[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
[March 9, 2005]
[Pages 386-389]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks Following Discussions With President Traian Basescu of Romania and an Exchange With Reporters
March 9, 2005
President Bush. We'll have brief opening statements. The President
and I will take two questions per side.
Mr. President, welcome.
President Basescu. Thank you very much.
President Bush. I am impressed by your leadership. I am grateful for
your friendship. Romania has been a steadfast ally of freedom. And Mr.
President, I can't thank you enough for coming to discuss a wide range
of subjects.
We discussed the neighborhood, and he gave me very good advice about
Moldova. We discussed the Black Sea. And the President has got a clear
vision as to how to make sure the world is more peaceful. We discussed
the fact that freedom is spreading throughout the Middle East. We
discussed our bilateral relations.
I told the President I'm most impressed by his campaign to rid the
Government of corruption in Romania, a steadfast,
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strong commitment. He believes in transparency and rule of law, and that
is very important for American companies looking for a place to invest
to hear from the leader of the country. But the thing about this
President, he's more than words; he's action.
And so, Mr. President, I welcome you to the Oval Office. I thank you
for your friendship, and I'm proud to call you friend.
President Basescu. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I'm happy
being here in my first visit over the ocean from when I was elected as
President of Romania. I'm happy to discuss with our ally, the President
Bush, with the United States--I am happy to pass our message regarding
democracy, regarding freedom, regarding development of our strategic
partnership, regarding the problems which the Black Sea have in this
moment, and regarding the solutions which we can find together in order
to make a peaceful and secure area on the Black Sea.
At same time, I was happy to discuss with Mr. President the future
evolutions of our access on the United States. Romania considers that we
can be included on the program of allowing Romanians to circulate
without a visa on the United States. And I thank you very much, to
President Bush, for the open approach regarding this subject.
Thank you very much, Mr. President.
President Bush. Welcome. A couple of questions. Terry [Terence Hunt,
Associated Press].
Iran
Q. Mr. President, how credible do you think U.S. intelligence is
about Iran's nuclear program? Do you think it's solid enough to make
judgments about whether Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons?
President Bush. I think it's very important for the United States to
continue to work with our friends and allies which believe that the
Iranians want a nuclear weapon and which know that Iran possessing a
nuclear weapon would be very destabilizing.
In my trip to Europe, I discovered common ground with a lot of
European nations, which believe and are worried about Iranian intention.
And one reason there needs to be worry about Iran is that this is a
nontransparent society; there's no openness. And so I think it's very
wise for the free world to be concerned about Iranian weapons, and it's
very easy--the Iranians' desire to develop a weapon, and it's very easy
for them to solve the problem, and that is to not only give assurances
about any nuclear weapons program but to allow full IAEA inspection
processes in a transparent way.
Anybody from the Romanian press? Mr. President, you call on
somebody.
Q. Yes, sir.
President Basescu. Romanian Television, please.
Romania-U.S. Relations
Q. Yes, please, one question. As Romania becomes part and a
springboard for democracy and freedom in the area of the Black Sea, how
will this project affect the well-being of the Romanian people?
President Bush. Well, I think one thing--I'll never forget my trip
to Bucharest--it was the rainbow speech. [Laughter] It was a mystical
experience for me. It was one of the most amazing moments of my
Presidency, to be speaking in the square, the very square where
Ceausescu gave his last speech. And the rainbow that I saw in the midst
of the rainstorm ended right behind the balcony, from my point of view.
It's a clear signal that, as far as I was concerned, that freedom is
powerful and----
President Basescu. It meant the signal of destiny, Mr. President.
President Bush. Well, we'll see. But my point to you is, is that I
was there to assure the Romanian people that we were an ally and that
the Romanian people need not worry about their security, that the United
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States, through NATO and through bilateral relations, was committed to
the security of our friend.
So the people of Romania need to know that the days are past when--
you know, when outside forces could threaten them without help. And
that's important for a society to be--to recognize there are strong
enough allies to allow the society to develop, to have gone from a day
of dictatorial regime to one of a free society. And that's not an easy
transition, but it certainly makes the transition easier, knowing full
well that there is security available through bilateral relations as
well as through NATO.
Adam [Adam Entous, Reuters].
Q. [Inaudible]
President Bush. Adam.
Syrian Withdrawal From Lebanon
Q. Yes, Mr. President, thank you. You have made daily calls on Syria
to fully withdraw from Lebanon and warn that they are being isolated.
But what are the consequences if they don't pull out? Do they face
international sanctions?
President Bush. Well, we are working with our friends and allies on
this very important issue. I'd like to reiterate my call, and that is,
in order for those elections to be free in Lebanon, there must be--the
Syrians must remove their troops as well as their intelligence services.
One of the things a lot of people don't understand is that Syrian
influence is heavy-handed through the involvement of intelligence
services throughout the Government. And they must remove both in order
for the election to be free.
And we're working with friends and allies about steps forward, what
to do. Right now, the President Asad has
said he's removing to the Bekaa Valley. That is a half measure. It is a
measure, but it's a half measure. And 1559 is very clear. We worked with
France and the Security Council to pass 1559, which said, ``complete
removal, not half measures but total removal.'' And so we'll continue to
work with our allies to make our demands known to the world.
The world is speaking now. That's what the President Asad must understand. It's not just the Western World
that speaks. I was most impressed by Crown Prince Abdullah's statement that said to the Syrian President:
You must adhere to 1559.
Romania-U.S. Relations
Q. President Bush, the Romanian President keeps on saying that he
favors a special partnership between Washington, London, and Bucharest.
Would you confirm that role of special ally in Southeastern Europe of
Romania?
President Bush. Well, I view the--I view Romania as a special ally
because Romania shares the same values that we share, human rights,
human dignity, rule of law, transparency in government, anticorruption.
And this President, I think, is a special leader because he has made a
commitment to those values. We want to work with our friends in the
region to bring stability and peace. And I value his advice and
judgment. I mean, he's--no better person to listen to on an issue such
as Moldova than the neighbor of Moldova.
And so he came to the Oval Office. I asked him, ``What I can do to
help? What can we do to move democracy forward,'' because the President
understands that a democratic neighbor is one that will be a peaceful
neighbor.
Listen, we all long for peace, and we understand the world will be
more peaceful as freedom spreads. Free societies don't attack their
neighbors. Free societies work for ways to live in peace. And so this is
a special relationship because of the shared values, and I am honored to
call the President my friend, and I'm honored to call Romania a strong
ally.
And I want to thank you all for coming.
Note: The President spoke at 11:27 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
House. In his remarks, he referred to President Bashar al-
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Asad of Syria; and Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.