    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [February 27, 2008]
    [Pages 278-282]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Meeting With Prime Minister Mirek
    Topolanek of the Czech Republic and an
    Exchange With Reporters
    February 27, 2008

        President Bush. We'll have opening statements, and then we'll accept
    two questions a side. Mr. Prime Minister, welcome. We value our
    friendship and our partnership with the people of the Czech Republic. I
    remember well my visit to your beautiful country.
        We've had a significant discussion today. It turns out, the year 8
    is an important number in Czech history. And we're determined to make
    the year 2008 a strong chapter in our relationship. We view the Czech
    Republic as a strategic partner. We've discussed a variety of issues. I
    want to talk about two issues.
        First, visa waiver, I've always felt our visa laws needed to change.
    I didn't like the idea that we treated our friends in the Czech Republic
    differently than other friends in Europe. There's new law in place,
    which requires leadership from the countries, such as the Czech
    Republic. And, Mr. Prime Minister, you and your Government are providing
    that leadership.
        We signed an important memorandum of understanding. We were able to
    do so because your negotiators were very smart. They represented your
    people very well. We still have more work to do, but I'm confident we
    can get it done. And I hope the people of the Czech Republic understand
    that your Government and your country is ahead of the line of anybody
    else when it comes to a visa waiver program. And I congratulate you on
    your leadership.
        Missile defense, it's in our interest to put defenses in place to
    deal with the true threats of the 21st century. Russia is not a threat
    to peace. Regimes that adhere to extremist ideologies who--which may
    have the capability of launching weapons to those of us who love
    freedom, they're the threats to peace. And a missile defense system is
    aimed to deal with those threats.
        And of course, we want it in the context not only of a bilateral
    relationship but in the context of NATO. We're both strong partners of
    NATO. NATO has got to be in a position to deal with the true threats of
    the 21st century. And so we had a good discussion on this important
    issue.
        In our discussions, I strongly respect the sovereignty of the
    Government of the Czech Republic. Where they have concerns, of course,
    we'll listen. And so I want to thank you for that. And at the same time,
    of course, we discussed very important research and development
    opportunities, defense cooperation activities.
        And finally, I thank the Prime Minister for the courage and
    sacrifice of the troops that are in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Prime
    Minister said that there will be a reduction in troops in Iraq, and I
    fully understand that. After all, we're reducing our troops based upon
    success. And I thank your willingness to send troops into Afghanistan.
    It makes sense to help young democracies thrive. They will look back at
    these decisions, Mr. Prime Minister, and say, thank goodness for the
    peace that prevailed as a result of the hard decisions we made today.
        And I welcome you. You're welcome. Thank you for coming.
        Prime Minister Topolanek. Okay. Well, I think that President Bush
    already mentioned everything that I wanted to mention originally.
    However, let me revisit or come back to the issue of number 8 and its
    importance in our history. Number 8 played a very important, nay, a key
    role in the history of the Czech nation.
        In 1918, when the first Czechoslovak republic was founded, it was
    founded with help and assistance from the American President, Woodrow
    Wilson. Unfortunately, 1938, which was the time of the Munich

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    agreements, the Americans were not with us, and therefore, it was an
    unfortunate year. Similarly, as 1948, we commemorated 60 years since the
    coup d'etat of the Communists in 1948 just on the 25th of February. In
    1968, the Prague Spring has occurred, and unfortunately, after a few
    months of relative liberty and freedom, we were occupied by the Soviet
    armies.
        So what I want to say is, in terms of these number 8 years, it was
    always very important for the Czech Republic, nay, even decisive,
    whether we were with the Americans or whether we were on our own. And I
    really wish that the year 2008 will become a similarly important year
    both for the Czech Republic and also for the United States of America
    and our mutual relationship.
        And I believe that stationing the missile defense system in our
    country is, in terms of its importance, similarly important to those
    events I've been just mentioning in relation to the number eight in our
    history.
        And everybody is, of course, interested to find out whether an
    agreement has been already done. There are only three words remaining to
    be resolved and discussed. [Laughter] But sometimes one word matters a
    lot, and sometimes an agreement might fail just because of one word. But
    this is not the case. These are just minor details, and I'm sure that
    we're going to finalize it very soon.
        And in terms of the Visa Waiver Program, I would like to use this
    opportunity and thank President Bush for his efforts. And I very much
    appreciate when a politician or a person says something or promises
    something and he also delivers on this promise. And this is the case.
        So I would like to thank President Bush for his leadership, but I
    also would like this leadership to become his ownership. [Laughter] And
    of course, there are many politicians in the world, but there are very
    few politicians who are real statesmen. To have one's principles, to
    stick to those principles irrespective of--to go against all odds and
    adhere to those principles, this is what only very few people can do.
    We've not spoken about this extensively, but this is what I appreciate
    the most.
        What I believe is of--also of equally significant importance is the
    starting of the strategic dialogue between the two countries, between
    the U.S. and the Czech Republic. And I think the outcome of these
    negotiations is also very good. Both countries, we agreed on research
    and development in the area of missile defense and, generally, in the
    defense systems.
        Just one marginal note on the Visa Waiver Program and process, I
    think that the negotiations have been really tough, and the result
    achieved is a true breakthrough, a breakthrough moment. I think that
    this is a great achievement, because, first, we joined the Schengen
    zone, which enabled the Czech citizens to travel from Lisbon as far as
    Vilnius without the use of any passport or ID. And we did the same for
    our citizens, in terms of traveling to Canada and the United States of
    America. So we guaranteed one of the basic human rights, which is
    freedom of movement.
        We, at the same time, are fully aware of the risks and dangers of
    security nature, which exist all over the world. And therefore, we want
    to guarantee higher security to our nation. And also, the agreement
    takes into consideration the reciprocal principle: the principle of
    reciprocity.
        I also would like to mention that a great deal of our discussion
    revolved around issues of human rights----
        President Bush. Yes.
        Prime Minister Topolanek. ----in the world. We spoke about Cuba. We
    spoke about the recent events and our hope for the future. And we also
    talked about other countries, which so far have not been so fortunate to
    live in freedom like the Czech Republic.
        I'm personally very happy from this meeting. I would like to thank
    President Bush for his openness and for this wonderful meeting. Thank
    you very much.

    [[Page 280]]

        President Bush. Thank you. Good job. A couple of questions. Jennifer
    [Jennifer Loven, Associated Press]. One second, please.
        Q. Thank you, sir.
        President Bush. Jennifer.

    Missile Defense System

        Q. Can you elaborate a little on what's holding up an agreement on
    the missile defense? And how close are you to getting an agreement with
    the Polish Government as well?
        President Bush. Well, I appreciate that. Obviously, this is a
    complicated issue that requires the United States, one, to make the case
    of why a missile defense is needed in the first place; that it is aimed
    to bring stability to Europe; that it's important for mutual security;
    that it fits into the concept of NATO and will honor the sovereignty of
    the Czech Republic or Poland.
        And so the discussions revolve around a status-of-forces-type
    agreement, which requires understanding by the Czech Government of
    exactly what is meant when it talks about stationing a radar site. We
    will be coming to their country--under what conditions? How will people
    conduct themselves? And these are all very legitimate questions that the
    Prime Minister is asking. The same questions are being asked in Poland.
        And I explained to the Prime Minister the following thing: People
    are wondering, well, is this aimed at Russia? Is this an anti-Russian
    system? And the answer is, of course not. The system we're developing
    will be able to deal with one, two, or three types of incoming missiles.
    Russia could overwhelm a system like this. This is a system to deal with
    threats that will be evolving in the 21st century.
        And so the Prime Minister made it very clear, when it comes to the
    Russian issue, that his Government will be making the decisions about
    any so-called presence. Do we want the Russians to be able to, you know,
    allay their fears by understanding what's going on? And of course, we
    do. But he made it clear to me that the Czech Republic will be making
    decisions about who will be--who gets to come into their country. And I
    fully understand that.
        And so, you know, there's a lot of discussions going on. These
    aren't easy agreements to put in place, but we feel optimistic that we
    will get this done. As the Prime Minister said, we're down to a couple
    of words. What you probably want to know is the three words. I'm not
    going to tell you. [Laughter] I am not going to tell you; that's five
    words. I tell you, I'm not going to do the three. [Laughter]
        Q. How close are you, sir? How close are you to----
        President Bush. Close. Three words is close. We started off with a
    blank page, and now we're down to three words. But anyway, look, there
    is a will to get this done for the sake of mutual security and for the
    sake of peace.
        Prime Minister Topolanek. Just to be more specific regarding these
    three words or outstanding issue----
        President Bush. Wait a minute; you're making me look bad here.
    [Laughter]
        Prime Minister Topolanek. It actually relates to environmental
    protection and the standards that should be adopted. So we're actually
    looking for the standards, which would be the strictest possible
    standards, to be applied in terms of ensuring and guaranteeing
    environmental protection. But that's just a technical matter, which is
    going to be resolved very soon. It's not any problem.
        President Bush. Yes. Why don't you call on somebody from the--from
    your press corps, if you care to. You call on someone.

    Missile Defense System/Russia

        Q. Mr. President, would it be acceptable for the United States to
    have the radar in the Czech Republic without interceptors in Poland,
    should that----
        President Bush. I don't see how. You've got to have interceptors in
    order to make

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    this system work. The idea is to use a radar system to detect a launch
    headed toward NATO countries, and then shoot the thing down. And in
    order to make this system work, there has to be an integrated system.
        And of course, what we will work to do is, one, make this system
    effective, integrated, comprehensive. And the interesting opportunity is
    for Russia to realize the benefits of such a system by extending the
    radar coverage into their country, because they will be under the same
    threat of radicalism that we will be, we collectively.
        If some of these countries develop a weapon that's capable of
    developing a nuclear warhead, free nations, nations such as Russia, do
    not want to be in a position of political blackmail. And our job as
    leaders is to deal with the issues of the day, but also deal with the
    issues of tomorrow in a way that yields a peaceful world. And that's
    what we're doing.
        Stretch [Richard Keil, Bloomberg News].

    Kosovan Independence/Intelligence Reform Legislation

        Q. Mr. President, thank you. You--I have a national security
    question in two parts. You just talked about the importance of stability
    in Europe. How does it serve our national security to support the
    redrawing of borders in Europe vis-a-vis Kosovo?
        And secondly, can you say how has our national security actually
    been degraded by the lapse of FISA?
        President Bush. First, let me talk about Kosovo. We discussed
    Kosovo. As a consequence of the war that took place during the leaders--
    during the tenure of Mr. Milosevic, one of the effects has been the
    desire for the--those of us in the United Nations to promote what's
    called the Ahtisaari plan, which is a
    supervised, independent Kosovo.
        This is a difficult issue, and I understand it's a difficult issue.
    But the U.S. Government supports this supervised independence. We
    believe in free societies, and we believe it will eventually lead to
    peace. But there's no--no border has been withdrawn in that sense,
    Stretch. It's a--Kosovo is a--Kosovo itself's borders have been clearly
    defined. The type of government has changed. Now, as part of the
    Ahtisaari plan, we fully expect this
    independent Kosovo to honor minority rights within their borders. And so
    my--our position has been clear.
        Secondly, you asked about whether or not the United States of
    America should be able to listen to terrorists' phone calls coming into
    the United States. And the answer is, absolutely, we should be doing
    this. There is still an extremist threat. People still want to attack
    our country, and we better understand what they're thinking and what
    they're planning and who they're talking to.
        And yet unfortunately, a law passed to give our professionals the
    tools has expired. And it's expired because people want to take class-
    action lawsuits against private phone carriers and other companies that
    have--were believed to have helped us protect America. It's not fair to
    say to a company that was believed to have helped us, it's important for
    you to help us, and then you get sued for billions of dollars. And such
    a policy would make it very difficult to get companies to fully
    cooperate with us in the future.
        The law is expired, but my fellow citizens must understand, the
    threat to America has not expired. And our citizens who are paying
    attention to this debate must understand, without law, America will be
    more vulnerable to attack. Democrats and Republicans supported this law,
    and the House leaders must bring it to the floor, where it will pass
    with both Republican and Democrat vote. And if this law is allowed to
    expire, America will be more vulnerable. And that is inexcusable, and
    it's indefensible.

    Czech Opposition Leaders' Visit to Syria

    [At this point, a reporter asked a question in Czech, and no translation
    was provided.]

    [[Page 282]]

        Prime Minister Topolanek. Well, actually, I think the same as you
    think. Well, if he traveled with Mr. Zaoralek--together with Mr.
    Zaoralek, then I think it is unforgivable.
        Well, first of all, I would like to say that these activities of the
    opposition leaders and their foreign policy does not really serve the
    interests of our country. And I would like to remind you that when I was
    in the opposition--and we were in the opposition--we never created any
    kind of foreign policy on our own. And therefore, I understand the
    reasons for this study-visit to Syria. I would be much happier if they
    traveled as tourists and nothing else.
        I would like to actually mention that I got this present from the
    state Secretary of Commerce, Mr. Gutierrez. It is a bracelet, and there
    is a simple word on it, which is cambio, meaning ``change.'' And in
    Cuba, you can actually get arrested for wearing this bracelet. But when
    I come back home, I will wear this just for the sake of Mr. Paroubek and
    Mr. Zaoralek. [Laughter]
        President Bush. Thank you. Thank you all.
        Prime Minister Topolanek. Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:54 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to former President Martti Ahtisaari
    of Finland, United Nations Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for
    the Future Status Process for Kosovo. Prime Minister Topolanek referred
    to Parliament Member Lubomir Zaoralek and Leader of the Opposition Jiri
    Paroubek of the Czech Republic. Prime Minister Topolanek spoke in Czech,
    and his remarks were translated by an interpreter.