    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [June 18, 2008]
    [Pages 843-845]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Meeting With Prime Minister Sergei
    Stanishev of Bulgaria
    June 18, 2008

        President Bush. Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to the Oval Office. It
    was about a year ago that I had the great pleasure of visiting your
    beautiful country, and I want to thank you for the warm hospitality you
    showed. And thank you for giving me a chance to welcome you here to the
    Oval Office. We had a very extensive conversation.
        Prime Minister Stanishev. Indeed.
        President Bush. And that's what you'd expect among friends.
        First, I want to congratulate you and thank you and the Government
    for the role you have played in the Western Balkans. You've been a
    constructive force for stability, a constructive force for hope. You've
    projected a hopeful future and--for the people in Kosovo and Serbia. And
    I want to thank you for that. It's really important that there be
    leadership in the neighborhood, and you've provided it.
        Secondly, I want to thank you very much for your nation's strong
    contributions to helping others realize the blessings of liberty,
    whether it be in Afghanistan or Iraq. I fully understand how difficult
    these issues can be. On the other hand, you understand how hopeful the
    world can be when people live in free societies. So I want to thank you
    and I want to thank the people of your country for the sacrifices that
    you have made.
        Thirdly, we talked about our--a mutual concern, and that's energy.
    How do we get more energy on the market? How do we help others--our
    respective countries and others realize the blessings of additional
    energy supply? I mean, we're in a world that is--where supply has
    exceeded--where demand has exceeded supply. There's high prices. Both
    our countries--the people in our countries are wondering, what do we
    intend to do about it?
        And so we had a good discussion about the diversification of energy
    supply. I really appreciate the Prime Minister's discussion about
    nuclear power. Prime Minister, we're trying to expand nuclear power here
    in the United States of America because it's clean, it's renewable, and
    it'll help us become less dependent on hydrocarbons.
        We talked about two other issues that are of importance to the Prime
    Minister and the people of his country. First, we talked about visas. I
    fully understand the concerns of your people when it comes to visas.
    People say, on the one--we're helping, we're part of a very important
    coalition, we're allies, and yet we don't get treated the same as other
    people within the EU.
        Prime Minister Stanishev. It was a good breakthrough.
        President Bush. And today, because of the Prime Minister's hard
    work, there has been a breakthrough on the visa waiver, as an important
    step toward achieving the same status as other countries in the EU. And
    I want to congratulate you on that. Thank you for your hard work, and
    thank you for your care about the people of your country.

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        Now, finally, I applauded the Prime Minister for his and his
    Government's work on dealing with corruption. I reminded the Prime
    Minister that all of us have got a responsibility to deal with
    corruption. When we find corrupt officials in the United States, we
    expect them to be--within the rule of law--be dealt with. And that's
    what you're doing. And the people who ultimately benefit from that
    decision are the people of your country. I mean, they--I know they
    appreciate your tough stand. Nobody wants to have a government where it
    looks like a few benefit at the cost of many.
        And so your tough stance have made a big difference. I'm proud that
    you're here. I want to thank you for it. You're a good, young, strong
    leader, and that's said from an old guy.
        Prime Minister Stanishev. Thank you, Mr. President.
        President Bush. Welcome.
        Prime Minister Stanishev. Thank you.
        President Bush. Yes.
        Prime Minister Stanishev. Well, thank you, Mr. President, for the
    good words about Bulgaria, indeed. And my assessment is that our
    relations have reached the level of strategic partnership. And I see no
    contradiction in this with our good behavior and our contributions to
    the European Union.
        President Bush. That's right.
        Prime Minister Stanishev. I think Bulgaria proved in the last
    several years that we can be good contributors of stability for NATO, we
    can be active in the European Union, and we can develop our excellent
    relations with the United States--because it is amazing that in 18
    years, our countries have reached this level of trust, confidence. And
    from this point of view, I appreciate your very strong leadership role
    in the support of the reform process in Bulgaria.
        President Bush. Yes, sir.
        Prime Minister Stanishev. It is never easy. It requires a lot of
    efforts, persistence. Results do not always come overnight, but they
    develop. And everyone who comes to Bulgaria after several years of
    absence is saying the country has made great progress. And the United
    States have always been very helpful in this process.
        I must say that we see our role in the region as a country which is
    bridging and guaranteeing stability both for the Western Balkans and for
    the broader Black Sea area, which are very important, because without
    stability in the Balkans, without European perspective and NATO
    perspective for these countries, we cannot speak about real prosperity
    and democracy in the region. The region has many wounds from the war in
    former Yugoslavia, and they have to be healed. And the international
    presence is very important and European perspective as well.
        And we also see the importance of the Black Sea area, both
    politically, from the point of view of security issues and from the
    point of view of energy issues. And I appreciate the dialogue which we
    had on diversification of energy supply, on nuclear energy. Bulgaria
    will be developing our nuclear facilities, not only the new ones, but
    there are many other projects where American companies can participate
    in nuclear issues, but also in thermal power plants, many other energy
    projects, because we want to be, indeed, a hub of energy stability in
    the region. We want to be enough independent. We want to be exporter of
    energy.
        We are good partners in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Kosovo. And
    Bulgaria really is not simply a beneficiary of our membership in NATO or
    the European Union, but we are a contributor because we know our
    responsibilities. And we shall not give up from these responsibilities
    because there are many challenges around the world. We have to overcome
    them together with our friends and partners.
        I thank you very much for this support and for the American experts
    who worked on this declaration on visa waiver. You, Mr.

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    President, were the first to say that this is not a normal situation,
    when two nations have such confidence, when we have 200,000 Bulgarians
    living in the United States, more and more Americans coming to Bulgaria,
    to have this obstacle for normal human contacts. There is a way to go;
    there is work to do. But we shall do it together, and I believe that the
    sooner we achieve--make our business, the better for the citizens of the
    two countries.
        And finally, thank you also for the supporting the reforms in the
    fight against organized crime and corruption. Bulgaria is a nation which
    became member of the European Union, which is modernizing. Our economic
    growth is excellent. Our performances in economy are good. And we see
    the reforms in fight against organized crime and corruption, the
    judiciary reform, as a very important further precondition for our
    economic growth and for the development of the nation.
        And I remember that last year, you supported the establishment of
    the new State Agency for National Security. I can say with satisfaction
    that it is already operational. It works excellently with American
    services, and it has operations which are bringing concrete fruits. But
    there is work to do.
        President Bush. Thank you for coming.
        Prime Minister Stanishev. Thank you, Mr. President.
        President Bush. Yes. Thank you. Thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:48 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House.