[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 13 (Monday, April 7, 2008)]
[Pages 474-475]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Discussion With Prime Minister Calin Popescu-
Tariceanu of Romania in Bucharest

April 4, 2008

    Interpreter. Hello; good day. Of course our discussion was a very 
useful and very pleasant one. We discussed both bilateral issues between 
Romania and the United States. I expressed to the--to President Bush our 
gratitude for having had the trust to have Romania organize this 
important NATO summit in Bucharest.
    The organization of the NATO summit in Bucharest was very symbolic. 
It is part of a much larger vision and concept, this vision being that 
to strengthen and to unify Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain. 
And the idea was to foster, to strengthen the alliance in the eastern 
and southeastern flank, from the Baltic Sea all the way to the Black Sea 
and the Mediterranean. That is how we have to interpret the membership 
of Albania and Croatia to NATO, the future membership of Macedonia, and 
eventual Georgia and Ukraine membership as well.
    But our discussion was not limited to that. We also discussed other 
issues of political and economic relationship between our countries and 
about the U.S. investments in our country. And I shared with President 
Bush my ambition, my hope, and actually, my dream that to see a very 
important industrial investment from the United States in Romania, an 
investment with which generate common interests and would foster even 
more our partnership. And I'm referring to the Ford company and of 
course, a common interest like this would make me feel, as a citizen and 
as a Prime Minister, much more protected by our common interests.
    I would like to also mention another initiative which was announced 
by the President yesterday, which was the creation of an American-
Romanian foundation which will set up educational programs and grants 
for Romanian students. I'm talking about the seed money of $100 million, 
which could be----
    Prime Minister Popescu-Tariceanu. One hundred and fifty.
    President Bush. One hundred and fifty. Don't short-change it.
    Interpreter. ----$150 million, which in time will arrive at $1 
billion investment, which will create--which would be an investment in 
the future, creating the future--Romanian Ambassadors to United States 
or the American Ambassadors to Romania--it would be our hope.
    Prime Minister Popescu-Tariceanu. Thank you.
    President Bush. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. We just had a great--
we had a good meeting, because we're good friends. All right. Okay, I'll 
just keep going.
    Interpreter. I was actually told that everybody speaks English, so I 
should not interpret.

[[Page 475]]

    President Bush. Okay, fine. I'll speak in Romanian. [Laughter] 
Anyway, we had a very good meeting, Mr. Prime Minister. Thank you for 
your time. First of all, I want to congratulate the Government, 
yourself, for hosting a very successful NATO summit. It's not easy to 
host as many automobiles, bodyguards, world leaders, hanger-oners as you 
did. And yet you did it and you organized well. Everybody who came to 
the summit was most impressed. I really do want to thank you, and I want 
to thank the people of Bucharest for their patience. I apologize for the 
inconvenience, but I do think it was a good sign, and it was important 
for your country to be the host of this important event. And it was a 
very successful summit.
    We had good discussions about a successful bilateral relationship as 
well. I told the Prime Minister, one reason why capital comes to a 
country is because people feel comfortable about taking risk. I also 
congratulated him on these big investments that are coming; it's a good 
sign. And the people of Romania ought to be--appreciate the fact that 
the conditions are such that people are willing to invest. And by the 
way, investment creates jobs, which is also--will have a direct benefit 
for the people of Romania.
    I also congratulated the Prime Minister on having a 16 percent flat 
tax. I'm a little envious. I would like to have been able to achieve the 
same objective for our Tax Code. And it was a smart thing to get done, 
cause I think those kinds of policies will enable the Romanian folks to 
have a bright future.
    We talked about energy; we also talked about visas. There is a real 
contradiction here that's hard for the people of Romania to understand 
in that, on the one hand, how can certain people within the EU be 
treated one way and Romanians be treated another way, when it comes to 
visas? And I fully understand that contradiction, Mr. Prime Minister. 
Our Congress passed new law--it frankly wasn't as good as I thought it 
should be, but nevertheless, it is the law of the land cause I signed it 
into law.
    And we will work with your Government on a couple of matters, one, 
to figure out why the rejection rate is so high. There needs to be more 
transparency, and the Prime Minister made it very clear that we have an 
obligation to explain why certain folks are not getting visas. And we'll 
do that. And----
    Prime Minister Popescu-Tariceanu. Thank you.
    President Bush. ----the other thing is, obviously, we've got law on 
our books that we need to work with you, to help everybody understand in 
the process what compliance means.
    Overall, the trip here has been great. This is the second time I've 
come. I didn't have quite the dramatic rainbow scene this time as I did 
the first time I came, but it's--clearly there's been a lot of progress. 
The city looks different to me. The spirit is still strong. Freedom has 
taken hold, and I congratulate you, the Government, and all involved for 
the progress you've made. Thank you.
    Prime Minister Popescu-Tariceanu. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 2:03 p.m. at the Victoria Palace. Prime 
Minister Popescu-Tariceanu spoke partly in Romanian, and those portions 
of his remarks were translated by an interpreter.