[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
[June 27, 2005]
[Pages 1069-1072]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Following Discussions With Chancellor Gerhard 
Schroeder of Germany and an Exchange With 
Reporters
June 27, 2005

    President Bush. Opening statements and we'll answer two questions a 
side.
    It's my honor to welcome the Chancellor of an ally and a friend back 
to the Oval Office. We have had and will continue to have a frank and 
open discussion about very important issues. Germany is a very important 
country in Europe, and Germany is a friend of the United States. We 
talked about the EU. We talked about the United Nations. We talked about 
Iraq. We've talked about how to spread freedom and peace. We talked 
about Iran. I told the Chancellor how much I appreciated the German 
Government working with France and Great Britain to send a very strong, 
unified message to the Iranians.
    Our agenda is wide-ranging because we--both countries assume 
responsibility to help the poor and feed the hungry and help spread 
freedom and peace. And I want to thank the Chancellor for his 
willingness to come over, and I want to thank him for such a good 
discussion.
    Chancellor Schroeder. It is, indeed, true that we have covered all 
those topics that the President has just mentioned and had intense 
conversations on all of those. I've gone in to say that it is now 
important in Europe that we go in and adopt our budget for the period 
from '06 to 2013. And I've obviously also emphasized how important it is 
for us to continue with the constitutional process in Europe.

[[Page 1070]]

    I was also very pleased to hear--and that was why I said that to the 
President as well--that it was so helpful that he said he very much 
would hope to see a strong, united Europe.
    Well, as you can see, we have covered a range of international 
topics here together. I have very much pointed out to the President what 
Germany does do around the world, what Germany does do in Afghanistan, 
for example, what Germany does contribute towards the stabilization of 
the situation in Iraq. I have mentioned our training schemes in the 
Emirates, et cetera, et cetera. I've talked about the work, the 
stabilizing work that Germany is doing in the Balkans, for example. And 
I have mentioned that since we're doing all these things 
internationally, we would very much hope that at some point in time, we 
could also have a right to representation on the Security Council if 
there were the space. So I said very much we're doing lots of things, so 
hopefully, we'll be involved with deciding things as well.
    President Bush. We'll answer some questions here. First, starting 
with the American side. Excuse me for a minute. Nedra [Nedra Pickler, 
Associated Press], there you are, hiding in there. Nedra, excuse me, I 
mispronounced pronounced her name.

U.N. Security Council Seat for Germany/U.N. Reform

    Q. Hi. Thank you, Mr. President. Do you oppose Germany's bid for a 
Security Council seat?
    President Bush. We oppose no country's bid for the Security Council. 
We agree that there needs to be U.N. Security Council reform. The U.N. 
also needs broader reform than just the Security Council. There needs to 
be management reform; there needs to be reform of the Human Rights 
Commission; there needs to be broad reform. And part of that reform is 
the U.N. Security Council, and I want to thank Gerhard's frank 
discussion about Security Council reform. But we oppose no country.
    Do you want to call on somebody?
    Chancellor Schroeder. We are very much in agreement that this reform 
is duly and urgently needed, and it's always been clear that it is first 
the reform and then the candidacies to potential seats. And, obviously, 
then the process will have to continue.
    And if you ask me about whether I see differences, then I'd possibly 
say there are differences in the timing. We were pushing to have things 
happening very quickly. But I was very pleased, indeed, to hear that 
there was no opposition vis-a-vis Germany, as such, from the President.

German Elections

    Q. Mr. President, Chancellor Schroeder is seeking for early 
elections in Germany. And what is your position? Have you wished him 
luck for this election? [Laughter]
    President Bush. He's lucky he's got short elections. [Laughter] I 
still remember my election--month after month after month of 
campaigning.
    We haven't talked about the elections yet. The Chancellor is--you 
know, he's a seasoned political campaigner, and if there's elections, 
I'm confident he knows what he's going to do out there. But we have not 
talked about the elections yet. As we say in Texas, this won't be his 
first rodeo. [Laughter]
    Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters].
    Chancellor Schroeder. We just have to add at this point, it is 
important that our national German President hasn't even yet decided 
whether we are going to have these elections. So by that very rule, we 
shouldn't be discussing them here as a topic.
    But when it comes to elections, I think there's this wonderful 
saying from back home in Lower Saxony where I come from, which says, 
``Ducks are fat at the bottom end.'' [Laughter]
    President Bush. Steve.

[[Page 1071]]

Iran

    Q. Iran has a new leader. Do you think this will alter the climate 
of the nuclear talks? And what's your message to the new leader?
    Interpreter. I'm sorry; I couldn't hear you.
    President Bush. Iran has a new 
leader--my message is--to the Chancellor is that we continue working 
with Great Britain, France, and Germany to send a focused, concerted, 
unified message that says, the development of a nuclear weapon is 
unacceptable, and a process which would enable Iran to develop a nuclear 
weapon is unacceptable. And I want to again appreciate the EU-3's strong 
unification and message. The message hasn't changed.
    Q. Was the election free and fair?
    President Bush. It's never free and fair when a group of people, 
unelected people, get to decide who's on the ballot.
    Chancellor Schroeder. Well, firstly, I couldn't agree more with this 
message. We are going to continue being tough and firm on all of that. 
The message must stay very crystal clear, and it is.
    And secondly, the new President has emphasized that he wants the 
talks to continue, so here we are.
    President Bush. Final question.

Germany's Role in Iraq

    Q. Mr. President--[inaudible]--sometimes you praise what Germany is 
doing in Afghanistan to help that country. How would you qualify what it 
is doing in Iraq to help the reconstruction? Maybe you even could be so 
free to label it as a part of a reconstruction coalition of the willing?
    President Bush. I think that Germany's contribution in Iraq----
    Chancellor Schroeder. I understand. It's okay.
    President Bush. Oh, sorry, do you want----
    Chancellor Schroeder. No, it's okay.
    President Bush. You understand? Okay. Very good English, by the way. 
[Laughter]
    Germany's contribution in Iraq is important. The key to success in 
Iraq is a--is for the Iraqis to be able and capable of defending their 
democracy against terrorists. And the training mission that the 
Chancellor referred to is an important part of helping the Iraqis defend 
themselves.
    Parallel with the security track is a political track. Obviously, 
the political track has made progress this year when 8 million people 
went to the polls and voted. And now they must write a constitution and 
have the constitution approved, then have elections later on this year 
for a Government elected under the new constitution.
    And part of the political process is not only the elections and the 
constitution, but part of the political process is the reconstruction 
programs, of which Germany is an important part. And I want to thank the 
Chancellor and his Government.
    A free and democratic Iraq in the heart of the Middle East will help 
the United States and help Germany, because we have been--we will have 
laid a foundation of peace for generations to come. And I appreciate 
the--appreciate your focus.
    Chancellor Schroeder. There can be no question a stable and 
democratic Iraq is in the vested interest of not just Germany but also 
Europe. And that is why we have committed ourselves to that topic right 
from the start, actually very much from the beginning. We were the ones 
that jumped at the idea of having a debt relief initiative right at the 
start, and we are also the ones who have gone in with practical hands-on 
help. We've gone in and started training of homegrown Iraqi security 
forces and admin people right away. By now, we've trained a good 1,200 
people, about 50 percent of them security staff, and the other 50 
percent admin advisers that help with the reconstruction of institutions 
from within. And this training happens in the Emirates.
    President Bush. Well, thank you all for coming.

[[Page 1072]]

Note: The President spoke at 11:45 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to President-elect Mahmud Ahmadi-
nejad of Iran. Chancellor Schroeder spoke in German, and his remarks 
were translated by an interpreter.