[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 26 (Monday, July 2, 2007)]
[Pages 857-858]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following Discussions With President Toomas Ilves of Estonia

June 25, 2007

    President Bush. We'll make statements only today.
    Mr. President, welcome. It is a high honor to welcome President 
Ilves to the Oval Office. He is the President of a country which has 
emerged from some really dark days. And having been in Estonia, I can 
report to my fellow citizens that people now see the light of day, they 
see a better future because of the form of government has changed. 
President Ilves is a very strong advocate for democracy and the 
marketplace, and as a result, his country is thriving and doing well. 
And so we welcome you.
    I thank you very much for your voice, heard very clearly, for those 
who suffer under tyrannical societies, and that is, is that freedom is a 
precious gift to all and that democracy and societies based upon liberty 
are the best way to not only enable people to realize their talents but 
to lay the foundation for peace. And along these lines, Estonia has been 
a very strong friend to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. These young 
democracies are fighting off extremists.
    I briefed the President today about my conversation with the Prime 
Minister of Iraq, as well as our conversations with David Petraeus and 
Ambassador Crocker. Today, once again, we saw the brutality that 
extremists can inflict upon societies when a suicider killed innocent 
people who were working toward reconciliation. All the more reason, Mr. 
President, for us to remain firm and strong as we stand for this young 
democracy--these young democracies.
    The people of Estonia paid a high price. You lost--I know you lost 
two soldiers in Afghanistan recently, and our thoughts and prayers go to 
the families and the people of Estonia. We thank you for your sacrifice 
and just want you to know that we're committed to working hard to make 
sure that we succeed, and we succeed for the sake of peace for 
generations to come.
    We talked about a lot of other interesting subjects as well. Of 
course, the President pushed me very hard on visas. I readily concede 
there's an inconsistency in our policy where the people of Estonia are 
treated differently from other people inside Europe, even though the 
people of Estonia are making great sacrifices for the cause of democracy 
and liberty alongside with U.S. forces. And to this end, Mr. President, 
I will continue to pursue with Congress a modernization of the visa 
program. I thank you for bringing it up, and frankly, I don't blame you 
for bringing it up.
    We also talked about an interesting subject, and one that I can 
learn a lot about, and that is the cyber attacks that make us all 
vulnerable. Estonia recently went through a wave of cyber attacks. And 
this President, one, understands the issue well; two, has got some 
ideas, including a NATO center of excellence in Estonia to deal with 
this issue. And I want to--really want to thank you for your leadership, 
and thank you for your clear understanding of the dangers that that 
imposes not only on your country but mine and others as well.
    But I'm dealing with a man who is a clear thinker. He speaks with 
moral authority and moral clarity, and he's a voice for reason and hope 
around the world. And we're proud to welcome you here to the Oval 
Office.

[[Page 858]]

    President Ilves. Thank you very much, President Bush. It is great to 
be back here, to be in the United States, a strong ally of my country, a 
country that has been with Estonians throughout the cold war, supporting 
Estonia's desires for democracy and for independence. And even in the 
darkest of times and since the reestablishment of our independence, has 
been with us all along as a very strong partner, strong supporter of our 
membership in NATO. A country that, whenever things have been tough for 
us, has stood with us, and it's one reason why Estonia is a strong ally 
of the United States.
    I'm grateful for President Bush's position, which I did push him 
hard on, on the visa issue. It is something of concern in Estonia, but I 
think all the other new members of NATO, the ones who are--who have been 
very good allies in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and our people don't always 
understand why it is that those people--those countries that have been 
the strongest supporters of the United States find it often the most 
difficult to come for vacation. But that--I think that is an issue which 
is more in the hands of Congress, and we hope that Congress will resolve 
this.
    We did, in fact, suffer a series of attacks on our computer 
infrastructure. It is a serious issue if your most important computer 
systems go down in a country like mine, where 97 percent of bank 
transactions are done on the Internet. When you are a highly interneted 
country like we are, then these kinds of attacks can do very serious 
damage. And I do think it's the wave of the future--not that it's a good 
wave, but it is something that we have to deal with more and more.
    We know that the United States and Israel and Denmark have come 
under cyber attack before, and I think that it's an issue that will 
require much more attention in the future. And I'm very happy that two 
countries that are very vast in terms of information technology can work 
together on these issues.
    So I think that--well, for me, it's been--it's a very good visit. 
And I know that President Bush has a busy schedule, but I do hope that 
when his term in office is up, that you will come to my ranch, which is 
a lot smaller than yours. [Laughter]
    President Bush. Thank you all for coming.

Note: The President spoke at 11:49 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of 
Iraq; Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA, commanding general, Multi-National 
Force--Iraq; and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker.