[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book I)]
[June 26, 2004]
[Pages 1135-1141]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
The President's News Conference With European Union Leaders in Shannon,
Ireland
June 26, 2004
Prime Minister Ahern. Ladies and gentlemen,
I'd like to begin this press conference of the EU-U.S. summit here in
Dromoland by welcoming President Bush to Ireland for this important
summit and thank him for coming to us and for the participation with
President Romano Prodi and under the Irish Presidency.
Our meeting has not only been extremely productive, I think it's,
for us, also been historic, because it's the first summit between the
enlarged EU of 25 and the United States. And it's also the first since
we succeeded in concluding the negotiations in the European constitution
last weekend.
From the outset, the transatlantic relationship has been a core
focus of our Presidency, and it is my steadfast belief that a close
transatlantic partnership is essential for prosperity and for growth on
both sides of the Atlantic as well as for the broader international
community. And I'm pleased that this summit has reaffirmed the strength,
the depth, and the significance of our relationship in the spirit of
partnership.
The economic relationship between the European Union, United States
has been a central focus of our discussions today. It's a relationship
that generates 12 million jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. We agreed
at joint declaration on strengthening our economic partnership, which
includes a commitment to work for successful outcome of the World Trade
Organization negotiations. And we also launched a comprehensive review
to maximize investment and reduce barriers to trade across the Atlantic.
And the review will be concluded in time for the next summit this time
next year.
We also focused on common challenges facing the European Union and
the United States, including the pressing need to promote peace in the
Middle East, on how we can best work together to support the people of
Iraq as they start the process of building a sovereign, secure, and
democratic country. We discussed and have issued joint declarations on
Iraq as well as on counterterrorism, on nonproliferation, the fight
against HIV and AIDS, Sudan, and partnership with the Mediterranean and
the Middle East.
So the European Union and United States share, ladies and gentlemen,
a common set of values based on the unshakeable commitment to democracy,
to human rights, and the rule of law. And it's these shared values which
make us enduring partners, a partnership that has been fundamental to
the stability and prosperity of both Europe and America over the last 50
years.
And this summit has added significantly to our close relationship,
and I thank the President, and I thank President Prodi for the good work
that we've done today.
Mr. President.
President Bush. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. Thanks for your hospitality. Thanks for doing such a
great job at the EU President Prodi as well,
thanks for your welcome.
Taoiseach, we--Laura and I thank you for your
hospitality. And we appreciate the people of this great country for
welcoming us as well.
I want to thank the people who work at this beautiful resort for
their warmth and their great service. It's a wonderful place. Not only
is it beautiful, but the people who work here are really fine people.
I congratulate the nations of Europe on the enlargement of your
Union at 25 members. With this historic achievement you
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are erasing the last traces of the Iron Curtain and creating a new
beginning for the continent.
Tomorrow I will travel to Turkey for the NATO summit--actually,
today I will travel to Turkey. [Laughter] Tomorrow is the NATO summit.
Turkey is a proud nation that successfully blends a European identity
with the Islamic traditions. As Turkey meets the EU standards for
membership, the European Union should begin talks that will lead to full
membership for the Republic of Turkey.
Europe and America are linked by the ties of family, friendship, and
common struggle and common values. We're also bound to each by common
responsibilities. Because we met our responsibilities in the last
century, we realized the vision of a continent that is whole, free, and
at peace. As we meet our responsibilities in this new century, we will
defeat the forces of terror and help to build a freer, safer, and more
prosperous world.
The advance of freedom led to peace and prosperity in Europe, and it
can do the same for the wider world. And so our Alliance is looking
beyond the borders of Europe to support the momentum of freedom in the
broader Middle East. The people of that region are eager for reform, and
we are listening to their voices.
Earlier this month, the nations of the G-8, four of them members of
this Union, pledged their energies and resources to working in
partnership with the peoples of the broader Middle East to advance the
universal values of human dignity, freedom, democracy, the rule of law,
and economic opportunity.
A free and democratic Iraq is rising in the heart of the broader
Middle East. We just concluded a constructive discussion on our common
efforts to help the Iraqi people achieve the stability, prosperity, and
democracy they seek. As Iraq moves toward the transfer of sovereignty
next week, the EU and the United States are united in our determination
to help the people of Iraq.
We also discussed the many actions our nations are taking to secure
our homelands from the threat of terror. We took new steps to strengthen
our efforts to freeze and block terrorist finances. And to make travel
and transportation safer, we established new guidelines for sharing
airline passenger records to improve the way we screen for terrorists
while protecting the privacy of innocent travelers. We agreed to
increase and improve the sharing of information and intelligence. We
pledged to build on this progress by launching a new dialog on
transportation and border security. Travel between our nations is the
lifeblood of our friendship, our economies, and our Alliance, and our
travel system must not only be safe but efficient.
Earlier today, we also signed an agreement that ensures
compatibility between America's Global Positioning System and its future
European counterpart, Galileo. This agreement will protect our common
security, improve the delivery of emergency services, and further our
economic cooperation. This was a hard agreement to make, but because we
worked together, we now have an agreement. The two systems will be
compatible and interoperable. And users from business to science to
government in America and Europe will benefit.
The U.S. and EU share a fundamental interest in the health of the
global economy. Our trade and investment relationship is the largest in
the world, one that creates millions of jobs on both sides of the
Atlantic. Yet we're always exploring ways to make it stronger, and we
did so in these meetings. Lowering trade barriers increases the
prosperity of all our nations. And so we're looking at new ways to open
markets on both sides of the Atlantic. Free and fair trade has the power
to lift nations out of poverty. So we reaffirmed our commitment to the
Doha Development Agenda, which seeks to remove obstacles to global trade
and growth in the developing world.
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As I said, tomorrow I'm going to go to Turkey for the NATO summit.
Today I'm going to Turkey--tomorrow is the summit. [Laughter] I look
forward to working with our European Allies on many of the same issues
we addressed here in Ireland. The unity of the Transatlantic Alliance in
the face of new challenges and the advance of freedom in the world--
that's what we're going to talk about.
NATO continues to transform itself to meet the new threats of the
21st century. The NATO mission in Afghanistan is helping the people of
that country establish democracy after years of tyranny. And NATO has
the capability--and I believe the responsibility--to help the Iraqi
people defeat the terrorist threat that's facing their country. I look
forward to discussing NATO's response to Prime Minister Allawi's request to help train Iraq's new security forces.
Together, we can forge a new relationship between NATO and the Iraqi
people.
Taoiseach, this has been a very useful
summit. I appreciate your leadership. I appreciate President
Prodi's leadership as well. I look forward to
working with the nations of the European Union to increase our common
prosperity, to strengthen our common security, and to advance our common
interest in the spread of liberty.
Thank you.
Prime Minister Ahern. Mr. President.
President Prodi.
President Prodi. Thank you, George, and
thank you, Bertie, for the success of this summit. This is, for me, the
last summit in which I have taken part as the President of the
Commission. And over the past 5 years, Europe has gone through an
enormous transformation. We have helped to deliver the euro, and now the
single currency is the currency of more than 300 million people.
We have negotiated and completed the biggest expansion in the
history of the European project by bringing in 10 new countries. And
together, with the skillful Irish Presidency, we have negotiated and
completed the biggest step ahead in our institution, adopting a new
European Constitution. As a consequence, this Union has become an
important and political actor in the global scene.
And now, in discussion with President Bush, we, Prime Minister Ahern
and myself, have today spoken in the name of more than 450 million
Europeans. This is the new reality in Europe and the new reality in
European Union-United States relations.
Everyone here knows how close the ties between Europe and U.S. are.
We know as well that these ties are not based only on our historic,
cultural, political links but on our rock solid economic partnership as
well. I remind you only one figure, $2 billion per day flow across the
Atlantic--per day--in investment or trade. In this summit, our
cooperation has broken new frontiers. The agreements on cooperation
between our two global satellite navigation systems, Galileo and GPS, is
a win-win situation. I am certain that the repercussion for the global
market of civilian uses of satellite navigation systems are very
positive. And this system will become operational in 2008 and will
create 150,000 jobs in Europe alone.
Galileo is also good example of how European Union, strengthened by
the euro, the constitution, and the reunification of the continent, can
and will play its full part as an international actor. Together,
European Union and U.S. can meet the global, regional challenge as well
as threats to our security. But--and I want to emphasize this strongly--
we must work together as true partners and friends can do.
Prime Minister Ahern. Thank you, President
Prodi.
Mr. President, do you want the first question?
President Bush. I have to?
Prime Minister Ahern. Yes. [Laughter] We
rotate them.
[[Page 1138]]
President Bush. I didn't ask for an answer. I just thought, ``Do I
have to?'' [Laughter]
AP.
NATO and Iraq
Q. Mr. President, today's statement talks about shared commitments
in Iraq and support for training Iraqi security forces. Does that mean
that NATO is going to shoulder a larger military role in Iraq and that
the bitter differences over the war are over?
President Bush. Let me start with the latter half of that question.
I think the bitter differences of the war are over. I think people--some
people didn't agree with the decision that I made and others made as
well, but we all agree that a democratic Iraq, a peaceful Iraq, an Iraq
which is--has its territorial integrity intact is in the benefit of
the--is in all our benefit. And so there is a common interest and a
common goal to work together to help the Iraqi people realize the
benefits of a free society.
Prime Minister* Allawi has written a letter
to NATO asking for training and equipment. And I hope NATO responds in a
positive way, because the ultimate success inside of Iraq is going to
depend upon the ability of the Iraqi citizens to defend themselves.
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*White House correction.
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We'll be turning over full sovereignty on June the 30th. That means
complete, full sovereignty. The Iraqi government will now make the
decisions that are necessary to rebuild their country and to get to free
elections. They have asked for our help, but they fully recognize what
I've just described as necessary, that they have to have their forces,
their police well-trained and well-prepared to meet the threat of the
few who want to derail the ambitions of the many.
Q. Do you think NATO will take that step?
President Bush. Well, we'll find out tomorrow. That's why I'm
traveling to Turkey today--[laughter]--to be----
Q. Mr. President----
President Bush. Which President?
Northern Ireland
Q. Number 43. [Laughter] Mr. President, your predecessor, Number 42,
has, I understand, described Northern Ireland as the passion of his
Presidency. Where does it sit on your list of priorities? And do you
regard it as a model for the resolution of conflicts like the Middle
East? Thank you.
President Bush. That's a great question. I do view it as a model for
resolution of conflict, whether it be in the Middle East or elsewhere.
And we view this issue as a very important issue in my administration
and stand ready to help. There's a special envoy from our Government that is participating in the process.
I have constantly asked the Prime Minister
today whether or not the envoy is doing his job the way the Prime
Minister thinks he ought to do the job, and the answer has been yes.
I'm fully aware that the Prime Minister of both Great Britain and Ireland are going to
advance the process this early September. And we stand ready to help. I
wish them all the best, because when this conflict is resolved, it will
be an example for others that long-simmering disputes can be put behind
them and free societies and peaceful societies can emerge for the
interest of the peoples which have been involved in those disputes.
Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters]. Go ahead and yell it out. If I don't
like the question I'll--[laughter]----
Abu Musab Al Zarqawi
Q. Thank you. Should America see the June 30th handover as the
beginning of an exit strategy from Iraq? And how big a threat is Zarqawi
to the new government?
President Bush. Yes, well, Zarqawi has been a threat to lot of
people. He was
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such a threat that he was the person that ordered the killing of Mr.
Foley, who worked for the USAID. He was an American citizen working for
our Government, worked for Colin Powell.
Zarqawi ordered him to be killed. He had been in and out of Baghdad, by
the way. This is prior to the liberation of Iraq.
He is a problem because he's willing to kill people, innocent
people, in order to shake our will and shake our confidence. In other
words, he's willing to use death to stop the advance of freedom. He
recruits suiciders, orders suiciders, and has them attack on a regular
basis. Because he wants us to withdraw from Iraq, he wants Prime
Minister Allawi to lose his will. He wants him
to quit and surrender.
I spoke to the Prime Minister the other day.
I believe he is a man of courage and backbone and a man who does believe
in the aspirations of the Iraqi people. I believe he is one of the key
ingredients to making sure that we move toward a free society.
In terms of exit strategies, listen, Steve, we will work to stand up
an Iraqi security force and police force that is able to function, to
work up a chain of command where the Iraqi police and security folks
know that they're working for Iraqis, not for Americans. And we will
stay as long as necessary, and then we will leave. We will complete the
mission. And the faster the Iraqis take over their own security needs,
the faster the mission will end.
Prime Minister Ahern. Charlie.
Iraq/Treatment of Prisoners
Q. Taoiseach, the President has said that the bitter differences
over the war are over. This morning President McAleese paid a courtesy
call on President Bush. She expressed a certain disquiet on behalf of
the people of Ireland over some of the differences of what's happened in
Iraq. Did you echo those sentiments? And if I could also put the same
question to the President, how did he respond to what President McAleese
had to say?
Prime Minister Ahern. And the answer is, I
did, Charlie, and not on the first occasion. When I had the opportunity
of meeting the President on Saint Patrick's Day, as he kindly does every
year for us, we raised these issues. We discussed these issues at the G-
8 meeting. How prisoners have been dealt with in some of the--in one of
the prisons, what has happened in some of the--from Afghanistan in
Guantanamo, that's been an issue. The President has answered those. The
President is concerned about his own troops and some of the issues that
happened as much as I am or anybody else in this country, and we've
discussed that issue.
And I think it is a great thing that--where we have such good
relationships with the United States, where we have so much cooperation,
where today we can clear eight declarations, but still we are all
interested in progress, we're all interested in human rights and the
dignity of the person--that we can raise these issues. That is a good
thing, as far as I'm concerned. The President has given us comprehensive
answers, which I think both the Tanaiste and Minister Cowen and myself
were very glad to hear his perspective on this and want to admire it,
because these things, unfortunately, happen. And of course, we wish they
didn't, but they do. And what's important then is how they're dealt
with, how things are improved for the future. And the questions were
answered to--as far as we were concerned, to our satisfaction, and the
progress for the future of what the President is doing is also
impressive.
President Bush. Of course, the Prime Minister brought the issues of Iraq up, as did the
President. And I told them both I was sick
with what happened inside that prison, and so were the American
citizens. The action of those troops did not reflect what we think, and
it did harm. It did harm, because there are people in Ireland and
elsewhere that said, ``This isn't the America we know. This isn't the
America that we believe exists.'' And both leaders,
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of course, brought the issue up, and they should. And I assured them
that we'll deal with this in a transparent way--which stands in stark
contrast to how a tyrant would deal with it. Had these abuses--well,
these abuses did take place in Iraq prior to our arrival. There were
rape rooms, mass graves. I don't remember any international
investigation of what took place in Iraq. You'll--we are investigating,
and you'll be able to see exactly what takes place, and you'll be able
to see the legal process that unfolds.
And in terms of the decision to go to war, I can understand why
people were disquieted about that. Nobody likes war. But remember--let
me take a step back and remind you about what happened: There was that
resolution out of the United Nations called 1441. It was voted on
unanimously, where the world said, ``Disclose, disarm, or face serious
consequences.'' That's what the world said. And Saddam Hussein deceived. He didn't allow the inspectors to do their
job. And so we had an issue--either you say something and mean it, or
you don't. I happen to believe when you say something, you better mean
it. And so with other nations, we acted.
And now the task is to see to it that Iraq becomes a free country
where people are able to realize their dreams. Free countries are
peaceful countries. And the best way to defeat terror as a tool to
promote a sick ideology is to promote freedom around the world. And
that's one of the key initiatives that we discussed today, which is the
initiative to promote democracy and stand with the reformers of the
broader Middle East.
Hutch [Ron Hutcheson, Knight Ridder].
Irish Public Opinion
Q. Thank you. Mr. President, you don't appear to be a very popular
fellow here in Europe. Do you have any explanation for your poor poll
standings? And is that something that should concern Americans?
President Bush. Well, Hutch, I must confess that the first polls I
worry about are those that are going to take place in early November of
this year. I--listen, I care about the image of our country. We've got a
country that--we've just got 2\1/2\ trillion dollars worth of trade or
$2.2 trillion worth of trade with the EU. Obviously, something positive
is happening.
I don't like it when the values of our country are misunderstood
because of the actions of some people overseas. As far as my own
personal standing goes, Hutch, my job is to do my job. I'm going to do
it the way I think is necessary. I'm going to set a vision. I will lead,
and we'll just let the chips fall where they may.
Prime Minister Ahern. Romano.
President Prodi. Somebody in the back--
nobody in the back.
President Bush. You look like a nice fellow. I don't know why they
don't call on you. [Laughter]
Successor to President Prodi
Q. Taoiseach, could I ask you to confirm that the Portugese Prime
Minister Barrosa has emerged as the likely successor to Mr. Prodi, and
if you'll be proposing his name next Tuesday night as you're meeting
with the foreign ministers?
Prime Minister Ahern. When I go back to
Dublin this evening, I have to talk to still about half of my
colleagues, which I hope to do that between about 5 o'clock and 9
o'clock tonight. I also have to talk to Jose Manuel Barrosa, the present
Prime Minister of Portugal. But we do hope, sincerely hope, that I would
be in a position to both have the meeting and to make a recommendation
and get a positive decision on Tuesday evening.
President Bush. Thanks, Taoiseach. We've got to go to Turkey.
Note: The President's news conference began at 2:14 p.m. at Dromoland
Castle. The President met with Prime Minister Bertie Ahern of Ireland,
in his capacity as President
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of the European Council, and President Romano Prodi of the European
Commission. In his remarks, President Bush referred to Prime Minister
Ayad Allawi of the Iraqi interim government; U.S. Special Envoy for
Northern Ireland Mitchell B. Reiss; Prime Minister Tony Blair of the
United Kingdom; senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi; former
President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; and President Mary McAleese of
Ireland. Prime Minister Ahern referred to Deputy Prime Minister Mary
Harney and Minister of Foreign Affairs Brian Cowen of Ireland.