[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 24 (Monday, June 18, 2007)]
[Pages 779-785]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Sali Berisha of 
Albania in Tirana, Albania

June 10, 2007

    Prime Minister Berisha. Honorable Mr. President Bush, honorable 
close collaborators of Mr. President Bush, ladies and gentlemen: Today 
is a beautiful day. Today is a great day, historic for all Albanians. 
Among us is the greatest and most distinguished guest we have ever had 
in all times, the President of the United States--[inaudible]--

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George W. Bush, his lady, Mrs. Laura Bush, and their close aides. For 
me, it's a great honor and a special pleasure to thank them with 
gratitude and extend the most heartfelt welcome in this historic visit, 
the first visit ever of a United States President in Albania.
    Thank you heartily, Mr. President, from the bottom of our hearts, 
fulfilling ardent and long-awaited wish of all Albanians to have a 
special guest in their home. Tungjatjeta, an Albanian word, means ``May 
you have a long life.'' This is a most traditional greeting of Albanians 
that I chose to greet you on their behalf, on behalf of Albanians. 
Welcome to Albania, President Bush.
    Mr. President, you are, today, an honorable guest and friend of a 
nation whose gratefulness and friendship towards your great Nation and 
your country have been deeply embodied in the historic memory and in the 
conscience of its citizens. No other nation in the region or in Europe 
has ever gone through so much suffering, ethnic cleansing, racism, 
partitions, occupations, and severe dictatorships as we Albanians have. 
History was unjust and very severe to us.
    We have been blessed, however. We have won in all our efforts to 
defend our identity in Western-oriented national vocation to emerge from 
the age of oppression to the age of dignity, from the age of darkness to 
the age of freedom. We have won because our just cause has always had 
the powerful support of the U.S.A., the greatest and the most precious 
friend of Albanian nation. God bless your great Nation.
    At the beginning of last century, President Wilson did not allow the 
partition of the newly proclaimed Albanian independent state. The U.S.A. 
recognized Albania 85 years ago. Your visit on this anniversary is its 
most beautiful crown, is the climax of excellent, friendly relations 
between our two countries.
    Afterwards, President Truman made big efforts to free Albanians from 
their Orwellian dictatorship. At the outset of the nineties, President 
George Herbert Bush and his administration provided an exceptional 
contribution to the fall of Berlin Wall, but the fall of this wall in 
Tirana as well, opening the doors of freedom for Albanians.
    President Bill Clinton led the North Atlantic Alliance in the fight 
for Kosovo liberation from the barbarian occupation. And today, Kosovo 
citizens find in you and your administration, Mr. President, the 
greatest hope and support for their project of a free, independent, and 
integrated state in Europe.
    Centuries ago, until our present days, hundreds and thousands of 
Albanians migrated to your great country. They are loyal and honorable 
citizens of the United States who have always loved and still love the 
nation and the country of origin. They have--[inaudible]--a lot; they 
have kept a life of hope and freedom for Albanians always on.
    In your presence, I'd like, today, to extend the most cordial 
greetings and my deepest gratitude. The friendly feelings towards the--
your Nation and your great country, the proud Americanism of Albanians 
are indeed a matter of their national pride. Albanians are very proud 
about the friendship with the U.S.A. and the cooperation they have with 
your nation in the war against international terrorism, of their 
presence on your side in Iraq, Afghanistan. I assure you that they will 
be on your side wherever their modest, but resolute contribution is 
needed against international terrorism, this most dangerous enemy of 
free people.
    Above all, Albanians feel proud of their friendship with your nation 
because we share the values and the principles of freedom and market-
oriented democracy. In this road, they have received an exceptional 
overall political, economic, financial, and technical assistance 
provided--military--provided by the U.S. and the EU countries and other 
friendly countries, for which we remain truly, always grateful.
    Sixteen years ago, Secretary James Baker brought to Albanians the 
message from the country of freedom, ``Freedom works.'' Today, after 16 
years, I can say that despite the hardships of our country, experienced 
by our country, freedom for Albanians has worked more than any other 
nation. Albania, a country of denied freedoms and human rights, banned 
the Constitution, a country of hypercollectivization and true human 
slavery and the most extreme isolation, today is the country of 
political, economic, consolidated pluralism, of excellent religious 
centers, of functioning, working democracy. It is the country with a 
fast economic growth, with

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the private sector accounting for 80 percent of GDP. And the income per 
capita have increased 20 times more.
    Albania is the country that signed and is implementing successfully 
their stabilization association agreement with the EU and received the 
message from Riga summit on the possibility of receiving an invitation 
for NATO membership. It is a country that welcomes today the President 
of the United States of America, George W. Bush. God bless Albanians.
    Ladies and gentlemen, in our talks with President Bush, we have 
discussed our excellent, friendly bilateral relations and their further 
development. I informed him of other reforms launched by my Government 
and their results in strengthening the rule of law, the zero tolerance 
fight against organized crime, the valuable assistance that law 
enforcement agencies from the United States and other friendly countries 
are providing to this end. We talked about the fight against corruption 
and the much expected assistance that a series of projects funded by the 
Millennium Challenge Account related to e-taxes, e-procurement, and one-
stop shop offer in this regard and other reforms in the judicial system, 
police, education, et cetera.
    I briefed President Bush on the significant reforms that we are 
undertaking in the view of turning Albania into a very attractive 
country for U.S.A. and the foreign investors--other foreign investors. 
We hope that this visit will encourage others.
    A special place was the question of Albania's membership into NATO 
as the main priority of Albania. In this regard, we have decided to 
increase our defense budget to 2 percent of GDP, to triple our presence 
in Afghanistan, and implement with seriousness the requirements of the 
ninth MAP cycle. In addition, let me mention that 90 percent of 
Albanians support Albania's membership to NATO. The support of President 
Bush and his administration is of a vital importance to Albania for 
membership into NATO as the most secure future.
    We discussed about the situation in the region. After this press 
conference, we'll continue the discussion in the framework of Adriatic 
Charter, A-3, with the very good friends of Albania, the Prime Minister 
of Croatia, Ivo Sanader, and Prime Minister of Macedonia, Nikola 
Gruevski.
    Special attention in our discussion was given to solution of the 
final status of Kosovo in compliance with the proposal of President 
Ahtisaari for its independence as a--gradual independence as a 
precondition for stability and peace in the region.
    Ladies and gentlemen, in December 1990, students and citizens in 
Tirana took to the streets and the squares with--shouting, ``U.S.A.'' 
``Long live President Bush.'' We want Albania like the rest of Europe. 
President Bush visit Albania in 1994--2004 and 2006, and Mr. Jimmy 
Carter before. And after this visit, Mr. President, our country will be 
visited by other Presidents of the United States. But in their memory of 
Albanian citizens, the great honor that you made to them with your first 
visit of a United States President in office in Albania.
    Thank you very much, Mr. President Bush, great friend of Albanian 
nation, of my nation.
    President Bush. Miredita. [Laughter] Thank you for having me. Prime 
Minister, thank you for your hospitality. I thank the President for his 
hospitality as well.
    I am proud to be the first American sitting President to visit 
Albania. It's a great honor to represent my country here. I've really 
been looking forward to this trip, and so has my wife, Laura. The reason 
being is that I love to come to countries that are working hard to 
establish the institutions necessary for a democracy to survive. I'm 
particularly pleased to be here in Albania, in a country that has casted 
off the shackles of a very repressive society and is now showing the 
world what's possible. And I congratulate the people of Albania, and I 
thank you for the warm welcome we received on your streets.
    We had a very good discussion. I learned a lot about your country. I 
learned the fact that this is a country that embraces the markets, is 
willing to do necessary reforms to make sure that the small-business 
person survives, that the entrepreneur is strong, that the tax code is 
fair. I'm impressed with the desire of the government to fight 
corruption, to make it clear that the government is of the people, that 
the government can be trusted by the people, by routing out those who 
would use their exalted positions to steal

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from the taxpayers. I appreciate that kind of commitment, Mr. Prime 
Minister.
    I appreciate the fact that Albania is a model of religious 
tolerance. And I appreciate the fact that Albania is a trusted friend 
and a strong ally. And this visit today hopefully will send the signal 
to the people of Albania, you can count on America, just like America 
can count on you, to do hard work necessary to spread freedom and, 
therefore, peace.
    We discussed a lot of issues. We discussed Iraq and Afghanistan. I 
thank the Prime Minister and his Government for putting troops in harm's 
way. Albanians know the horror of tyranny, and so they're working to 
bring the hope of freedom to people who haven't known it. And that's a 
noble effort and a sacrifice, and I appreciate your sacrifice.
    Albania now has 120 of its elite commandos stationed in Iraq. I had 
the privilege of meeting some of the Albanian soldiers. Here's what I 
told them, I said, ``First of all, you are respected by our military.'' 
Your soldiers are good at what they do. They're well-trained; they're 
disciplined; they're courageous. I told them that the United States 
appreciates their contribution. So do the Iraqi citizens. And also told 
them, when they went home, to make sure that they told their wives and 
their children thanks on behalf of the United States of America as well. 
The families are just as much a part of a soldier's life as the soldier 
himself.
    And so, Mr. Prime Minister, we thank you very much for your 
commitment to freedom in Iraq as well as Afghanistan. The Prime Minister 
has announced that Albania will deploy 120 additional troops to 
Afghanistan this summer. These are two vital fronts on the war on 
terror, and the United States has a strong friend in Albania in this 
war. And I thank you.
    We also talked about NATO and Albania's aspirations to join the NATO 
alliance. I commended the Prime Minister for the progress that Albania 
has made in defense reform. In other words, part of becoming a member of 
NATO requires a reformation of the defense forces. And Albania is 
working hard to do that, as well as to meet performance-based standards 
for membership. In other words, you're just not accepted into 
membership; you just can't say, I want to join. There are certain 
standards that are expected to be met.
    And so I talked to the Prime Minister, first of all, about my deep 
desire for Albania to join NATO. I support it. I also told him that 
there needs to be additional political and military reforms, progress 
against organized crime and corruption. And he understands that. He 
said, ``We're committed.'' That's what the Prime Minister said--Albania 
is committed to meeting those standards. And I said, ``We're committed 
to help you.''
    And it's very important for the political figures here in this 
country to understand what's at stake. The politicians have got to work 
together now to meet the standards. They've got to set aside political 
differences and focus on what's right for Albania. If the Albanian 
people want to join NATO, then the politicians have got to work to meet 
the standards.
    And so I call upon all in the Government and the opposition to do 
what is necessary to join NATO, and we'll support you and help you. I 
think it's best that Albania be a NATO ally. I look forward to welcoming 
you someday into NATO.
    We also talked about Kosovo. I'm a strong supporter of the Ahtisaari 
plan. I said yesterday in Rome, the time is now. A fellow asked me a 
question, ``Well, when does this end? When does the process end?'' I 
said, ``The time is now.'' In other words, I put a sense of--I made it 
clear that--two things: One, that we need to get moving; and two, that 
the end result is independence. And we spent a lot of time talking about 
this issue here. The Prime Minister was anxious to hear my views. He 
wanted to make sure that what I said was clear for everybody, and what I 
said was, independence is the result; let's get the process moving.
    Now, we want to make sure that Serbia hears that the United States 
supports their aspirations for closer integration with the West. That 
means working with the United States in a bilateral fashion. It also 
means potential membership of NATO, for example. I urged the Prime 
Minister to work with the leaders in Kosovo to maintain calm during 
these final stages of Kosovo final status process. He assured me he 
would. He's got good contacts there, and Kosovars look to the

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Prime Minister of Albania and the President for Albania for leadership, 
and they're willing to provide it.
    And so we discussed a lot of issues, and I must say, I was very 
impressed by the conversations, impressed with the vision, and want to 
help. The United States wants to be a good ally and friend.
    And again, I thank you all for the hospitality, and I know you're 
proud of the historic progress that you have made. May God bless the 
people of Albania and, of course, the people of the United States.
    Thank you, sir.
    Prime Minister Berisha. Thank you.
    President Bush. A couple of questions here. He's calling on you.

International Support for Kosovo

    Q. You guaranteed President Bush that you will talk with the Kosovo 
leaders concerning the proposal of President Sarkozy that may lead to 
the--[inaudible]--of the Kosovars, that they may self-proclaim 
independence. And what would the attitude of Albania be in this case? 
And did you touch this factor, this opposition with President Bush?
    Prime Minister Berisha. We discussed at large about Kosovo with 
President Bush. What I may publicly transmit to the leadership and the 
citizens of Kosovo is that their project has the full understanding, 
good understanding and support, full support, of President Bush. And in 
this context, as before--now, as well--I don't expect and I don't advise 
any movement. On the contrary, I suggest persistence and calmness, 
coolbloodedness. This is in the heart of--Kosovo is in the heart of 
President Bush.
    President Bush. What's important is for the people of Kosovo to know 
that the United States and Albania strongly supports independence, as 
did most of the people in the G-8.
    President Sarkozy's recommendation was to try to provide some time 
for people to possibly work out differences. However, what would be 
acceptable to the United States and, I think, most people in the 
G-8 was that at the end of any process, there be certain independence. 
That's what's important to know.
    And that's--the issue is whether independence or not. We strongly 
believe in independence. And then the question is, the diplomatic moves 
necessary to achieve that. I happen to believe it's important to push 
the process along; the time is now. And by that I meant that Secretary 
Rice will be moving hard to see if we can't reach an agreement. And if 
not, we're going to have to move because independence is the goal, and 
that's what the people of Kosovo need to know.
    Thank you for your question.
    Toby [Tabassum Zakaria, Reuters].

Kosovo/Missile Defense System

    Q. Thank you, Mr. President. Yesterday you called for a deadline for 
U.N. action on Kosovo. When would you like that deadline set? And are 
you at all concerned that taking that type of a stance is going to 
further inflame U.S. relations with Russia?
    And is there any chance that you're going to sign on to the Russian 
missile defense proposal?
    President Bush. No, thanks. A couple of points on that. First of 
all, I don't think I called for a deadline. I thought I said, time--I 
did? What exactly did I say? I said ``deadline''? Okay, yes, then I 
meant what I said. [Laughter] The question is whether or not there is 
going to be endless dialog on a subject that we have made up our mind 
about. We believe Kosovo ought to be independent.
    The G-8 discussions were all aimed at determining whether or not 
there is a way to make this acceptable to Russia. The ideal would be for 
Russia to say, ``Okay, we understand, and we accept this conclusion as 
well.'' And obviously, they're not there yet. And therefore, the reason 
why I said there needs to be movement is that there just cannot be 
continued drift, because I'm worried about expectations not being met in 
Kosovo. That's what I meant. And therefore, we'll push the process.
    President Putin made an interesting proposal on missile defense for 
Europe. I suggested--and I've made an interesting proposal for missile 
defense in Europe, by the way, all aimed at protecting Europe, not aimed 
at Russia. The reason I did is because the true threats we'll be facing 
will be from

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rogue nations that may end up with a deliverable weapon. So I thought it 
was in the interest of peace that we have the capacity to intercept such 
a missile, and therefore, need to proceed.
    And President Putin said, ``Well, I think I've got an idea that 
makes sense.'' And this is the joint use of radar in Azerbaijan. I said, 
``Well, why don't we look at it?'' But during the discussions, it became 
apparent that he also had doubts about the proposal I made as to its 
effectiveness or necessity. And I said, ``Well, you put out an idea, and 
I put an idea. Why don't we both get a group together to discuss our 
relative ideas in a transparent fashion; get people from your Foreign 
Ministry and we'll get people from the State Department and our 
respective defense departments and militaries to sit at the table and to 
share different ideas, to share ideas about technologies on how to 
intercept a missile and radar positioning to make sure that there's 
effective coverage?''
    I thought his statement was an important statement to make. In other 
words, he recognized that there's an opportunity to work together. 
That's what friends do, by the way. Russia is not our enemy. As I said 
repeatedly, the cold war is over, and now we're dealing with threats in 
the 21st century. And I appreciated his recognition that there could be 
an opportunity to work together to deal with those threats. I viewed it 
as a very positive gesture, and looking forward to continuing 
discussions on this very subject in July when he comes to Maine.
    Prime Minister Berisha. I would like to add for the citizens of 
Kosovo and its leadership, in my discussions, I found out consciousness 
and awareness of President Bush for the consequences of prolongation 
on--unacceptable prolongation around justifiable--prolongation of the 
process. And in this context, they should be clear that the President is 
aware of these consequences and is not willing them to be.

Albania's NATO Membership

    Q. In your meeting with President Bush, what important place was 
occupied by NATO membership--Albania being made a member of NATO? Do you 
assure us that you have won the support of President Bush for quick 
integration of membership into NATO? And further, do you observe 
differences in speed of Adriatic 3 countries--A-3 countries?
    Prime Minister Berisha. I can assure you totally that President Bush 
and his administration support powerfully Albania's project for full 
membership into NATO. In this framework, I would say that this help and 
support has been of extraordinary importance in all reforms of 
democratic institutions, of the armed forces, and in cooperation in the 
framework of NATO during these years.
    Of course, the invitation is defined to be given on the basis of 
performance. We are determined to take any decision, adopt any law, 
undertake any reform that would make Albania suitable to receive the 
invitation.
    I think that the cooperation with Adriatic Charter, A-3, was 
fruitful--and very fruitful and very successful. Our three countries 
have common things in specifics. If we take the level where from which 
Albania started and it's progress, it is one of the most evaluated, 
appreciated.
    Second, Albania has a loyal cooperation with NATO for 15 years. I 
have to stress, one moment, that in '99, when Milosevic cleansed 1 
million Albanians from their homes, thousands of the area's homes, the 
friendly countries built camps to receive the refugees. But about 
500,000 Albanian families turned their houses into tents of welcome for 
NATO. You may say, they did it for Albanians. Absolutely, yes. But no 
one can prove that Albanians wouldn't do that for every citizen of 
another ethnicity who would be in need, like the Kosovo people were at 
that time. Ninety-three percent of Albanians support membership into 
NATO. We have our own advantages.

International Support for Kosovo

    Q. Thank you, Mr. President. You've said that it's time to move the 
Kosovo--the Ahtisaari plan forward. What specifically are you going to 
do to accomplish that, and at what point do you say, it's not working? 
And then what?
    President Bush. What you do is, you get your diplomats working with 
Russian diplomats, as well as EU diplomats, to see if

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there is not common ground. In other words, there has to be an effort to 
see if we can't find a way for everybody to say, well, it's a good idea. 
And if you end up being in a position where you don't, at some point in 
time, sooner rather than later, you've got to say enough is enough; 
Kosovo is independent. And that's the position we've taken.

    The people of Kosovo need to know that it is a solid, firm position. 
And even though there's diplomacy and talks hopefully trying to find a 
way forward to accommodate Russia and Serbia and the EU--by the way, 
most people in the EU are very much in favor. The EU position is for the 
Ahtisaari plan. They just hope that there is some way that we can reach 
an accommodation with a variety of interests so that the transition to 
independence will be as smooth and easy as possible. But if that 
becomes--is apparent that that's not going to happen in a relatively 
quick period of time, in my judgment, we need to put forward the 
resolution. Hence, deadline.

    Thank you all for your attention. Mr. Prime Minister, it was a great 
press conference. Proud to be the first American sitting President to 
actually hold a press conference on Albanian soil as well. Thank you 
very much.

    Prime Minister Berisha. Thank you, President.

    President Bush. Thank you all.

    Prime Minister Berisha. Thank you.

    President Bush. Good job. Thank you.

    Prime Minister Berisha. Thank you.

Note: The President's news conference began at 12:40 p.m. in the 
Courtyard at the Council of Ministers. In his remarks, he referred to 
President Alfred Moisiu of Albania; President Nicolas Sarkozy of France; 
and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. Prime Minister Berisha referred 
to former President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, United Nations Special 
Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Future Status Process of Kosovo. 
Prime Minister Berisha and some reporters spoke in Albanian, and their 
remarks were translated by an interpreter.