Bill Clinton: “The German court will rule--for fear that I will have an adverse impact, although I doubt that the opinion of the United…”

“The German court will rule--for fear that I will have an adverse impact, although I doubt that the opinion of the United States can or should have much impact on a constitutional judgment by a German court. Let me answer you in this way. I have great confidence in the larger purposes and direction of this country and of the support Germany has given to a unified Europe in which it is a partner, but an equal partner, with its friends and neighbors, as well as to a more aggressive effort to solve the problems within Europe, like Bosnia, and beyond Europe's borders. I think anything that can be done to enable Germany to fulfill the leadership responsibilities that it is plainly capable of fulfilling is a positive thing. But of course, the German court will have to interpret the German constitution. That's beyond the reach of Americans to understand, much less comment on, but I do hope that we will have the benefit of the full range of Germany's capacities to lead. Chancellor Kohl. First of all, ladies and gentlemen, I think you will well understand that before the court has come to its final ruling I will not be able to comment on that. Here in Germany we say that on the high seas and in front of a tribunal you are always in God's hands, and I think a chancellor would be well advised to stick to this kind of advice. I can only tell you how we see our position in general terms, the role of Germany. Well, we are members of the United Nations, and as members of the United Nations we have certain obligations and we have certain rights. And I think it is simply inconceivable and incompatible with the dignity of our country that we make full use of the rights and do not fulfill our obligations. This is unacceptable. That is also the background of the internal dispute that is currently in discussion, that is going on here. We have had help from our neighbors, from the United States, that I already mentioned. Now when things get a bit rough, we cannot simply sit back and let others do the work. We will have to discuss, obviously, how we are going to do this in detail once the court has come to its final ruling. We have to assume our international responsibilities. This excuse that we had for the past 40 years, and it was a justified opinion under the circumstances, where we said, ``Well, as a divided country we will simply not be able to take certain decisions,'' that is something that is no longer valid. One cannot be a reunified country with 80 million people with the kind of economic strength that we have, with the kind of reputation and prestige that we claim for ourselves, if we do not fully assume our responsibilities and fulfill our obligations. And as Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, I would have you know that it will be the opinion of this Federal Government that we will bear responsibility within the framework of our responsibilities. North Korea”