Honorable Deputy Chairperson of the Constitutional Assembly; Honorable Members; Distinguished Guests.

Ukrainian President Kuchma has announced that all nuclear warheads have been removed from the territory of Ukraine. This is a remarkable achievement. In 1991, there were more than 4000 strategic and tactical nuclear warheads in Ukraine. Today there are none. I applaud the Ukrainian government for its historic contribution in reducing the nuclear threat. When the Presidents of Ukraine, Russia and I signed the January 1994 Trilateral Statement on this issue, we looked forward to a day that has now arrived.

President Lee. After my inauguration, very soon, probably in July or August, we may need to convene a Political-Economic Conference. This conference will cover such important topics for the next four years. The first one will be our mainland policy. The second one would be the foreign policy for the Republic of China on Taiwan, and lastly, what opinions people have on domestic political reform.

The North Atlantic Council met at the Intercontinental Hotel, Berlin, Germany. Let me begin by thanking and congratulating Secretary-General Solana for the immense contributions he has already made to the Alliance in his first six months in office. I also want to thank our German hosts, and Foreign Minister Kinkel in particular, for their hard work in organizing this historic Ministerial—the first meeting of the North Atlantic Council in a free and unified Berlin.

It's a real pleasure for me to be closing the 48th IHEDN session. I attach, as you know, great importance to this institution. It is the crucial instrument for maintaining a close link between the nation and its armed forces—as you said—and all the more so now, at a time when our defense is about to undergo an essential and profound transformation.

The War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia began its first trial in The Hague today. This marks the beginning of a historic process—to bring justice for serious violations of international law, including genocide, to the attention of the international community

Iraq's agreement to implement UNSCR 986 is long-overdue and represents an important victory in the Security Council's efforts since 1991 to meet the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people. Iraq's belated decision to implement UNSCR 986 demonstrates once again that it will act in accordance with the requirements established by the Security Council only when the Council stands firm in refusing to negotiate lesser terms. It validates the long-standing U.S. view that there can be no discussion of modification to the overall sanctions regime until Iraq has met fully all its obligations to the UN. It makes clear that Iraq's current leadership has been and remains responsible for the suffering of the Iraqi people.

Obviously, I'm not with the Secretary. I just saw the press reports on this. I don't know everything that he said, but I think he was referring to Helms-Burton in general. The fact is that the way that foreign companies will be affected is that after the date of the law, those that invest in Cuba will be affected. It will not pertain to those who perhaps were there in decades past, and that's what he was referring to. But since I haven't seen the full text of what he said—and I think he's also just now giving a press conference—I'd rather wait until I see the full text and then get back to you.