[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 19 (Monday, May 16, 2005)]
[Page 772]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

May 7, 2005

    Good morning. On Sunday and Monday, I will attend ceremonies in the 
Netherlands and Russia to commemorate the 60th anniversary of V-E Day.
    These events will celebrate a great triumph of good over evil. We 
will never forget the acts of courage that made possible the liberation 
of a continent or the heroes who fought in the cause of freedom. And we 
honor the brave Americans and Allied troops who humbled tyrants, 
defended the innocent, and liberated the oppressed. By their courage and 
sacrifice, they showed the world that there is no power like the power 
of freedom and no soldier as strong as a soldier who fights for that 
freedom.
    The defeat of Nazi Germany brought an end to the armed conflict in 
Europe. Unfortunately, for millions of people on that continent, tyranny 
remained in a different uniform. In Latvia, where I'm also visiting on 
this trip, free people were taken captive by another totalitarian 
empire. Germany was split into free and unfree halves. And countries 
like Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary were cut off from liberty by an 
Iron Curtain. The people of these countries survived the cold war 
through great courage, and then they took history into their own hands 
and reclaimed their freedom.
    The result is, the continent of Europe, wounded by decades of 
conflict and oppression, is today whole, free, and at peace for the 
first time in its history. The wave of democracy that swept Central and 
Eastern Europe in 1989 has now swept to nations like Georgia and 
Ukraine. And the victory for freedom represented by V-E Day has become a 
reality for millions of people.
    On my trip, I will visit Freedom Square in Tbilisi, Georgia, to 
applaud the people there for the Rose Revolution that advanced democracy 
in their land. Georgia has survived oppression, fought for liberty, and 
taken its place among free nations. America is proud to call Georgia our 
partner in freedom, and we will help the people of that country enhance 
prosperity, improve security, and spread liberty at home and abroad.
    The new democracies of Europe still have much work to do. Free 
elections are a significant achievement, yet they are only part of a 
fully functioning democracy. Democratic governments must be committed to 
providing full and equal rights for minorities, resolving conflicts 
peacefully, encouraging a vibrant political opposition, and ensuring the 
rule of law. As the nations of Central and Eastern Europe work to build 
up the institutions necessary for a free society, America will stand by 
their side.
    Today, these nations are standing with us as we defend liberty 
abroad. Freedom has no better friends than those with a fresh memory of 
tyranny. That is why countries like Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and 
Georgia have been partners in our coalition in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
We're grateful for their contributions and especially for the example 
they are setting for other aspiring democracies.
    America and these new democracies are bound together by history, by 
the universal rights we have defended together, and by our deepest 
convictions. All of us understand that the advance of freedom is the 
concentrated work of generations, from the brave Americans who fought 
against Nazi Germany 60 years ago to those who struggle for liberty 
today. And by working together, we will ensure that the promise of 
liberty and democracy won on V-E Day will one day reach every person and 
every nation in the 21st century.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 2:55 p.m. e.d.t. on May 5 in the 
Cabinet Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. e.d.t on May 
7. The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on May 6 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. 
Due to the 7-hour time difference, the radio address was broadcast after 
the President's news conference and before his remarks in Riga. The 
Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language 
transcript of this address.