    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
    [July 13, 2006]
    [Pages 1385-1386]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Welcoming Ceremony in Stralsund, Germany
    July 13, 2006

        Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. Mr.
    President, Mrs. Bush, Minister President, Lord Mayor, ladies and
    gentlemen, citizens of Stralsund, let me say that I am delighted to be
    able to welcome you on behalf of the representatives of the land and
    also of the city. I'm delighted to welcome most warmly the President of
    the United States of America. Mr. President, a very, very warm welcome
    to you.
        Mr. President, I'm delighted to be able to welcome you here in this
    part of our country that I can truly call my political home, the
    Hanseatic City of Stralsund. Stralsund was part of the League of
    Hanseatic Cities; that is to say, it is imbued with a spirit of openness
    to the rest of the world. And in 1989, it was also one of the many
    cities where, on Monday, demonstrations took place, where people went
    out into the streets to demand freedom, to demonstrate for freedom. And
    we're happy to say in these days it is part of the land of Mecklenburg-
    Vorpommern and also part of the Federal Republic of Germany.
        And I think that this is a very good opportunity, indeed, to say a
    word of thanks. Thank you for the contribution, for the support that we
    have enjoyed throughout from the people of the United States of America,
    from the American Government, to help us along the way towards German
    unification. I think we owe you a big debt of gratitude for being able
    to finally live within one country in peace and freedom, one country,
    Germany.
        I think one can safely say that ever since we were able to achieve
    German unity, a lot has happened and, indeed, Stralsund is a case in
    point. If you look at the fact that when the GDR finally collapsed, you
    had about 600 monuments here of historic importance in the city itself
    that were slowly decaying, that were slowly in ruins, and part of them
    have been restored over time. But there are still quite a lot of
    problems that remain to be solved. One of them, obviously, is the fairly
    high unemployment in this particular part of the country. They urgently
    need economic progress, an economic upturn. And this is why I am also
    delighted to have you here, to show you here in my constituency what it
    means when people try to take their own fate, their own future into
    their own hands and try to turn it to something positive; they are
    willing to work for the future of the city, for the future of this
    region.
        And I think it also clearly illustrates what we can do together in
    order to confront the international dangers, the threats at the
    international level that are common to us all, and that we can do in
    order to, together, work for peace and freedom for our two countries.
        Yet again, a very, very warm welcome to you, Mr. President.
        President Bush. Thank you all. Thank you, Chancellor Merkel. Thank you all for coming. Laura
    and I feel welcome here in Stralsund. To the mayor and Minister President
    and the people of this beautiful town, we say, guten morgen.
        For decades, the German people were separated by an ugly wall. Here
    in the East, millions of you lived in darkness and tyranny. Today, your
    nation is whole again. The German people are at the center of Europe
    that is united and free and peaceful.
        You've given Germany a fine Chancellor in Angela Merkel, who I'm proud to call friend. The American people and
    the German people see the same qualities of character in your nation's
    leader. We see a bold vision and a humble heart. We see that she's
    willing to make hard decisions and eager to build strong partnerships.
    And like

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    many others in the international community, I respect her judgment and I
    value her opinion.
        It's such an honor to be in her constituency. When I met with her in
    the Oval Office, she said, ``When you come to
    Germany, you need to come to one of the best parts of Germany.'' She
    didn't predict the weather. [Laughter] But I want to thank the
    mayor for delivering such a beautiful day.
    And she forgot to tell me I was going to get some herring, and I thank
    you for that gift.
        I bring a message from the American people: We're honored to call
    the German people friends and allies. We share common values and common
    interests. We want to work together to keep the peace. We want to work
    together to promote freedom. There's so much that we can do, working
    together, and that's part of my visit today, is to pledge to you and the
    Chancellor, America and Germany stand side by
    side.
        Thank you for your warm welcome. May God bless you all. Thank you
    very much.

    Note: The President spoke at approximately 9:55 a.m. in Stralsund Market
    Square. In his remarks, he referred to Mayor Harald Lastovka of
    Stralsund, Germany; and Minister President Harald Ringstorff of the
    Federal State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Chancellor Merkel
    spoke in German, and her remarks were translated by an interpreter.