AACHEN, Germany -- With an eye toward a weekend summit in Moscow, President Clinton urged America's European allies today to ensure that Russia becomes "fully part of Europe."
"The job of building a united Europe is certainly not finished, and it is important not to take all of this self-congratulation too far," Clinton said in becoming only the third American to receive the prestigious International Charlemagne Prize for promoting European unity.Clinton spoke in a sun-filled courtyard near a magnificent cathedral that holds the remains of the eighth-century Holy Roman emperor for whom the prize is named.
Clinton, who travels to Moscow Saturday for a two-day summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, recited a litany of challenges facing the new leader and the Russian people.
"We don't yet know if Russia's hard-won democratic freedoms will endure," Clinton said, citing the country's deep-seated economic problems and the war in Chechnya. But he was hopeful to the point of envisioning the day when a democratic and prosperous Russia would be offered a place in NATO.
Europe is "more united, more successful and more peaceful than ever," Clinton said. But he stressed that a truly united Europe remains a work in progress. Among unfinished business, Clinton said was to bring splintered southeastern Europe into the Western fold, along with Turkey.
"That is the only way to make peace last in that bitterly divided region," Clinton said.
In honoring Clinton for his contributions to European unity, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder praised him for "preserving, strengthening and further developing" America's partnership in Europe during the transitional decade following the end of the Cold War.
Schroeder cited the critical role the United States played in ensuring a free, secure and prosperous Europe following the end of World War II. He thanked Clinton for maintaining an undiminished commitment to Europe even after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the opening of Eastern Europe redefined shared security concerns.
"It was his own personal achievement that after the fall of the Iron Curtain, the United States did not lose interest in Europe, but in his own words 'set out to do for the Eastern half of Europe what we helped to do for the Western half after World War II,' " Schroeder said.
Yet, after meeting with Clinton on Thursday, Schroeder displayed Europe's concern over Clinton's proposed new national missile defense system.
Washington's proposal to build the system -- a scaled-down version of the shield against incoming ballistic missiles once championed by President Reagan in the 1980s -- represents for many Germans the most serious split in thinking with the United States since the end of the Cold War.
"I stated my concerns, the concerns being that one must be very careful that any process does not trigger a renewed arms race," Schroeder said after the two-hour meeting.
Putin suggested in an NBC News interview Thursday that the United States and Russia jointly develop a missile shield to protect against nuclear attacks by "rogue states." Putin said he intended to discuss that idea before Clinton this weekend.
The International Charlemagne Prize has been awarded by the city of Aachen since 1950 to recognize statesmen who have contributed significantly to European unity. The two previous American winners were former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and George Marshall, architect of Europe's recovery after World War II.