[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
[February 24, 2005]
[Pages 307-309]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks Following Discussions With Prime Minister Mikulas
Dzurinda of Slovakia and an Exchange With
Reporters in Bratislava, Slovakia
February 24, 2005
Prime Minister Dzurinda. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm very happy that
the President of the United States is, for the first time, in Slovakia.
This day is historical for my country. I have had very good debate with
President Bush, telling him the basic orientation of our foreign policy.
I appreciate the role of the United States, doing a lot of things in the
world.
I told to President Bush that Slovakia supports the policy of the
United States based on advancing freedom and democracy, based on
preventing nuclear proliferation. This is why Slovakia supports the
position of principle of the United States in many areas, regarding
Iran, North Korea. This is why we support the effort of the United
States to advance peace and stability in the Middle East and the
democratization process all over the world.
I told to President Bush that there are many reasons why not only
America but also the democratic world, including Slovakia, my home--we
all need to have a strong President in the United States. And I'm very,
very happy that the U.S. President is really very strong and courageous
leader.
Thank you very much.
President Bush. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. I'm thrilled to be
here. I have really been looking forward to this trip to Slovakia.
We've just had a great discussion. First, I complimented the Prime
Minister on putting policies in place that have helped this economy
grow. The most important responsibility we have at home is to make sure
our people can find work. And the President [Prime Minister] * put a
flat tax in place; he simplified his tax code, which has helped to
attract capital and create economic vitality and growth.
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* White House correction.
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I really congratulate you and your Government for making wise
decisions. Slovakia is a great example of what can happen when people
are set free. And this is an exciting place to be.
Secondly, I appreciate so very much the Prime Minister's vision on
foreign policy. I want to thank you for having your troops by our troops
in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Prime Minister understands that those of us
who are free have a responsibility to
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help free others in order to make ourselves more secure. I'm so honored
to have your commitment.
I told him that the supplemental that's working its way through
Congress--in the supplemental there will be money for reimbursement to
help our friends with troops on the ground.
I also talked about visa policy. The Prime Minister was very strong
about reminding me that he wants there to be a different visa policy, a
better visa policy for the citizens of Slovakia. He made the case very
clearly on behalf of the citizens of Slovakia. I listened very closely
to what he had to say. I told him that we will work with the Slovakian
Government to reform the visa policy--reform in a way that conforms with
the desires of our Congress, but nevertheless, the Slovakian people
should see a different visa policy coming out of the United States
because we've now got a roadmap that we both must work on. It won't
happen instantly--the policy won't happen instantly, but the Prime
Minister urged me to move down the roadmap. And I want to thank you for
taking that leadership position as well.
Again, I want to thank the citizens of this great country for your
hospitality. I want to thank my friend the Prime Minister for inviting
me here in the first place and for extending such a warm greeting to me
and Laura and our delegation.
Thank you, sir. Appreciate you.
Prime Minister Dzurinda. Questions were not planned, but I asked Mr.
President that the first visit needs to give an opportunity----
President Bush. Of course they were planned, Mr. Prime Minister.
[Laughter]
Prime Minister Dzurinda. One or two questions, please.
Iran
Q. Mr. President, you've talked a lot about Iran in many of your
meetings on this trip, and we understand that you did a lot of listening
about incentives for Iran, using them as negotiating tools, if you will.
And first I'd ask you, why will you not join the EU-3 in direct talks
with Iran? And then, what would you approve of as possible incentives?
Did you hear anything that you liked?
President Bush. I appreciate that. First of all, we talked about
Iran here, with our great friend. The reason why we talked about it,
because it's a world problem. And one of the things I wanted to make
sure I heard clearly from our friends in Europe was whether or not they
viewed the Iran problem the same way I did. And they do. Chancellor
Schroeder and Prime Minister Blair and President Chirac all said
loud and clear that the Iranians should not have a nuclear weapon.
And secondly, I was listening very carefully to the different ideas
on negotiating strategies. We have a common objective, which is to
convince the ayatollahs not to have a nuclear weapon. And I'm going to
go back and think about the suggestions I've heard and the ways forward.
But the key thing is, is that we're united in our--in the goal.
The most effective way to achieve that goal is to have our partners,
Great Britain and France and Germany, represent not only the EU, not
only NATO but the United States. And hopefully we'll be able to reach a
diplomatic solution to this effort. We're more likely to do so when
we're all on the same page, and I know we're on the same page on this
issue when it comes to a common goal.
Prime Minister Dzurinda. The last one, please.
President Bush. Anybody from Slovakia who would like to ask a
question to the Prime Minister?
Visa Policy
Q. Mr. President, dropping of visa regime is probably the most
important thing for Slovak citizens that would like to come to America
and get to know your country. And I'm sure that all of them are very
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interested if you could tell us at least an approximate date, when do
you believe that these visas could be dropped? Thank you.
President Bush. Well, I appreciate you asking that. I can't give you
a date. I wish--you know, if I could, I would. What I can tell you is
that, one, the issue had been effectively put on the table by the Prime
Minister and the Government; secondly, that we do have a way forward, a
way to--look, the visa policy was basically set based upon decisions
made prior to 1989. And so our policy still reflects overstays as a
result of people who left when the people of this part of the world were
not free. And we need to adjust that. We need to address those overstays
in the light of people escaping a totalitarian regime. And we're in the
process of doing that not just for Slovakia but for other countries in
Eastern Europe. And we want to do this as quickly as possible.
Secondly, something else has changed, and that is the Slovak
Republic has joined the European Union. And there is a new history now
that that has been done, and that history needs to be included in the
process. And so we're working our way through a new set of analyses that
we can take to our Congress and say here's how people are--people from
the Slovak Republic have behaved since free. And that's very important;
that's very important.
It's--I can't predict how fast bureaucracies move. They tend not to
move quickly. But the promise is, is that not only the President but the
Secretary of State will do all we can to
move this forward as quickly as possible, to be able to answer the
question you asked, which is a legitimate question. I'm going to speak
to this issue, by the way, in the square in a couple of minutes here,
because I want people to hear that I am concerned about making sure our
visa policy works.
Prime Minister Dzurinda. I'm very happy because Mr. President has
confirmed that this problem is a part of his personal agenda, so I'm
very, very happy because of it.
President Bush. It is.
Prime Minister Dzurinda. We will continue on this tour. Thank you
very much.
President Bush. Thank you.
Note: The President spoke at 11:15 a.m. in the Office of the Prime
Minister. In his remarks, he referred to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of
Germany; Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom; and President
Jacques Chirac of France.