[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 23 (Monday, June 11, 2007)]
[Pages 764-767]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following Discussions With President Lech Kaczynski of Poland in 
Gdansk, Poland

June 8, 2007

    President Kaczynski. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I would 
like to welcome everybody to the meeting between President Kaczynski and 
President Bush.
    The talks have been longer than expected, yes. Mr. President, ladies 
and gentlemen, we have had a longer meeting with President George W. 
Bush, and the subject of the conversation were the issues of interest to 
the United States of America and for Poland, our country.
    Certainly we talked about the issue of missile defense system. We 
talked about problems pertaining to the relations with our very 
important Russian partner. We talked about the situation in Iran a 
little, also, a little about

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the situation in Kosovo. But, of course, the main subject of talks were 
the two first issues.
    I can tell you that as far as the missile defense system is 
concerned, the two parties fully agree. And this is in line with the 
obvious thing, that the system has no aggressive intentions. This is the 
plan which is to reinforce the protection of Europe against the dangers 
which result from the fact that not all the countries of the 
contemporary world are responsible--we do not mean Russia here. It's 
about other states.
    As far as relations with our Russian partner are concerned, well, we 
agree that Russia is an important country in the world and that the 
status of Russia, which is very extensive territorially and is also very 
numerous in terms of population, and it has nuclear capability, which is 
the legacy from the previous period--that all these factors give Russia 
basis for being a country important in the world, a country which really 
is very important. And the United States and Poland do not question that 
situation.
    However, it is important that our Russian partner, with which Poland 
wants also to have as good relations as possible--the United States has 
good relations with that country--but that Russia should recognize that 
the world has changed for the last 18 years, and it concerns also 
Central and Eastern Europe, and in particular, it concerns our country.
    No plans of the United States, as the U.S. President said, or Polish 
plans are directed against the interests of the Russian Federation. The 
Russian Federation can feel totally safe, at least from the respective 
of our countries, although there are some other larger states--large 
states in the world, and some other entities are responsible for those 
states. However, the whole plan of the missile defense system is the 
plan which gives rights to more stability and defense, defense which is 
needed to guard against irresponsible actions, without any additional 
objectives here.
    However, as far as other uses are concerned which were subjects to 
our talk, I introduced what I know about the issues related to the 
Western Balkans because it is known that not long ago, there was a 
meeting in Brussels, where I talked with almost all the leaders of the 
western Balkan States. We talked also about Kosovo, the crucial problem 
there. We talked also about how, in Polish opinion, the solution 
pertaining to that region, formerly the part of Serbia--however, in 
reality, it is a separate identity--and how the relations pertaining to 
that region can be really reflected on other parts of the world.
    We also talked about the stabilizing role of NATO today and I hope 
that tomorrow, to an even larger extent. We also talked a little about 
the European Union. We talked about the states with which the United 
States is befriended and Poland is befriended--for example, the German 
Federal Republic. We also exchanged views on France. President George W. 
Bush had already had a chance to talk longer with President Sarkozy 
during the meeting of G-8, and I had only a brief encounter with him 2 
years ago when I was not President yet. But in 2 days' time, I'm going 
to meet him.
    The conversation which we have had, very interesting, important for 
myself at least. I'm sure it will be followed up another meeting in mid-
July. And then we will come to concrete results. The beginning of that 
was the meeting today, very fruitful for myself. And I want to thank you 
very much, Mr. President, for coming to Poland. Thank you. Thank you 
very much.
    And now, President George W. Bush.
    President Bush. Mr. President, thank you for your gracious 
hospitality. Laura and I are so honored to be with you and Mrs. 
Kaczynska. I think probably the highlight was to meet your 
granddaughter, and congratulations on the birth of another 
granddaughter.
    This is our third trip to Poland. We have never been in this 
beautiful part of your country, and it's spectacular. We really thank 
you for inviting us to Jurata. Thank you for the walk in the woods, and 
thank you for the very friendly and important dialog we had.
    The President talked a lot about what we talked about. One thing I 
do want to do is praise this good country for being so strong for 
freedom. I love to be in a land where people value liberty and are 
willing to help others realize the blessings of liberty. Kosciuszko is a 
statue right across the street from the White House, on which it says, 
``For

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our freedom and yours.'' Isn't that interesting--for our freedom and 
somebody else's. Poland is a great advocate for democracy in the world 
today.
    And I thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership in the cause of 
freedom. You're very much involved in the cause of freedom in two very 
difficult theaters: Afghanistan and Iraq. I thank you and I thank the 
people of Poland for the sacrifices they made so that others may live in 
a free society. You've deployed nearly 900 troops in Iraq, troops that 
are helping the Iraqi people defend their young democracy against 
extremists, radicals who murder in the name of an ideology to deny 
people the right to live in a free society. And I thank you for the 
leadership. I appreciate the fact that you've made the decision to 
extend the deployment through 2007. That is a bold and hard decision, I 
know. The people of Iraq will never forget it.
    And it's important for those families who have lost a loved one in 
the Iraq theater to understand, the American people won't forget it 
either. And we send our prayers and blessings to those families.
    Recently in Afghanistan, there was a call for more NATO help, and 
this Government stepped up quickly by sending more troops to help that 
young democracy survive as well. So, Mr. President, thank you for your 
leadership. It's a proud moment in history when free countries are able 
to help others.
    That's how you set the stage for peace. Free societies don't war 
with each other. That's why Europe is now whole, free, and at peace. Our 
dream is, the same blessings of liberty be extended to the Middle East. 
I thank you for your stalwart support.
    We discussed, as well, the efforts by Poland to help people who 
are--need to be free from governments that are--darken their vision. I 
thank you very much for your leadership for Belarus, the people of 
Belarus, a nation where peaceful protesters are beaten and opposition 
leaders are disappeared.
    I appreciate so very much your speaking out on behalf of the 
dissidents in Cuba--an island right off our coast, as you know, Mr. 
President. And it is inspiring for the people of Cuba who want to live 
in a free society to hear the voices from Europe, such as yours or the 
Czech Republic's.
    We had a--spent a lot of time talking about the Ukraine. I thank you 
for your insight. And then, of course, we did talk about missile 
defense, a subject that the President and I spent a lot of time talking 
about. It's a subject I spent a lot of time talking about with President 
Putin yesterday.
    First, let me say, I appreciate the support of the deployment of the 
missile defense interceptors here in Poland. We will negotiate a fair 
agreement that enhances the security of Poland and the security of the 
entire continent against rogue regimes who might be willing to try to 
blackmail free nations. That's the true threat of the 21st century. It's 
a subject that I told you I discussed with President Putin.
    I have made clear what you just made clear, Mr. President: The 
system we have proposed is not directed at Russia. Indeed, we would 
welcome Russian cooperation on missile defense. We think it makes sense 
to have a--and I proposed and he accepted a working group from our State 
Department, Defense Department, and military to discuss different 
opportunities and different options, all aimed at providing protection 
for people from rogue regimes who might be in a position to either 
blackmail and/or attack those of us who live in free societies.
    All in all, we had the kind of conversation you'd expect strong 
allies to have. It was candid; it was over a really good meal. And I'm 
looking forward to bringing you back, Mr. President, to the White House. 
I can't wait to see you there in mid-July. Again, thank you all for your 
wonderful hospitality. God bless the people of Poland.

Note: The President spoke at approximately 8:22 p.m. at Gdansk Lech 
Walesa International Airport. In his remarks, he referred to President 
Vladimir Putin of Russia. President Kaczynski referred to President 
Nicolas Sarkozy of France. President Kaczynski spoke in Polish, and his 
remarks were translated by an interpreter. A tape was not available for 
verification of the content of these remarks.

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