[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
[May 31, 2007]
[Pages 669-671]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Interview With Eberhard Piltz of Zweites 
Deutsches Fernsehen, Germany
May 31, 2007

U.S.-EU Cooperation on the Environment/Upcoming G-8 Summit

    Mr. Piltz. Mr. President, the German Presidency of the G-8 has put 
the focus for the next meeting on climate change and what to do about 
it. Europeans want fixed caps. You have been opposed to that all the 
time. Now you announced a new proposal. Have you changed your position?
    The President. First, let me, if I might--I think that my friend 
Angela Merkel, for whom I have great respect, 
wants to discuss a lot of matters, whether it be HIV/AIDS or malaria or 
hunger, depravation, as well as climate change. And I'm looking forward 
to it; I really am. I've been to this beautiful part of Germany before. 
It's a beautiful part of your country.
    No, I've always taken the issue seriously. I've told the American 
people and those who are willing to listen that I take climate change 
seriously. And today I talked about a post-Kyoto framework in which the 
world can discuss this issue in a serious fashion.
    Angela was concerned at one time whether 
or not I'd be willing to accept a post-Kyoto framework, and today I 
expressed my keen desire to work with her and other leaders on such a 
framework. And I also suggested that a good first step toward achieving 
serious accomplishments would be to have the major emitters gather and 
set a goal, an international goal by the end of 2008. And I'm very 
serious about that. I'm looking forward to working with G-8 partners and 
others.
    I think one of the breakthroughs that I hope we can achieve in 
Germany at this G-8 is to get India and China as participants in setting 
an international goal. And what that goal is, that will be determined as 
a result of these meetings. But Angela should 
be proud of leading the international community toward these kind of 
breakthroughs.
    Mr. Piltz. Though this is the beginning of a process, at the end of 
which there could be fixed goals?
    The President. There would be a goal, absolutely. And that would be 
determined by the major emitters, the major greenhouse gas emitters. 
Generally, sometimes people--some sit around the table and come up with 
what they think is the best solution. My view is, is that they need to 
get the United States, China, India, the EU, Russia, other countries as 
well around the table and say, okay, we agree on a goal. And each nation 
needs to come up with a way to achieve that goal.
    And listen, the truth of the matter is, the best way to achieve, in 
our case, a couple of national objectives--energy security and economic 
security, as well as being good stewards of the environment--is a strong 
push for technologies. And I'll bring a very good record to the G-8. 
We've spent a lot of money here in the United States on developing clean 
technologies. We're driving a lot of our automobiles now with corn-based 
ethanol. That gets us off of oil, which is good for economic and 
national security, and it helps with the environment.

Missile Defense System

    Mr. Piltz. Missile defense, sir--the harsh Russian reaction on U.S. 
plans on missile defense signals some sort of deterioration in 
relations. Are we headed back to colder times?

[[Page 670]]

    The President. Yes, that's a really good question. I certainly hope 
not. Our message to--and my personal message to Vladimir Putin is, there's no need to try to relive the cold 
war. It's over. And we don't view Russia as an enemy, we view Russia as 
an opportunity to work together. We don't agree with every decision 
Russia has made. She doesn't agree with every decision I have made. But 
I have worked hard to make sure that we can find common ground on issues 
like proliferation and dealing with Islamic radicals and Iran or North 
Korea.
    You know, Vladimir Putin has spoken 
out very strongly on missile defense. And so frankly, it--I visit with 
Angela quite often, and one of the things she 
talked to me about, is there not a way to open a dialog with President 
Putin on missile defense? So I sent Bob Gates, our Secretary of Defense, there, and my message to 
Vladimir Putin--and it will be when I see him at the G-8 in Germany as 
well as here in the States--is, you don't have anything to fear. As a 
matter of fact, this system is aimed at protecting NATO allies, and if 
you want to participate, we would like you to participate with us. We'll 
be totally transparent in the technologies that we're deploying. We want 
you to come and inspect our sites. We want you to talk to our military. 
We want to be wide open because this system is not geared toward Russia; 
it's geared toward a rogue state that may be able to acquire a nuclear 
weapon.

Russia-U.S. Relations

    Mr. Piltz. You mentioned Angela Merkel's role. Is there a role for 
Germany in this difficult dialog, as a bridgebuilder or something like 
that?
    The President. Well, it sounds like to me, Angela has had some pretty difficult dialogs herself as the 
leader of the EU. And I think the key thing is for Angela and me to work 
closely together to have a--when we can in dealing with Russia. But each 
nation has to deal with Russia in her own terms. I don't need any help 
dealing with Vladimir Putin, and he 
doesn't need any help dealing with me. We're sovereign nations; we have 
our positions.
    One of the things that I have worked hard to do is to--and received 
some criticism here in the States--is, I've worked hard to have a 
personal relationship with Vladimir Putin 
so that when I discuss things with him, I can find areas of agreement, 
but I've also got a relationship such that I can bring up areas of 
concern without rupturing relations. And it's--you know, some have 
suggested, well, there's no need to have relations with Russia. Well, I 
strongly disagree with that. I think it's important for the U.S. and 
Russia to have relations.

War on Terror

    Mr. Piltz. Sir, how satisfied are you with international burden-
sharing in the war on terror?
    The President. Good, it's good. As a matter of fact, the coalitions 
are much bigger than anybody could have envisioned. You know, one of my 
concerns, however, is that, just in general, people don't take the 
threat seriously. In other words, they say: ``Well, there haven't been 
many attacks; there's been a few attacks; but we shouldn't be that 
worried about it.'' I'm deeply worried about it, and I really strongly 
believe the free world ought to be worried about radicals and extremists 
who will kill in the name of an ideology.
    See, I view this as an ideological conflict between people who are 
willing to murder and want to spread their vision, and those of us who 
believe in liberty and the universality of liberty. And so my main worry 
is complacency over the long run. I am pleased with the cooperation at 
this point in time. We've got great relations with Germany. Obviously, 
if we know of a plot that may be taking place in Germany, we will share 
information on an instant basis, and vice versa. And that ought to be 
comforting to the German citizens.

[[Page 671]]

Germany-U.S. Relations

    Mr. Piltz. That was my next question, the state of the relationship 
between America and Germany. Are we back to, as your father put it, 
``partners in leadership''?
    The President. I think we are. First of all, I had a decent 
relationship with Gerhard Schroeder. I 
never bore any--look, there was a difference on Iraq, obviously; it was 
a clear difference on Iraq. But that didn't cause me to say, well, 
Germany isn't worthy as a worthy ally. Quite the contrary, I felt 
Germany always was a worthy ally and an important ally for the United 
States and an important player in Europe.
    Angela Merkel comes at a different time in 
our relationship. She's a woman who I--for whom I've got great 
admiration. I don't know if you know this or not, but she and I, we 
speak by secure video on a regular basis. And that's what strategic 
partners do, and our discussions are important discussions. She 
understands the issues very well. She's the kind of person that can get 
a fellow to talk freely and candidly, and she speaks the same way to me. 
And I admire her a lot. I would say our relations are vital, and they're 
strong right now. And that's the way I intend to keep it.
    Mr. Piltz. Thank you very much, sir.
    The President. Glad to have you. Looking forward to coming to your 
great country again.
    Mr. Piltz. I'll be there too.
    The President. Yes, sir. [Laughter]

Note: The interview was taped at 3:27 p.m. in the Map Room at the White 
House for later broadcast. In his remarks, the President referred to 
Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of 
Germany; and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. The transcript was 
released by the Office of the Press Secretary on June 1. A portion of 
this interview could not be verified because the tape was incomplete.