GERMANY: US PRESIDENT CLINTON BERLIN AIRLIFT ANNIVERSARY VISIT (3)

Описание: (14 May 1998) English/Nat

President Bill Clinton on Thursday paid tribute to the people of East Germany for their remarkable achievements since the Berlin Wall fell.

The key to their success was the ingenuity of free people, the president said in a speech in the eastern city of Eisenach.

Earlier, he toured the city's Opel and General Motors which workers have turned into Europe's most efficient car plant since the fall of the Communists in Eastern Germany.

The tour followed a ceremony at which Clinton honoured the airmen of the Berlin Airlift who 50 years ago kept West Berlin from starving during a yearlong Soviet blockade.

As one of the last events on his trip to Germany, President Bill Clinton visited the city of Eisenach.

About 45-thousand people live in the city, just east of the former Iron Curtain.

Hundreds of them waited two hours for a glimpse of the first U-S President to visit their town.

The city is the site of the Opel car factory, which since the fall of the Communist regime has become Europe's most efficient car plant.

After taking a tour of the complex, Clinton gave a speech to the people of Eisenach, in which he marvelled at the transformation of the former East Germany.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Just think. Fifteen years ago, how many of us would have thought that today an American president and a German chancellor could stand on this spot in a united Germany in a uniting Europe?"
SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, US President

Eisenach's transition was not rosy for everyone.

When Opel took over the car plant from the Communist car manufacturer Wartburg, many people were left without jobs.

Eisenach still has an unemployment rate of about 15 percent.

Clinton recognised the human cost of the transformation, but urged people not to forget what they had gained.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Throughout the Eastern lands, the efforts to unify and rebuild have not been easy. I know that sacrifices have been made. I know that still work must be done. But do not forget the great progress you have made in such a short time. And do not underestimate what you can do with your dreams as free people."
SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, US President

Clinton paid tribute to the spirit of freedom in Eisenach.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"On this beautiful Thuringian day in spring, we are bathed in the light and the warmth of freedom. May it always shine across Germany, across this continent, across the world. And may you have every opportunity you have waited so long and working so hard for. Thank you very much and God bless you."
SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, US President

Clinton was the first U-S president to visit a former Eastern Bloc city since the Berlin Wall came down in 1989.

He is due to fly to Frankfurt on Thursday evening and then to London for the G-8 leaders' summit.

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