and America are divided, history tends to
tragedy. When Europe and America are partners, no trouble or tyranny
can stand against us.
Our vision of Europe must also include the Balkans. Unlike the
people of Poland, many people and leaders in Southeast Europe made the
wrong choices in the last decade. There, communism fell, but dictators
exploited a murderous nationalism to cling to power and to conquer new
land. Twice NATO had to intervene militarily to stop the killing and
defend the values that define a new Europe.
Today, instability remains and there are still those who seek to
undermine the fragile peace that holds. We condemn those, like the
sponsors of violence in Macedonia, who seek to subvert democracy. But
we've made progress. We see democratic change in Zagreb and Belgrade;
moderate governments in Bosnia; multi-ethnic police in Kosovo; the end
to violence in southern Serbia. For the first time in history, all
governments in the region are democratic, committed to cooperating with
one another, and predisposed to join Europe.
Across the region, nations are yearning to be a part of
Europe. The burdens -- and benefits -- of satisfying that yearning will
naturally fall most heavily on Europe, itself. That is why I welcome
Europe's commitment to play a leading role in the stabilization of
Southeastern Europe. Countries other than the United States already
provide over 80 percent of the NATO-led forces in the region. But I
know that America's role is important, and we will meet our
obligations. We went into the Balkans together, and we will come out
together. And our goal must be to hasten the arrival of that
day. (Applause.)
The Europe we are building must include Ukraine, a nation
struggling with the trauma of transition. Some in Kiev speak of their
country's European destiny. If this is their aspiration, we should
reward it. We must extend our hand to Ukraine, as Poland has already
done with such determination.
The Europe we are building must also be open to Russia. We have
a stake in Russia's success -- and we look for the day when Russia is
fully reformed, fully democratic and closely bound to the rest of
Europe. Europe's great institutions -- NATO and the European Union --
can and should build partnerships with Russia and with all the countries
that have emerged from the wreckage of the former Soviet Union.
Tomorrow, I will see President Putin, and express my hopes for a
Russia that is truly great -- a greatness measured by the strength of
its democracy, the good treatment of minorities and the achievements of
its people.
I will express to President Putin that Russia is part of Europe
and, therefore, does not need a buffer zone of insecure states
separating it from Europe. NATO, even as it grows, is no enemy of
Russia. Poland is no enemy of Russia. America is no enemy of
Russia. (Applause.) We will seek a constructive relationship with
Russia, for the benefit of all our peoples.
I will make the case, as I have to all the European leaders I
have met on this trip, that the basis for our mutual security must move
beyond Cold War doctrines. Today, we face growing threats from weapons
of mass destruction and missiles in the hands of states for whom terror
and blackmail are a way of life. So we must have a broad strategy of
active non-proliferation; counter-proliferation; and a new concept of
deterrence that includes defenses sufficient to protect our people, our
forces, and our allies; as well as reduced reliance on nuclear weapons.
And, finally, I'll make clear to President Putin that the path
to greater prosperity and greater security lies in greater freedom. The
20th century has taught us that only freedom gets the highest service
from every citizen -- citizens who can publish, citizens who can
worship, citizens who can organize for themselves -- without fear of
intimidation, and with the full protection of the law.
This, after all, is the true source of European unity.
Ultimately, it's more than the unity of markets. It is more than the
unity of interests. It is a unity of values.
Through a hard history, with all its precedents of pain, Europe
has come to believe in the dignity of every individual: in social
freedom, tempered by moral restraint; in economic liberty, balanced with
humane values.
"The revolutions of 1989," said Pope John Paul II, "were made
possible by the commitment of brave men and women inspired by a
different, and ultimately more profound and powerful, vision: the
vision of man as a creature of intelligence and free will, immersed in a
mystery which transcends his own being and endowed with the ability to
reflect and the ability to choose -- and thus capable of wisdom and
virtue."
This belief successfully challenged communism. It challenges
materialism in all its forms. Just as man cannot be reduced to a means
of production, he must find goals greater than mere consumption. The
European ideal is inconsistent with a life defined by gain and greed and
the lonely pursuit of self. It calls for consideration and respect,
compassion and forgiveness -- the habits of character on which the
exercise of freedom depends.
And all these duties, and all these rights are ultimately traced
to a source of law and justice above our wills and beyond our politics
-- an author of our dignity, who calls us to act worthy of our dignity.
This belief is more than a memory, it is a living faith. And it
is the main reason Europe and America will never be separated. We are
products of the same history, reaching from Jerusalem and Athens to
Warsaw and Washington. We share more than an alliance. We share a
civilization. Its values are universal, and they pervade our history and
our partnership in a unique way.
These trans-Atlantic ties could not be severed by U-boats. They
could not be cut by checkpoints and barbed wire. They were not ended by
SS-20s and nuclear blackmail. And they certainly will not be broken by
commercial quarrels and political debates. America will not permit
it. Poland will not allow it. (Applause.)
This unity of values and aspiration calls us to new tasks. Those
who have benefited and prospered most from the commitment to freedom and
openness have an obligation to help others that are seeking their way
along that path. That is why our trans-Atlantic community must have
priorities beyond the consolidation of European peace.
We must bring peace and health to Africa -- a neighbor to
Europe, a heritage to many Americans, a continent in crisis, and a place
of enormous potential. We must work together to shut down the arms
trafficking that fuels Africa's wars; fight the spread of AIDS that may
make 40 million children into orphans; and help all of Africa share in
the trade and promise of the modern world.
We must work toward a world that trades in freedom -- a world
where prosperity is available to all through the power of markets; a
world where open trade spurs the process of economic and legal reform; a
world of cooperation to enhance prosperity, protect the environment, and
lift the quality of life for all.
We must confront the shared security threats of regimes that
thrive by creating instability, that are ambitious for weapons of mass
destruction, and are dangerously unpredictable. In Europe, you're
closer to these challenges than the United States. You see the
lightning well before we hear the thunder. Only together, however, can
we confront the emerging threats of a changing world.
Fifty years ago, all Europe looked to the United States for
help. Ten years ago, Poland did, as well. Now, we and others can only
go forward together. The question no longer is what others can do for
Poland, but what America and Poland and all of Europe can do for the
rest of the world. (Applause.)
In the early 1940s, Winston Churchill saw beyond a world war and
a Cold War to a greater project: "Let the great cities of Warsaw and
Prague and Vienna banish despair even in the midst of their agony," he
said. "Their liberation is sure. The day will come when the joy bells
will ring again throughout Europe, and when victorious nations, masters
not only of their foes but of themselves, will plan and build in
justice, in tradition, and in freedom a house of many mansions where
there will be room for all."
To his contemporaries who lived in a Europe of division and
violence, this vision must have seemed unimaginable. Yet, our fathers
-- yours and mine -- struggled and sacrificed to make this vision
real. Now it is within our grasp. Today, a new generation makes a new
commitment: a Europe and an America bound in a great alliance of
liberty -- history's greatest united force for peace and progress and
human dignity. The bells of victory have rung. The Iron Curtain is no
more. Now, we plan and build the house of freedom -- whose doors are
open to all of Europe's peoples and whose windows look out to global
challenges beyond. Our progress is great, our goals are large, and our
differences, in comparison, are small. (Applause.) And America, in calm
and in crisis, will honor this vision and the values we share.
Poland, in so many ways, is a symbol of renewal and common
purpose. More than half a century ago, from this spot, all one could see
was a desert of ruins. Hardly did a single unbroken brick touch
another. This city had been razed by the Nazis and betrayed by the
Soviets. Its people were mostly displaced.
Not far from here is the only monument which survived. It is
the figure of Christ falling under the cross and struggling to
rise. Under him are written the words: "Sursum corda" -- "lift up your
hearts."
From the determination in Polish hearts, Warsaw did rise again,
brick by brick. Poland has regained its rightful place at the heart of
a new Europe and is helping other nations to find their own.
"Lift up your hearts" is the story of Poland. "Lift up your
hearts" is the story of a new Europe. And, together, let us raise this
hope of freedom for all who seek it in our world.
God bless. (Applause.)