Bill Clinton: “No, different but wonderful. In Ireland it was--you know, my feeling there was about what was then a very much alive…”

“No, different but wonderful. In Ireland it was--you know, my feeling there was about what was then a very much alive peace process, involving the people from whence I came, and all the hope of peace between two warring factions. You know, what I saw today was different, which is, this was the country which in the end of the Communist era was the most depressed. I mean, they never went through anything like Stalin's purges where he killed millions, but at the end of the Communist era, they were the most depressed. And to see the passion they have for their freedom and the way they honor the people who stood up for it in that square and the feeling they have about America, even though they know quite well that it was our judgment that they shouldn't come into the first tranche of NATO, I mean, it was overwhelming. And you know, these people, too--keep in mind, it's not like Poland, where Poland was--and I'm not denigrating--but Poland is now the success story of the former Communist countries. And 3 years ago, we didn't do a public event in Poland; I don't know how many people would have been there. I can't say. But the point is, Romania is now where Poland was 3 years ago, maybe even longer, economically. They're still getting--what I said in my speech today--they're still going through the painful transition, the growing pains of going through a market economy where their economy is not growing. And they still came out to say, you know-- that was an enormous expression of national conviction and self- confidence. I mean, they were confident. You know, those people, you don't--100,000 people don't show up and stand in the sun unless they believe in what they're doing, unless they believe in themselves and their future and they believe they can keep going and they can weather this storm. You know, it was an extraordinary thing to see people who are having those kinds of economic difficulties believing they can come out of them, having no doubt that they can be full partners in the Western alliance, showing--they're also--I think Romania deserves a lot of credit. I mean, it is a Balkan country, and they just basically made a deal with the Hungarians and put them in the government to solve their border disputes, their problems with Ukraine and Hungary, which required enormous self-restraint, you know, because a lot of what is now in Moldova--Moldavia--and Ukraine was once a part of Romania. This is a country that has really, in a matter of months, just blossomed and is thinking about itself in terms of the future in ways that, of course, you know, I believe everybody said--so I'm thrilled.”