USIA - State Department Report (96-08-15)

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From: The United States Information Agency (USIA) Gopher at <gopher://gopher.usia.gov>

STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT, AUGUST 15

(Christopher/Bosnia, Romania/Hungary, Cyprus, CTBT) (720)

CHRISTOPHER -- According to Davies, Secretary of State Warren Christopher "had an extraordinary day" August 15 doing a "walk-about" in the city of Sarajevo and urging people to vote in the September 14 national elections. Christopher also met Bosnia's President Alija Izetbegovic, attended a briefing at IFOR headquarters, did a taping for Bosnian television, and had an election roundtable with opposition parties. "(Christopher) was buoyed by today's events," Davies said, "and he may be the highest ranking American to have gotten out and about in Sarajevo ... since the terrible war."

ROMANIA/HUNGARY -- The United States is pleased that Romania and Hungary have reached an agreement on a Basic Treaty and expect to sign it in September. The treaty includes interpretive language for the Council of Europe Recommendation 1201, regarding national minorities. "The U.S. government views this agreement as a significant breakthrough," Davies said. "Not only will the completion of the Basic Treaty help strengthen relations between these two important countries in Central Europe, it also will demonstrate the commitment of Hungary and Romania to European integration."

In response to a question as to whether the treaty would enhance Romania's and Hungary's chances for consideration for NATO membership, Davies said that "there have been no decisions made on NATO enlargement and which countries are in the first rank of countries to come into NATO." He added, "It is very important for those countries who wish to join NATO to achieve peaceful relations with their neighbors. So, from that standpoint, this is an important agreement."

CYPRUS -- Despite the recent violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, "the United States has not lost hope for Cyprus," Davies said. "Obviously, the events of recent days are discouraging, but they haven't discouraged us from our view that a solution can be found on Cyprus and that the United States can play a useful role there. We remain very interested in doing so, given the wishes of the parties."

He added that the violence "complicates the efforts of the United States to launch any kind of a longer-term peace process on Cyprus .... All of our efforts will be directed at that longer-term effort once, of course, we get past dealing with the situation as it exists now, which ... is a challenge for the parties on the island and not directly to the United States, but we will play as useful role as we can."

U.S. policy remains to encourage direct negotiations, Davies said. "What we're emphasizing now is that both parties on the island prevent unauthorized persons from entering the buffer zone. That is today's challenge."

Two violent demonstrations on August 11 and August 14 at the U.N. buffer zone have resulted in two deaths and scores of injuries. According to Davies, "the response from Turkish Cypriot security forces was disproportionate to the threat posed by the protesters, notwithstanding the unauthorized entry of the protesters into the buffer zone. The U.N., we believe, continues to do a commendable job within the severe limits of its resources."

The government of Cyprus has banned any demonstrations for August 15 and 16, a move commended by the United States. "We're pleased that the government is attempting to reduce opportunities for further violence," Davies said. "The United States calls on the government to meet its responsibilities to keep people out of the buffer zone, and we call on Turkish Cypriot and Turkish forces to adhere to international accepted norms, to avoid lethal force in non-life threatening situations."

COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN TREATY (CTBT) -- When asked about the current impasse on the CTBT, Davies said, "We have a challenge on our hands, which is, how to get past the objections of India and others in the CTBT process and the Conference on Disarmament."

The United States continues to hope it will be able to take the treaty to the U.N. General Assembly for consideration this autumn through the Conference on Disarmament (CD) process, Davies said. "We don't have any plans at this time to take the treaty to the General Assembly outside of the CD process."

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