    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
    [February 23, 2005]
    [Pages 295-300]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's News Conference With Chancellor Gerhard
    Schroeder of Germany in Mainz
    February 23, 2005

        Chancellor Schroeder. Thank you very much, indeed, ladies and
    gentlemen. I'm very pleased, indeed, about this opportunity of welcoming
    President Bush and his wife, Laura, here in Germany. I think Mainz is an
    excellent venue for this meeting.
        We had a very, very intense discussion, and we basically covered
    each and every subject that is a high-ranking one on the international
    political agenda today.
        Now, before I go into any kind of detail, let me begin by sharing
    with you that we find it very important, sir, that you take note of one
    aspect that is important for both of us. We also talked about climate
    problems that we have worldwide, and this is an area where we also need
    a solution. You know we have different--or used to have different
    opinions about how to go about these things. The Kyoto Protocol was not
    appreciated by everybody, and that is something that has continued to
    exist. But I would like to emphasize that, despite that, we would like
    to see practical cooperation with the reduction of problems in this
    area. And we think that there could be room for maneuver, particularly
    in the field of technology, where the United States of America and
    Germany both have tremendous know-how, and we would like to deepen
    cooperation in this field, irrespective of the question of whether Kyoto
    is the right tool to be going about things or not. And that is something
    we have first said, and this is a piece of progress that you must not
    underestimate.

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        Now, over and above that, we obviously talked about all of the
    international problems on the agenda. Some of those problems have
    already been addressed yesterday in Brussels. I have to say it is good
    and it is right, and I think it is important for the development of
    peace in the world that President Bush's administration and he, himself,
    personally, have committed themselves to the situation of the Middle
    East peace process.
        I think there is hope today and even more than hope, possibly, that
    we will come to a solution here. And a solution can only ever be
    mentioned and conceived if there is a strong involvement of the United
    States of America.
        Now, obviously, the other members of the Quartet can be helpful.
    They want to be helpful; there can be no doubt. The same goes for us
    too. But I am very pleased that there is now this very strong commitment
    of the U.S. Americans to this specific problem.
        Now, we obviously talked about Iraq as well, and here, especially,
    we talked about what the perspective can be for the future. And nobody
    wants to conceal that we had different opinions about these things in
    the past, but that is the past, as I just said. And now our joint
    interest is that we come to a stable, democratic Iraq. Germany was
    certainly involved when it was about waiving debt for Iraq. You know
    that at the time we addressed this subject in New York. We have
    committed ourselves, and it was a success. We would like to see a
    situation where Iraq can use its financial scope for reconstruction and
    doesn't have to use the money on debt servicing. And what the Paris Club
    achieved was, I think, a great achievement.
        Now, secondly, we are ready, and when people like us say we're
    ready, we are ready and we do do something. We're actually doing
    already; we are training policemen and military security staff for Iraq
    in the United Arab Emirates, and there I think we can modestly say it is
    a rather successful project indeed. And all of that is, obviously,
    trying to arrange for more homegrown Iraqi security. And we are very
    much interested in not just continuing with these things but to also
    expand on those activities.
        Now, what we do not want to do in Iraq has been accepted, and we
    then said we'd be very happy to make expertise available when it is
    about the rebuilding of democratic institutions, be it questions of
    drafting a constitution but also the establishment of ministries, for
    example. Germany has a host of experience with these things, and if the
    new Iraqi Government wishes us to do so, we'd be most pleased to oblige.
        Now, the discussion about Iran took quite a bit of space during our
    meeting, and let me say openly and frankly that regarding the targets
    that we are trying to achieve, we are fully congruous; that is to say we
    absolutely agree that Iran must say no to any kind of nuclear weapon,
    full stop. That is the joint target that Europeans uphold as much as the
    U.S. Americans, and we are very much of the opinion that this is the
    target that needs to be achieved through a diplomatic negotiating path,
    if at all possible. But this means there needs to be movement on both
    sides.
        Now, we very much assume that this opportunity is there, and I very
    much am pleased to see that the activities undertaken by the three
    European powers--Great Britain, France, and Germany--find the support of
    the U.S. American President. And we very much agree that the targets
    we're going for is very much agreed: Iran must not have any nuclear
    weapons. They must waive any right to the production thereof, and they
    must renounce the right to even close the fuel cycle.
        Now, what has now been--may have done in a temporary agreement has
    to be nailed down fully and completely and, well, sustainably.
        Now, those were basically the topics that we addressed. And over and
    above that, we obviously talked about the situation in

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    Europe, the situation in Russia, and in other places of our beloved
    world. All in all, from my perspective, a tremendously successful
    meeting and a very friendly conversation I'm very pleased about. Thank
    you.
        President Bush. Thank you very much for your kind hospitality. And
    Laura and I are looking forward to eating lunch
    with you and Doris. And we're so
    honored that you would greet us here in your beautiful country.
        I am--it's obvious that my--it's--an obvious decision was to come
    here on my first trip since my Inauguration. After all, Europe is
    America's closest ally. I said yesterday and I want to say it again, the
    European project is important to our country. We want it to succeed. And
    in order for Europe to be a strong, viable partner, Germany must be
    strong and viable as well. And in order for us to have good relations
    with Europe, we must have good relations with Germany. And that is why
    this trip is an important trip for my country and for me.
        And so I want to thank you very much for the chance to be here, a
    chance to reconfirm the importance of the transatlantic alliance, and a
    chance to talk about important issues. Gerhard went over the issues; I
    will go over them briefly as well.
        First, I do want to say how much I appreciated Minister
    Schily coming to Washington, DC. I had a good
    visit with him, as did other people in my administration. I appreciate
    so very much the strong cooperation between Germany and the United
    States when it comes to sharing intelligence and to working together to
    find and arrest and bring to justice people who would do harm to our
    respective peoples or anybody else in the world. And I want to thank you
    for that good work.
        Secondly, I appreciated your kind words about Iraq and the need for
    us to put past differences behind us and focus on the people of that
    country. After all, over 8 million people said, ``We want to be free.''
    And in the face of incredible threat to their life and safety, they
    voted. And as democracies, we have now decided to help them. And I want
    to thank you for your contributions. I fully understand the limitations
    of German contribution. However, the contributions that Gerhard
    Schroeder talked about are not limited; they're important. Whether it be
    ministry building or training of law enforcement officers, those are
    vital contributions, and I appreciate--including debt relief, by the
    way, is a part of the vital contribution.
        We spent a lot of time talking about the Middle East. And I assured
    the Chancellor that this is a primary objective of my administration, is
    to help to move the process along. Peace will be achieved because the
    Israelis and the Palestinians want peace, and our job is to help them
    achieve that. And I look forward to Condoleezza Rice going to the meeting in London shortly to help
    the Palestinians develop the institutions necessary for a free society
    to emerge.
        I said in my State of the Union that I believe a settlement on this
    important issue is within reach. I said that because I believe it. And
    because it is within reach, it is vital for all of us to do--to work
    together to help both parties achieve the two-state solution, two states
    living side by side in peace.
        We spent time talking about Iran, and I want to thank Gerhard for
    taking the lead, along with Britain and France, on this important issue.
    It's vital that the Iranians hear the world speak with one voice that
    they shouldn't have a nuclear weapon. You know, yesterday I was asked
    about the U.S. position, and I said all options are on the table. That's
    part of our position. But I also reminded people that diplomacy is just
    beginning. Iran is not Iraq. We've just started the diplomatic efforts,
    and I want to thank our friends for taking the lead. And I will--we will
    work with them to convince the mullahs that they need to give up their
    nuclear ambitions.

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        I--we also talked about the environment. And obviously we've had
    differences on Kyoto. Those differences were first made known in 2001 on
    my trip to Europe. I assured the Chancellor that the United States cares
    about the quality of our air, obviously, that we spend $5.8 billion on
    technology on an annual basis to help develop ways to be able to
    maintain our standards of living and, at the same time, be good stewards
    of the environment. And we have a great opportunity to work with a great
    nation like Germany to share research, share intelligence, and not only
    to make sure that kind of--I mean, share technologies and to make sure
    that kind of technology is available for not only our own country but
    for developing countries like China and India.
        And so we have a great opportunity, I think, Gerhard, and I
    appreciate you for seeing that opportunity as well. This is an important
    trip for me, and it's--and one of the most important stops of all is
    right here in Germany. And I appreciate your hospitality.

    Germany-U.S. Relations

        Q. Mr. President, when your father, 15 years ago, visited Mainz, at
    the time he talked about partnership and leadership. Would you give
    Germany the same role today, a partner to the United States of America?
        President Bush. He fondly remembers the
    trip. Thank you for remembering that he came, and I will tell him that
    the first question I got on German soil had his name in it. [Laughter]
        The United States relies upon our partnerships in the world to
    spread liberty and peace, to do our duties as a wealthy nation to help
    the poor, and to work on matters such as HIV/AIDS. And we need partners.
    And Germany is a partner. We share the same goals. We share the goal of
    a free and peaceful world. We share the goal of working together to
    convince the ayatollahs in Iran to give up their nuclear weapons
    ambitions. We care deeply about the fact that there's disease on the
    continent of Africa, a pandemic in the form of HIV/AIDS.
        And so I would call Germany a partner in peace and a partner in
    freedom and a partner of doing our duty.
        Keil. Richard Keil [Bloomberg News]. [Laughter] Here's your mike.
    He's a very tall person. [Laughter]
        Chancellor Schroeder. I see; I see.

    Syria

        Q. President Bush, do you feel that you have gained any momentum
    here on this trip this week for possible new sanctions against Syria?
        And Chairman Schroeder, do you think that considering new sanctions
    on Syria is something that you could approve of at this time?
        President Bush. Dick, the--I had a good talk with President
    Chirac on this subject. France and the United
    States cosponsored a resolution in the United Nations that made it very
    clear that Syria needs to withdraw her troops from Lebanon.
        I will state it again: The position of our Government is Syria must
    withdraw not only the troops but its secret services from Lebanon. And
    Syria, in so doing, will indicate the other point that the President of
    France and I wanted to make, and that is
    those elections that are coming up need to be free, without any Syrian
    influence.
        And so the charge is out there for the Syrian Government to hear
    loud and clear. And we will see how they respond before there's any
    further discussions about going back to the United Nations.
        Chancellor Schroeder. I very much share this opinion. And let me
    also add that jointly we are of the opinion that there must be an
    international investigation on the death of former Prime Minister Hariri
    in Lebanon. That is certainly one other aspect that--where we feel we
    stand united. And the French President agrees on this as well.

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    Role of NATO

        Q. Chancellor, I wanted to put a question to you. You tabled an
    initiative to NATO reform in Munich. It was tabled in your absence, and
    you then went and explained thereafter. Could you tell me where you
    agree when it comes to your ideas for NATO, but also, can you tell me
    where the differences are?
        Chancellor Schroeder. We have agreed that we are not going to
    constantly emphasize where we're not agreeing but we want to focus on
    where we do agree. And that is why I can share with you that, regarding
    the question as to where to go for NATO, we are very much of the
    opinion--and I've understood the President in such a way that we're
    jointly of the opinion--that it is necessary to take NATO and the
    European Union, both of them, and to make them into a forum for
    important international transatlantic positions, where these are openly,
    frankly, candidly discussed on a high level. That was very much what I
    wanted to say at the time, and that is still what I think to this day.
        President Bush. I interpreted the comments to mean he wants NATO to
    be relevant, a place where there is meaningful strategic dialog. And
    that was very clear to everybody sitting around the table. And the
    meeting ended with Jaap saying to everybody that he's going to come back
    with a plan to make sure that the strategic dialog in NATO is relevant.
    And so I appreciated the spirit in which those comments were made.
        Fletcher [Michael Fletcher], Washington Post.

    Iran

        Q. Thank you, Mr. President. Chancellor Schroeder has said that Iran
    will abandon its nuclear ambitions only after knowing that its economic
    and legitimate security concerns have been addressed. First of all, do
    you agree with that assessment, and can that happen without the United
    States joining the talks with Iran?
        President Bush. Yes, I appreciate that. Look, first, let me just
    make this very clear: The party that has caused these discussions to
    occur in the first place are the Iranians. And the reason we're having
    these discussions is because they were caught enriching uranium after
    they had signed a treaty saying they wouldn't enrich uranium. So in
    other words, there is a--these discussions are occurring because they
    have breached a contract with the international community. They're the
    party that needs to be held to account, not any of us.
        And secondly, what we discussed with our German friends and French
    and British friends as well is a series of negotiating tactics--how to
    make sure the process moves forward without yielding to our universal
    demand.
        I might add, I believe there's another demand that makes sense as
    well, and that is that the Iranian Government listen to the hopes and
    aspirations of the Iranian people. That's what the German system does;
    that's what the American system does. We believe that the voice of the
    people ought to be determining policy, because we believe in democracy
    and freedom. And so, as we go down the road, we look forward to
    discussing ways to make--to talk with the three interlocutors without
    yielding at all on the universal demand that they must give up their
    weapons in a transparent way. And I'm hopeful we can achieve our
    objective. And we discussed tactics, some of which have bubbled up,
    obviously, into the public domain.
        And we will continue to talk tactics, to make sure that we achieve
    the objective: Iran must not have a nuclear weapon. For the sake of
    security and peace, they must not have a nuclear weapon. And that is a
    goal shared by Germany, France, Great Britain, and the United States.
    And working together, we can get this accomplished.
        Thank you all.

    Note: The President's news conference began at 12:24 p.m. at the
    Electoral Palace.

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    In his remarks, he referred to Doris Schroeder-Koepf, wife of Chancellor
    Schroeder; German Interior Minister Otto Schily; President Jacques
    Chirac of France; and NATO Secretary General Jakob Gijsbert ``Jaap'' de
    Hoop Scheffer. Chancellor Schroeder referred to former Prime Minister
    Rafiq Hariri of Lebanon, who was assassinated on February 14 in Beirut.
    Chancellor Schroeder and some reporters spoke in German, and their
    remarks were translated by an interpreter.