[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 9 (Monday, March 1, 2004)]
[Pages 302-303]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The German-American Alliance for the 21st Century: Joint Statement by 
President George W. Bush and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder

February 27, 2004

    Today, we pay tribute to the deep friendship between the German and 
American people. The sacrifices of two generations, and the visionary 
leadership of our forebears, created the conditions for a Europe whole, 
free, and at peace at the dawn of the 21st century.
    We renew our determination to work together, and with our friends 
and allies in Europe and beyond, to achieve a more secure, prosperous, 
and just world. We are committed to strengthen transatlantic relations, 
and act in common purpose to address the challenges before us.
    The foundation of German and American relations remains our shared 
commitment to the values of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law, and 
to economic opportunity and prosperity through free and open markets. 
These are fundamental to our own societies, and to our common efforts in 
meeting the great challenges of a new era: the nexus of threats posed by 
terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, tyranny, poverty, the lack of 
opportunity, and violent extremism.

[[Page 303]]

    In this spirit, we commit our nations to an ambitious goal, rooted 
in our shared values and experience: to promote freedom, democracy, 
human dignity, the rule of law, economic opportunity, and security in 
the Greater Middle East. Fear and resentment must be replaced with 
freedom and hope.
    We must build a genuine partnership, connecting Europe and America 
with the wider Middle East, aimed at cooperating with the countries and 
peoples of that region to achieve these just objectives, and to live 
side by side in peace. Together with our friends and allies in Europe 
and the Greater Middle East, we will coordinate our efforts closely to 
respond to calls for reform in the region, and to develop specific 
proposals to put before the G8, U.S.-EU, and NATO Summit meetings, which 
will be held in June 2004.
    At the same time, we reaffirm our commitment to the vision of two 
states--Israel and Palestine--living side by side in peace and security, 
and renew our commitment to the ``Roadmap'' as the best means of moving 
forward toward that goal.
    We pledge to enhance the international effort to help the people of 
Afghanistan restore peace and security in their nation, including by the 
further expansion of NATO's International Security Assistance Force. We 
will also work together to achieve success at the upcoming international 
conference on Afghanistan, hosted by Germany. We welcome the agreement 
on a new constitution for Afghanistan, and place particular emphasis on 
creating the conditions for free, fair and peaceful elections in 
Afghanistan later this year.
    We are united in support of a free Iraq: a secure, unified, 
democratic, and fully sovereign nation, at peace with itself and its 
neighbors that will contribute to world peace and stability. We welcome 
and support the vital and growing role of the United Nations in Iraq, 
and look forward to the transfer of sovereignty to a new Iraqi 
government on July 1, 2004.
    We are resolved to strengthen our economic relations by increasing 
opportunities for trade and investment between the European Union and 
the United States, and by promoting trade liberalization and economic 
development for all countries through the Doha Development Agenda 
negotiations. In the framework of the G8, we will cooperate to help the 
poorest countries benefit more fully from the global economy. We remain 
committed to our joint fight against poverty in the world, and we also 
undertake to tackle the scourge of HIV/AIDS and to cooperate to improve 
the world environment.
    We reaffirm our commitment to NATO as the anchor of our collective 
defense and an essential forum for transatlantic consultations. We 
underscore our support for the continuing process of European 
integration and stress the importance of Europe and America working 
together as partners in a community of shared values. We welcome the 
historic enlargement of both NATO and the European Union, which takes 
place this spring, advancing our goal to erase decades of division in 
Europe.
    With a common agenda of action, the German-American alliance will 
prove as critical to the advance of freedom, security, and prosperity in 
the 21st Century as it was in the second half of the 20th Century.

Note: An original was not available for verification of the content of 
this joint statement.