[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
[February 21, 2005]
[Pages 281-283]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Following Discussions With President Jacques Chirac of France and an Exchange With Reporters in Brussels
February 21, 2005

    President Bush. It's my honor to be joining Jacques Chirac for 
dinner. I thank you for coming, sir. I've really been looking forward to 
this moment.
    Every time I meet with Jacques, he's got good advice. And I'm 
looking forward to listening to you. We've got a lot of issues to talk 
about: Middle Eastern peace, Lebanon, Iran, helping to feed the hungry, 
and working together to help spread medicines necessary to cure illness.
    So, Mr. President, thank you very much for your--coming by for 
dinner, and thank you for your time.
    President Chirac. Thank you. It's, of course, a great pleasure. It 
always is great pleasure to meet with President Bush. And let me take 
this opportunity to thank him for his very warm welcome to me today as 
always.
    Now, President Bush and I have always shared very--always had very 
warm relations, which in fact translate, to a certain extent, of 
relations--of warm relations that have always been characterized--the 
links between our countries and the relations, be they bilateral or 
transatlantic ones, which have always been excellent between France and 
the United States.
    Indeed, we have struggled for some two centuries, 200 years now, to 
uphold and keep alive these values which we share, and which our people 
share and hold very dear to their hearts, and which we are very attached 
to.
    We are present together, that is to say France and the United 
States, in some of the world's hotspots. I'm thinking of Afghanistan. 
I'm thinking of the Balkans, of course, but I'm thinking also of what 
we're doing in Haiti and in Africa. I'm thinking also of our excellent 
cooperation over the tragedy in Asia; I'm talking about the tsunami 
here. And let me take this opportunity to thank the President for all 
the help that was extended to our military by the American military, for 
instance, the making available to our military of American helicopters, 
which made our work that much easier.
    So we do share many, many ideals and values. We have many things in 
common. For instance, we, together, are struggling against the scourge 
of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism. And we adopted--we have 
the same approach to the situation which is prevailing in Lebanon, 
especially following the murder of former Prime Minister Hariri, who, of 
course, was a man who enshrined the ideals of democracy, independence, 
and liberty of that country.
    Therefore, I am looking forward to a very constructive discussion, 
and I welcome this new opportunity to meet with the President and in a 
broader context, which is that of the continuing dialog, ongoing dialog 
between the United States and the rest of Europe.
    President Bush. Tom [Tom Raum, Associated Press].

Russia

    Q. For both Presidents: You talked about Russia, Mr. President, in 
your speech. What practical things can you do to pressure Russia to go 
back to a path towards

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democracy? And should you, for instance, make membership in the WTO 
contingent on Russia renewing its commitment to democracy? For both 
Presidents, please.
    President Bush. Part of the WTO requirements are that there be an 
open market, that there be a liberal economy. And open markets and 
liberal economies tend to attract countries that are open to the voices 
of their people.
    I look forward to seeing Vladimir Putin 
in 2 days. I've got a good relationship with Vladimir; I intend to keep 
it that way. But as well, I intend to remind him that if his interests 
lie West, that we share values, and that we--and those values are 
important. They're not only important for people that live within 
Russia; they're important to have good relations with the West.

France-U.S. Relations

    Q. The first question to President Chirac. You have said, sir, 
yourself, that relations have always been excellent between France and 
the United States. We get the sense that in recent weeks they have 
become even better. They have become warmer and that there's a veritable 
new honeymoon, as it were, taking place.
    And to you, President Bush, may I ask the following question: If, 
indeed, relations have improved, if indeed they are better between 
France and the United States, are they good enough as yet for that to 
warrant an invitation to President Chirac to go to the United States, 
possibly even to your ranch, sir? [Laughter]
    President Bush. I'm looking for a good cowboy. [Laughter]
    President Chirac. Let me say--repeat what I already said, namely, 
that our relations are indeed excellent. But they have been excellent 
for over 200 years now, because--why do I say that? Because they are 
based upon common values, common values that we share. And these things 
don't change overnight, with the wave of a wand.
    Now, of course, that doesn't mean that because we share common 
values we don't--we necessarily agree on everything all the time. Of 
course, we can have our differences, or our divergence of opinion. 
Recently, this was the case. We didn't share the same view over Iraq. 
But this in no way affects or in no way undermines the bedrock of our 
relations, namely, our common values and our common vision. And I repeat 
what I said earlier on, namely, that I feel it's very important that 
within the broader context of U.S.-EU relations, this relationship 
should continue to be cemented, broadened, and strengthened.
    President Bush. This is my first dinner, since I've been reelected, 
on European soil, and it's with Jacques Chirac, and that ought to say 
something. It ought to say how important this relationship is for me, 
personally, and how important this relationship is for my country.

Note: The President spoke at 7:13 p.m. in the Ambassador's residence at 
the U.S. Embassy. In his remarks, he referred to President Vladimir 
Putin of Russia. President Chirac referred to former Prime Minister 
Rafiq Hariri of Lebanon, who was assassinated on February 14 in Beirut. 
President Chirac and a reporter spoke in French, and their remarks were 
translated by an interpreter.

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