Clinton Arrives in Europe With New Rule Book

In this city from which explorers set off half a millennium ago to discover a new world, President Clinton embarked Tuesday on a weeklong journey demonstrating the degree to which the diplomatic map has changed during his White House years--but testing too the remaining authority of his tenure.

From a meeting with the leaders of the European Union here today to a very Clintonesque seminar with fellow New Age politicians in Berlin and a weekend summit in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, the president is touching base with the new symbols of a quickly evolving global leadership.

With no other European trip on Clinton’s presidential schedule (although at least one, to prod the peace efforts in Northern Ireland, is under consideration), the week is as much a window on the demands of the future that Clinton will present his successor as it is a personal salute to what has been accomplished.

The Clinton administration had a rocky start in Europe. At a time when European allies were nervous about the changing post-Cold War world, the administration left unclear its position on such issues as U.S. involvement in the Balkans and the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Seven years later, U.S. policy is marked by a unity of action with allies in Europe’s troubled southeastern corner and the West’s agreement to bring the new democracies of Central and Eastern Europe into the Atlantic alliance.

Still, said Philip Gordon, a senior fellow in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, Clinton faces in Europe a “growing resentment of American domination and unilateralism--this feeling . . . that we need to have it our way.” At the same time, members of Congress feel “resentment about the burdens” of the administration’s deep engagement in Europe, he said.

And unanswered at the week’s start: Will Clinton’s encroaching lame-duck status in the United States lessen his reach from Lisbon to Moscow as still-contentious issues, from trade to the terror of nuclear weapons, are placed on the table?

Reacting testily to the suggestion that any arms control agreement Clinton reaches not tie the hands of his successor, National Security Advisor Samuel R. “Sandy” Berger said before the trip: “I think presidents are elected by the American people to serve four-year terms, and I believe that they’re expected to advance the national interest from day one until the final day. And I expect the president will do that.”

Clinton arrived here Tuesday morning after an overnight flight aboard Air Force One. This is the first visit to Portugal by a U.S. president since Ronald Reagan was here in 1985. Portugal is the 69th country that Clinton has visited during his presidency.

At a ceremony at the Torre de Belem, the limestone tower marking the point from which Portuguese navigators sailed five centuries ago on voyages that led them to Brazil, the discovery of a maritime route to India and eventual circumnavigation of the globe, the president took stock of the challenges facing the world. Among them he listed the AIDS epidemic and the gulf between the world’s wealthy and its poor.

“We have a few stormy waters still to navigate,” he said.

Clinton spent about 15 minutes debriefing Prime Minister Antonio Guterres on the Portuguese leader’s just-completed visit to Moscow, going over concerns Putin raised about arms control. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama signed agreements covering collaboration on infectious disease research and control, aviation, child support and alimony payments between ex-spouses living in the two countries, and deportations.

Later, the White House announced that, while in Berlin, Clinton will meet Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. The Israeli leader canceled a scheduled visit to Washington last week to oversee his nation’s troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

A broader meeting today with Guterres, who occupies the rotating presidency of the European Union, and European Commission President Romano Prodi will deal with dogged trade disputes between the U.S. and Europe. They include contentions over international shipments of bananas and hormone-treated beef. The leaders will also discuss European goals that mimic those of the Clinton administration, such as wiring schools to the Internet within a year or two.

Speaking of Clinton’s visit to Moscow, U.S. officials have taken pains to emphasize that the president will not be walking away empty-handed even if he fails to achieve a significant arms control agreement. Indeed, they have said at every opportunity that this is not going to be a summit about either reducing long-range nuclear weapons or reaching a deal on antimissile defense systems.

At the center of the missile defense debate is the growing concern about the risk posed to the United States by long-range missiles that would be launched not by Russia but by China or such states as North Korea or Iraq, whose missile capabilities are feared to be growing.

Administration officials have said Clinton will decide, perhaps by the end of the summer, whether to proceed with the deployment of a limited defensive system.

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Clinton’s Trip to Europe

President Clinton arrived in Lisbon, Portugal, on Tuesday, the first stop on what could be his last trip to Europe while in office.

Thursday

Travels to Berlin to meet with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Friday

Arrives in Aachen to receive Charle-magne Prize, then returns to Berlin.

Saturday-Sunday

Meets with President Vladimir V. Putin in Moscow.

Monday

Arrives in Kiev, then returns to the United States.

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Source: White House