    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
    [May 8, 2003]
    [Pages 451-453]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Honoring Central European Nations on Their Upcoming Admission to
    the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
    May 8, 2003

        Thank you all very much, and welcome to the White House. We're glad
    you're here. Interestingly enough, it was here, 58 years ago today, that
    President Harry Truman announced the end of the war in Europe. And the
    people of America and Europe celebrated that victory together.
        This year on V-E Day we mark another kind of victory in Europe. Just
    hours ago, the United States Senate voted unanimously to support NATO
    admission for Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia,
    and Slovenia. These heroic nations have survived tyranny. They have won
    their liberty and earned their place among free nations. America has
    always considered them friends, and we will always be proud to call them
    allies.
        I appreciate the Foreign Ministers of the Dan NATO nations--or the nations who
    will soon be joining NATO--who are with us today. We just had a great
    discussion in the Roosevelt Room in the White House complex.
        I appreciate so very much the Secretary of State, Colin
    Powell, who has been a strong and tireless
    advocate for the expansion of NATO.
        I want to thank the Members of the United States Senate who have
    joined us here today. I appreciate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee for coming. I particularly want to thank
    Chairman Dick Lugar and ranking member Joe
    Biden  Jr. for their strong leadership in
    getting the Senate to vote unanimously for the admission of these
    nations into NATO. Great job, Senators.
        I also am honored to welcome George Voinovich, the Senator from Ohio and, more importantly, Janet
    Voinovich, his wife--[laughter]--and Senator
    Carl Levin from Michigan. Welcome. I'm glad you
    all are here, and thanks for coming.
        I want to welcome the chairmen and chairwomen of the Parliamentary
    foreign affairs committees who are here. I appreciate the Ambassadors
    from our current and future allied nations who are joining us today. I
    want to thank General Richard Myers for
    joining us today, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And I want
    to thank all of our distinguished guests for coming.
        The defeat of Nazi Germany brought an end to the armed conflict in
    Europe, but that victory did not bring true peace and

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    unity to the Continent. For millions, tyranny remained in a different
    uniform. The freedom of Bulgaria and Romania and Slovakia and Slovenia
    was subverted by Communist dictators. And Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
    were wiped off the map as independent countries.
        As the Iron Curtain fell across Europe and walls and barbed wire
    were raised, the free nations of Europe and the United States gathered
    their will and courage and formed the greatest alliance of liberty.
    Through 40 winters of cold war, NATO defended the security of the
    western world and held in trust the ideal of freedom for all the peoples
    of Europe.
        This division, this great standoff, did not end in military
    conflict. It ended when the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe took
    history into their own hands and took back their rights and their
    freedom.
        From that moment, it was clear that the old lines dividing Europe
    between East and West, the lines of Yalta, were entirely irrelevant to
    the future.
        Nearly 2 years ago, in Warsaw, I urged the enlargement of NATO to
    all of Europe's democracies, from the Baltic to the Black Sea and all
    that lie between, so that peoples in those countries would have the same
    chance for security and freedom enjoyed by Europe's older democracies.
        I called upon all the NATO Allies to renew our mission and to meet
    the great challenges and opportunities of the world beyond Europe. And
    these challenges arrived quickly. Following the terrorist attacks of
    September the 11th, NATO invoked its commitment to the collective
    defense for the first time in its history.
        Our friends in Central and Eastern Europe responded as well,
    providing resources of law enforcement and intelligence to help break up
    terrorist cells, to disrupt terrorist plots, and to cut off terrorist
    funding.
        In the battle of Afghanistan, nations from Central and Eastern
    Europe supplied soldiers and special forces and peacekeepers to help
    defeat the Taliban, to help destroy the terrorists, and to bring freedom
    to the Afghan people.
        In the battle of Iraq, Central and Eastern European countries have
    stood with America and our coalition to end a grave threat to peace and
    to rid Iraq of a brutal, brutal regime. The peoples of Bulgaria,
    Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia have a fresh
    memory of tyranny. And they know the consequences of complacency in the
    face of danger.
        Time and again, they have demonstrated their desire and ability to
    defend freedom against its enemies. They have proven themselves to be
    allies by their action, and now it is time to make them allies by
    treaty.
        This morning's vote in the Senate brings that day closer. I urge all
    the current members of NATO to welcome these new members as quickly as
    possible. These nations will make NATO stronger, and we need that
    strength for all the work that lies ahead. We must continue to fight
    global terror and strongly oppose the proliferation of weapons of mass
    destruction.
        NATO itself must develop new military capabilities to meet the
    emerging dangers of a new era. We must help the people of the Balkans to
    become full partners in the progress of Europe. We welcome the
    commitment of Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia to the values and
    principles of NATO. And we will help them as they move forward with
    reform.
        We have work ahead in bringing order and security to Iraq, so the
    Iraqi people can build the institutions of freedom and provide an
    example of democracy to other Arab nations. And just as NATO has stood
    for the freedom of all of Europe, we must stand with people everywhere
    who strive for greater freedom and tolerance and development and health
    and opportunity, including those in the Middle East and Africa.
        This day was a long time in coming, yet there was never any doubt.
    Through decades of crisis and division, Europe's peoples

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    shared with people everywhere the same need and hope for freedom. This
    hope overcame the designs of tyrants, and this hope overcame the
    tragedies of war.
        The nations of Central and Eastern Europe are one of history's great
    examples of the power and appeal of liberty. And we believe that example
    will be followed and multiplied throughout the world.
        Thank you all for coming. May God bless your nations.

    Note: The President spoke at 3:38 p.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Foreign Minister Solomon Pasi of
    Bulgaria; Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland of Estonia; Foreign
    Minister Sandra Kalniete of Latvia; Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis of
    Lithuania; Foreign Minister Mircea Dan Geoana of Romania; Foreign
    Minister Eduard Kukan of Slovakia; and Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel
    of Slovenia. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish
    language transcript of these remarks.