[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
[June 9, 2007]
[Pages 714-720]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Romano Prodi of Italy in Rome
June 9, 2007

    Prime Minister Prodi. Good afternoon, everyone. I am delighted to 
have received President Bush today, and I thank President Bush for 
having chosen to spend a couple of days in Rome for his European 
mission, a rather long European mission, I would say. And this is the 
first in his second term.
    Our talks today have been very, very interesting, indeed, very 
friendly talks. And I must say that we took the opportunity, in fact, to 
pursue some issues that we already began discussing in Heiligendamm. 
And, in fact, we had a bilateral meeting today and discussed some of the 
issues, as I said, that we already went over in Germany.
    We talked about climate change, energy, our fight against poverty, 
our Africa policies. These are all very, very important decisions and 
choices that we have to make and, of course, that are going to be 
important for the future, the next generation as well.
    We briefly went over some bilateral issues. Fortunately, we don't 
have any bilateral problems--I would say--no serious problems that have 
created any divisions between our two countries. And in particular, in 
fact, we do share the same views with regard to many issues, many 
matters. And we basically agree on how the future of the world should 
look, should be.
    Now, I thanked President Bush for some symbolic gestures that he has 
shown. Our countries are becoming closer and closer. And, in fact, 
Italian, the Italian language is one of the language that can be freely 
chosen in American schools. All high schools in America offer Italian as 
a language of study. And I think that this is a wonderful step, a 
wonderful way to bring two countries closer, especially when we consider 
that the flow of immigration between our two countries has stopped; it 
stopped a long time ago.
    Now, going on to other issues, of course, we agree that we need some 
new major players, new major world players, and we have to, in fact, 
work together with China, India, Brazil, Mexico. And we agree on that 
approach.
    We also talked about some meetings that we had with Mr. Lula and 
President Hu Jintao after the end of the G-8 summit. And we realize, as 
I've said, that we've

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got to work more and more together. And I think that the progress that 
has been made by the United States in reaching an agreement, a broad 
agreement on climate change has been a wonderful step forward, and I 
think that this is taking us in the right direction. In other words, we 
have to work together on these issues.
    We haven't yet finalized some of the quantitative details of this 
agreement, but obviously, the underlying message is to work together, to 
cooperate. And I would say that maybe just a few months ago that seemed 
to be unlikely.
    Now, we also had a good discussion on other issues of common 
concern. We talked about Kosovo, for example, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and 
we spoke about some responsibilities that we should take on together. So 
both our countries should work together in order to restore peace and 
stability in these different areas of the world.
    We need to do more. We need to keep working together, especially 
when it comes to Middle Eastern issues. We know, of course, that we have 
not yet been able to put an end to the crisis which has been ongoing now 
for a number of years. And in Lebanon, in fact, the peace mission has 
certainly led to some positive outcomes; yet, there are still tensions; 
there are still many difficulties. And that's an open-ended issue, 
therefore, that we have to continue being concerned about.
    Now, that's what we discussed today. I don't wish to add any further 
remarks. I would like to give the floor right over to President Bush. 
And I thank you so very much for having come today, and I thank you for 
making it possible to cooperate together and, of course, for enabling 
this cooperation with success in the future. Thank you.
    President Bush. Buongiorno. Mr. Prime Minister, thank you. 
Laura and I are glad to be back in your beautiful 
country. Rome is a spectacular city. And I'm sorry we're disrupting 
traffic, but, nevertheless, it is great to be back here. Thank you for 
the wonderful meal, and thank you for our friendship. I think it's 
important for the people of your country to know, relations between our 
countries are strong, and we intend to keep them that way. And I 
appreciate that; I appreciate the good conversation we had.
    I thank you for your commitment to the people of Afghanistan. Your 
country has been an integral part of the NATO mission. You provided a 
lot of important troops for NATO; you're involved with the PRTs in 
Afghanistan. I thank you, but no more so than the Afghan people thank 
the people of Italy. These people are desperate to live in a free 
society, and you ought to take great pride, Romano, and I know you do, 
in making a significant contribution to their freedom. I also appreciate 
your very--your strong advice in making sure that we all understand this 
is not just a military operation, that there has to be a political track 
and a reconstruction track in order for this democracy to survive. And 
so I'm looking forward to continuing to work on this important issue.
    I thank you, as well, for your leadership in Lebanon. It was a year 
ago when we were at the G-8. You remember the attacks came on Israel, 
and then, all of a sudden, the situation began to look like it needed 
some help. And there was a lot of doubt in the world's mind until Italy 
stepped up and said: We will provide troops, and we'll be the military 
leader in Lebanon. And then the world followed. And I want to thank you 
for your leadership on that important issue.
    And now we've just got to make sure the Siniora Government survives. One of the best ways to do so is to 
insist that we proceed forward with the Hariri trial, to make sure that 
there are consequences for behavior that may affect the stability of a 
democracy. I don't want to prejudge the outcome of the trial, but I do 
think it's an important measure for all of us to see the truth in that 
part of the world.

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And I know we can continue to work together. It's very important that 
foreign influences, like that of Syria, not be continually disrupting 
the Siniora Government.
    I want to thank you very much for our discussions on Kosovo. This is 
a part of the world you know a lot about, and Romano made some very 
significant contributions during the roundtable discussions at the G-8 
and was, again, very eloquent today about two things: One, that 
obviously, a deep concern about the Kosovars, their desire to be 
independent, coupled with making sure there is a avenue forward for 
Serbs through the EU and maybe NATO. And I appreciate your leading on 
this issue. It's important that the United States and Italy work 
together on common problems. After all, we share common values. And 
today's discussion just goes, at least, to show me how much we can do 
when we work in a collaborative way.
    As Romano said, the bilateral relations are pretty darn solid. And I 
appreciate that. There's a lot of Italian Americans who have got great 
pride for their homeland. They're watching this press conference--well, 
they may not be watching all of it, Romano, but they'll be watching some 
of it, and they're going to want to know, are we doing well? And the 
answer is, we are. And I'm grateful.
    Answer a couple of questions, or what do you think?
    Prime Minister Prodi. Yes.
    President Bush. Okay, yes.

Italy-U.S. Relations

    Q. Mr. President, you just said that you had lunch with Prodi today. 
Then later you'll have a coffee break with Mr. Berlusconi. What do you 
enjoy most, the lunch or the coffee break? [Laughter] Or would you have 
preferred to be on a diet today? [Laughter]
    And to Prime Minister Prodi, now, I'm perhaps not going to be so 
ironic in my question. Now the friendship is wonderful. You've made 
progress. But I know that there have been some differences between the 
U.S. and Italy over the months, even though the friendship is solid and 
progress has been made. So President Bush is asking you to perhaps 
change your rules of engagement in Afghanistan, and even with regard to 
Iran, there are some differences of opinion and, in general, in the 
Middle East. So have you managed to close that gap a bit? Or how do you 
think you might be doing that in the future?
    President Bush. Yes, I'm going to have coffee with the former Prime 
Minister, Prime Minister Berlusconi. I'm 
doing so for a couple of reasons: One, he is the opposition leader; two, 
he is a friend. And I mentioned this to Romano, and his attitude was, I 
don't blame you; it's the kind of thing he does when he goes to other 
countries. And I'm looking forward to seeing Silvio. It's a--one 
shouldn't read anything into it, other than we made some decisions 
together. We've known each other for a while, just like I've known 
Romano--actually, I've known Romano a long time too. He was President of 
the EU early on in my Presidency. And so I consider it an honor to have 
friends with two important leaders here in Italy.
    Prime Minister Prodi. We spoke very frankly about many of the issues 
that you've just raised in your question. And, yes, there certainly is 
an active cooperation between us. And this is with regard to problems 
we've had in Afghanistan and, of course, the very difficult situation in 
Iran. And we both share the same position, the same views when--with 
regard to the danger that we are running if we allow the proliferation 
of nuclear weapons, and we also agree on the course of action that 
should be followed.
    So I think that in the future we'll certainly be able to work 
together, and we'll be able to exert pressure, both of us, on the 
Iranian Government. We don't want them to exceed the limits, as it were, 
of a peaceful and monitored or controlled use

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of nuclear technology. So, this is our position, and, as I said, we 
share the same view.
    Now, of course, we also discussed other issues on our common agenda, 
and we were able to reiterate the fact that there is an interdependence 
here and a need to work together, not only because it is helpful or 
useful, but it is a strong need that we have to focus on to restore 
peace in the world.
    Now, we spoke about climate change, about global warming in our 
meetings over the past few days. And I think that this has somehow set 
out a course of action for the future: how we can perhaps harmonize our 
production systems; how we can make sure that our political decisions 
are, in fact, in conformity with these needs. And I think, again, that 
we'll definitely be able to make huge progress together.

Pope Benedict XVI

    Q. Thank you, sir. Can you talk about your conversation with Pope 
Benedict earlier? Did you have a fundamental disagreement over whether 
Iraq was a just war? And what of his concerns about Iraq did you take to 
heart?
    And, if I could, to the Prime Minister: What did you tell the 
President today about the trials going on here involving Americans?
    President Bush. Jennifer [Jennifer Loven, Associated Press], I'll be 
glad to share some of the private conversation with His Holy Father. 
First, I'll give you an impression. I was talking to a very smart, 
loving man. And I--you know, after 6\1/2\ years of being the President, 
I've seen some unusual--I've been to some unusual places, and I've met 
some interesting people. And I was in awe, and it was a moving 
experience for me.
    We didn't talk about ``just war.'' He did express deep concern about 
the Christians inside Iraq, that he was concerned that the society that 
was evolving would not tolerate the Christian religion. And I assured 
him we're working hard to make sure that they--people lived up to the 
Constitution, that modern Constitution voted on by the people that would 
honor people from different walks of life and different attitudes.
    We talked about a lot of other subjects. We talked about our 
attempts to help the people in Africa deal with HIV/AIDS and malaria and 
hunger. I reminded him that we made a significant commitment to that 
end, that about 3 years ago, 50,000 people were getting antiretroviral 
drugs. Now over 1,100,000 people are getting them, as a result of our 
initiative on HIV/AIDS, and that I'm going to double that commitment--or 
ask Congress to double the commitment from 15 billion to 30 billion.
    I talked to him about our malaria program, about how we intend to 
reduce malaria by 50 percent in certain countries, and that I'd continue 
to remind the world of our duty to work together to achieve a major 
goal, which is to try to eradicate malaria throughout Africa.
    And I talked to him about our attempts to feed the hungry, and I 
also reminded him that we've got poor people in our own neighborhood 
that need to be affected.
    He talked about immigration. He's watching the immigration debate 
very closely in America. And I told him I was a person who strongly 
supports comprehensive immigration reform that, on the one hand, we'll 
enforce our law; on the other hand, we need to treat people with 
dignity. And we had a good discussion.
    Q. ----the Pope has said----
    President Bush. What?
    Q. The Pope has said Iraq was worrisome.
    President Bush. Yes, he's worrisome about the Christians inside Iraq 
being mistreated by the Muslim majority. He's deeply concerned about 
that, and we spent a lot--spent a fair amount of time talking about it.
    Prime Minister Prodi. We did not discuss the issue that you raised 
in your question

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just a moment ago. And I've already clarified many times that Italy, of 
course, is a democratic country. We have very clear-cut rules that we 
follow, and we, therefore, enforce our rules. And I am confident that 
there is no conflict here, in terms of our friendship and our 
cooperation with the United States.

Italy-U.S. Relations/Kosovo/G-8 Summit in Heiligendamm, Germany

    Q. Thank you. You've just told us that you and President Bush have 
just returned from your G-8 summit. Now, the outcomes that have been 
stated on the many issues that you discussed--climate, development, and 
the missile shield--now, are those real--is that real progress, or not? 
And the deadline for the Kosovo independence----
    President Bush. What? Say that again.
    Q. Deadline for the Kosovo independence?
    President Bush. A decline?
    Q. Deadline, deadline.
    President Bush. Oh, a deadline--beg your pardon. My English isn't 
very good. [Laughter]
    Q. Sorry. And do you wish that President Prodi will pay a visit to 
you in Washington in the next months?
    President Bush. Yes, and yes.
    Q. What kind of deadline?
    President Bush. I'd love to welcome the Prime Minister. And it--
we're just going to have to work through our schedules, but he's invited 
any time. Listen, Italy is a great friend. There are millions of people 
in our country who love Italy because that's where their heritage is 
from. My Ambassador's grandfather was from 
Italy. I'm sure you know this, but the heritage, the Italian heritage, 
is a powerful part of our country and its culture. And the Prime 
Minister is welcome.
    In terms of the deadline, there needs to be one. This needs to come; 
this needs to happen. Now it's time, in our judgment, to move the 
Ahtisaari plan. There was a--there's been a 
series of delays. You might remember: There was a moment when something 
was happening, and they said, no, we need a little more time to try to 
work through a U.N. Security Council resolution. And our view is that 
time is up.
    And so we're working with our friends and allies, and I had a long 
discussion with Vladimir Putin on the 
subject. To share with you my thoughts, what I told him there at the 
table was, ``It's time, it's time to bring this issue to a head.'' And 
obviously, there's deep concern about what that would mean, whether he'd 
accept it, or not. I understand that. But the Kosovars are eagerly 
anticipating a decision by the world.
    And at the same time, Romano is right, we need to make sure that the 
Serbs see a way forward. And one good way forward is through, 
potentially, EU membership. I don't have that much to say in it, but I 
can talk to the Serbs about economic development and can talk about a 
better relationship with the United States. And therefore, we will.
    Prime Minister Prodi. Going back to the summit, I can say that it 
has been an actual success, real progress, in other words. I mean, just 
think; people were expecting a rift, problems, arguments, and, instead, 
we did reach some important conclusions. Now, even the issue of global 
warming, for example, we realize that there is a predominant, a 
prevalent principle, and that is that global issues have to be dealt 
with globally. In fact, we all talk about the Kyoto Protocol, for 
example, and we said that this was the first step towards international 
cooperation in this field, in this sector.
    Now, again, we still have some technicalities to work out; some 
little pieces there are missing, as it were. But definitely there is a 
clear-cut will to move forward. We have a resolve there; India, China, 
Brazil, Mexico, everyone has shown the same resolve. There were other 
countries in addition to these; even though they're not G-8 members, 
they're all there to work on global solutions because this is the only 
way

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we can possibly reach some kind of equilibrium in the future.
    Now, with regard to the other issues--Kosovo, for example, and our 
relations with Russia--well, I would say that during our meeting, there 
was a certain ambiance. We talked about interdependence. I think that's 
a good way of putting it. We didn't feel any tensions, but rather we 
were all seeking this--a way to strengthen our interdependence. And I 
think that this is something that should be guiding us in our relations 
with Russia, and this is how we can build up a peaceful system for the 
future.
    Those are the goals of the G-8. In fact, G-8 summits don't always 
have technical agendas that are predefined, predetermined. That's not 
how it works. We need to meet and to freely discuss some of these long-
term issues. So we were able to do that very freely, very openly. And I 
must say that we all agreed on our future course of action, and I think 
that we couldn't have hoped for any better than that.
    Now, with regard to Kosovo, again, now we know how to move forward, 
after our discussions there. And I think that that, basically, I mean, 
we couldn't have hoped for any better outcome than that there.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    Q. Thank you, sir. Mr. President: General Pace, an Italian 
American--Pace, as you know, is leaving--a distinguished marine, with a 
lengthy career, somebody that all indications are, you and Secretary 
Gates enjoyed working with a great deal--is on his way out. And I wonder 
what this says about the political climate in Washington, that it was 
decided that maybe it would be better to have a new Chairman of the 
Joint Chiefs, rather than have a bruising battle on Capitol Hill.
    President Bush. Yes. Pete Pace is a fine man 
and a great general. And I think the fact that Secretary Gates made the recommendation not to move forward with a 
renomination speaks to the U.S. Congress and the climate in the U.S. 
Congress.
    Pete Pace always gave me candid advice. Pete 
Pace is an excellent strategic thinker. And the interesting thing about 
Pete Pace, even though he had four stars on his shoulder, always talked 
about the private. He speculated out loud about Private Pace: What would 
Private Pace think of this decision? What would Private Pace's families 
think about a decision that he was recommending to me?
    And so the decision has been made, and I'm going to miss him. And 
the country owes him a great debt of gratitude 
for years of service, first at Vice Chairman and then as Chairman of the 
Joint Chiefs of Staff.
    Thank you all.
    Prime Minister Prodi. Thank you.
    President Bush. Thank you. Thank you for that ovation. They must 
have been yelling, ``Brilliant answer.''

Note: The President's news conference began at 3:48 p.m. at Chigi 
Palace. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Fuad Siniora of 
Lebanon; former President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, United Nations 
Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Future Status Process of 
Kosovo; President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia; and Secretary of Defense 
Robert M. Gates. Prime Minister Prodi referred to President Luiz Inacio 
Lula da Silva of Brazil; and President Hu Jintao of China. Prime 
Minister Prodi and some reporters spoke in Italian, and their remarks 
were translated by an interpreter.

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