    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 23 (Monday, June 16, 2008)]
    [Pages 817-822]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    The President's News Conference With Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany
    in Meseberg, Germany

    June 11, 2008

        Chancellor Merkel. Well, good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I see
    that there are quite a number of you who have made the trouble to come
    here today. I would like to welcome you very warmly. Let me say that I'm
    delighted to be able to have this press conference together with the
    American President after our talks here today. Yesterday we had very
    intensive talks over dinner. We had intensive talks this morning. We're
    going to continue them over lunch later on. Let me say that I'm very,
    very pleased to have the President of the United States here

    [[Page 818]]

    as our honored guest in this guest house of the Government.
        We had a very good atmosphere. This atmosphere shows--I think shows
    very clearly that we have constructive dialog at virtually all levels on
    virtually all issues. We've had that for quite some time, and we're
    going to continue this dialog in the next few months to come.
        We debated on the issues that are of global importance. First, the
    world trade round--Doha--I'm very glad to note that we have a common
    interest in seeing this Doha round to come to a successful conclusion.
    Free trade--particularly looking at the problems that developing
    countries have, as regards food, for example, food supplies, food
    prices--I think this trade round is absolutely essential for a balanced
    situation in the world at large. We have every chance to come to a
    successful outcome. We will see to it. We will pool all our efforts in
    order to bring this about, and also in the period leading up to the G-8,
    we will hopefully be able to activate all of our efforts.
        This G-8 meeting in Japan will deal with very important issues, for
    example, with climate change. During the G-8 meeting, there will be also
    a so-called meeting of the major emitters. And we do hope that all of
    the issues that we started to talk about in Heiligendamm can be brought
    forward, in the sense that it is made clear we need a global agreement
    under the roof of the United Nations. But each and everyone has to take
    his or her share of that particular issue, and developing countries
    obviously will be in on this too.
        The Heiligendamm process will also be continued. That is to say, the
    O-5 will be in on this, and what will be in the foreground here are food
    prices, energy prices. We also discussed this here in our meeting. There
    are basically two things that I think we need to do. On the one hand,
    there are a lot of speculations that are possible because--as regards
    energy prices--because the consumption and the demand is not yet sort of
    safely predictable. So we need to tell those countries how they intend
    to make themselves independent of gas and oil supplies--to these
    emerging economies. How can we actually further develop technology? What
    could we as industrialized country provide these emerging economies as
    regards technology, modern technology?
        We in the European Union have initiated a number of activities.
    Particularly, Germany has held a very intensive discussion also on what
    renewables and new technology means in this respect.
        We talked about the transatlantic dialog, about projects that are
    also quite difficult. Yesterday there was the EU-U.S. summit, or rather
    2 days ago, and a lot of these issues were also on the agenda there.
        As regards transatlantic economic cooperation, I would like to see
    us work together close also on biofuels. We have taken over very clear
    commitments here. We also know we need to have certain standards. We
    must not come into competition with food production, for example, here.
        Then on Afghanistan--on international issues, Afghanistan was
    discussed, progress in the Middle East, Iran--the offers we put on the
    table to Iran, but also the fact that if Iran does not meet its
    commitments, then further sanctions will simply have to follow. We again
    said we want to give room for diplomatic solutions. We want to give
    diplomacy a chance, but we also have to stay on that particular issue.
        These were constructive, very intensive talks, talks that were
    characterized by a friendship between us. And I think this can lend a
    contribution towards solving a number of issues that are outstanding in
    the world at large, and we show at the same time transatlantic
    cooperation between Germany and the United States is working very well.
    Thank you again, Mr. President, for coming, and a very warm welcome.
        President Bush. Madam Chancellor, thank you for the invitation to
    this beautiful place, a modest little cottage by the lake. It is--I'm
    really glad you thought of this location. Laura and I loved our dinner
    last night. For those in the German press who thought I didn't like
    asparagus, you're wrong. [Laughter] The German asparagus are fabulous.
        But anyways, it's a great place for--to relax and have a good
    discussion. Our relationship is strong, and our relationship is active.
    And I assured the Chancellor that when I say I'm going to sprint to the
    finish, that's what I

    [[Page 819]]

    mean. And that we had a lot of--we've got a lot of issues that we can
    talk about.
        I first want to thank the German people for their contributions to
    helping the people of Afghanistan realize the blessings of a free
    society. I know this is a controversial subject here, but I hope when
    the Afghanistan debates go forward, I hope people here think of young
    girls who couldn't go to school in the past but now can, or think of
    mothers who bring their babies to health clinics for the first time;
    think about farmers who now have got access to markets to help deal with
    food shortages. This is hard work--I understand that--to help a young
    democracy grow after years of tyranny, but I believe it's necessary
    work. And, Madam Chancellor, I appreciate your leadership on this issue.
        I also want to thank you for the contributions you're making to the
    young democracy in Iraq as well. This has obviously been a contentious
    issue between our countries in the past, but what shouldn't be
    contentious is the mutual desire to help advance freedom in the Middle
    East as the great alternative to the ideology of the haters and the
    murderers, those who espouse violent extremism to advance their agenda.
        We talked about, you know, progress in the Holy Land for the
    establishment of a Palestinian state. I'm still optimistic that we can
    get a state defined, clearly understood by both parties before the end
    of my Presidency.
        We talked about Iran, of course. I told the Chancellor my first
    choice, of course, is to solve this diplomatically. All options are on
    the table, and that--but the first choice is to solve this problem by
    working closely together, by sending a dual message, which has been the
    consistent policy of this administration, that if you verifiably suspend
    your enrichment programs, you'll end your isolation, and there's a way
    forward for you.
        The Iranian regime has made a choice so far, and it's a bad choice
    for the Iranian people. The Iranian people deserve better than being
    isolated from the world. They deserve better from having, you know,
    their Government held up as, you know, unsafe and not trustworthy. And
    so the message from the EU Foreign Minister, Solana, will be, there's a
    better choice for you. And we'll see what choice they make.
        We talked about Lebanon and the need for that young democracy to
    survive. We did talk about global climate change, of course. The
    Chancellor started a very good process here in Germany nearly a year
    ago. As a result of her leadership, the United States is working very
    closely with, you know, other major economies to develop a common goal.
    Step one of solving a problem is for nations who actually emit carbon
    dioxide to agree to a goal. And that's just not European nations; that's
    the United States along with China and India. Once that goal is agreed
    to, then develop long-term and interim strategies that are binding
    strategies to meet those goals.
        And so that's the process we're going forward. It turns out, the
    major economies meeting is working concurrently with the

    G-8--meeting at the same time as the

     G-8. And the objective is to be able to announce a long-term binding
    goal at the

    G-8 as well as the major economies meeting, Madam Chancellor, on a
    process that you started.
        We talked about Doha. You know, it's--I'm a free trader. The
    Chancellor is a free trader. The question is, you know, is there a
    commitment to free trade in the face of protectionism? A lot of
    protectionism in the American political scene these days. I'm sure
    there's some protectionism here in Germany. I happen to think it would
    be, you know, disastrous for the world economy and disastrous for poor
    nations if we didn't trade freely and fairly.
        And so one way to make that commitment is for the Doha round to
    succeed. I assured the Chancellor that we're committed to the Doha
    round. We will work hard to achieve it. The Transatlantic Economic
    Council is a very important council that we started together as a way to
    resolve our differences to make sure that trade is fair and free.
        All in all, I--relations with Germany are strong, as I told you. And
    that's good, and that's important. And, Madam Chancellor, I want to
    thank you for your friendship as well.
        Chancellor Merkel. Well, we now have the possibility to take
    questions. Maybe we ought to start with a German correspondent.
        Q. [Inaudible]

    [[Page 820]]

        Chancellor Merkel. You will get a microphone, don't worry.

    Iran/Germany-U.S. Relations

        Q. Mr. President, Madam Chancellor, you spoke about Iran at some
    length. In Israel, the press writes that Israel might well contemplate
    action against this threat that Iran poses to them. What would be your--
    what are you saying, Mr. President, to the Israeli Government? And you
    said, Chancellor, give diplomacy a chance. Madam Chancellor, Mr.
    President, how long would you say diplomacy has to be given a chance?
    Can we exclude that during your term in office military action will be
    taken--will take place against Iran, Mr. President?
        And you, Chancellor, how do you assess the era of George Bush? In
    your party, one of your leading party members said that you will not
    miss George Bush. Will you miss him?
        And a question directed to both of you. Why do you, Mr. President--
    --
        Chancellor Merkel. I think--don't ask for too long.
        Q. ----but why do you--why are you seen as so unpopular, Mr.
    President, in Germany?
        President Bush. I just told you that all options are on the table,
    and my first choice is to solve this diplomatically. And the best way to
    solve it diplomatically is to work with our partners, and that's exactly
    what we're doing. And the message to the Iranian Government is very
    clear: That there's a better way forward than isolation, and that is for
    you to verifiably suspend your enrichment program. And the choice is
    theirs to make. Obviously, we want to solve this issue peacefully, and
    so we'll give diplomacy a chance to work. And I want to thank the
    message that came out of the EU meeting yesterday, which is that if they
    choose to be--continue to be obstinate, there will be additional
    sanctions.
        Chancellor Merkel. We talked just now at some length about this. I
    very clearly pin my hopes on diplomatic efforts. And I believe that
    diplomatic pressure actually already has taken effect. If you look at
    the situation in Iran on the ground, you see that quite clearly. These
    efforts can have a success, but this presupposes, obviously, that the
    global community is sort of unified. Both in the European Union and in
    the world Security Council, we have to continue this common approach. We
    cannot exclude either that there may well be a further round of
    sanctions, and those need to be negotiated in the Security Council of
    the United Nations.
        What's important now is to see to it that this last round of the
    sanctions is actually implemented and can take effect, because the
    effectiveness of sanctions is actually then proved only once they are
    taken seriously. And we are under certain--quite a considerable pressure
    to act together and in concert. And we in the European Union will do
    everything to see to it that this actually happens.
        As regards our relationship, you know that this is a relationship
    characterized by friendship. It's a direct and candid relationship. When
    there are differences of opinion--whenever there were differences of
    opinions, we actually called a spade a spade. It's actually nice about
    the President that you can actually call a spade a spade with him. And
    when, for example, I had--as regards to the climate change discussion
    last year, this year, when we--ever we had differences of opinion, there
    was a way forward; there was a constructive way forward.
        And I think that this initiative on climate by the European Union is
    a very important initiative. The President himself took, actually,
    forward action on this, apart from our military action that we do
    together, for example, in Afghanistan, in the general international
    negotiating processes.
        We also need on other areas between the European Union and the
    United States, not only Germany and the United States, a lot of close
    cooperation in many areas. And there was always greater--great openness
    here between us. This cooperation is fun, I must say. And as the
    President said, it is going to be a sprint to the last day of his
    office. And I trust--often trust that we shall have other similar
    meetings of this kind, candid and open and constructive.
        I'm looking forward to the G-8 summit in Japan. I hope that we can
    make further progress on climate protection, which--talking about
    targets now--that is to say, some kind of binding targets--I think is
    already great success.

    [[Page 821]]

    Iran

        Q. Thank you, sir. Mr. President, back on Iran, can you talk a
    little bit about--well, Iran has signaled that it seems likely to reject
    Mr. Solana's offer, presenting on behalf of you and the EU. What have
    you and your European counterparts agreed upon in terms of new measures
    against Iran if that is indeed the case?
        And to Chancellor Merkel, what is Germany willing to do
    specifically, whether in implementing the sanctions already in place or
    taking further measures beyond those?
        President Bush. That's exactly what we discussed: How do you
    implement sanctions that are already in place, and should we levy
    additional sanctions? Our position is, is that we ought to enforce the
    sanctions that are in place, and we ought to work with our allies to
    levy additional sanctions if they choose--if the Iranians choose to
    continue to ignore the demands of the free world.
        Chancellor Merkel. I personally have always come out very strongly
    in favor of seeing to it that sanctions are decided at the level of the
    United Nations Security Council too, because including China and Russia
    obviously makes for much greater effectiveness of such sanctions. But
    that doesn't exclude that within the European Union too, we may discuss,
    for example, are further possibilities open, for example, in the banking
    sectors? But these further possibilities, these further measures, must
    not lead to a situation where at the greater--the bigger stage, so to
    speak, we then relent, because the more countries are in on this, the
    more the effect--the more effective the impact will be on Iran, for
    example.
        We always think that quite often, on the one hand, people like to
    reject certain measures to be taken, but let us think of the people in
    Iran. This is what is essential. I think these people deserve a much
    more--sort of a better outlook also, as regards their economic
    prospects. And we would hope for the leadership in Iran to finally see
    reason. I mean, just look at the reports of the IAEA. They--it says
    clearly--the report states clearly that certain violations of agreements
    that were entered into have taken place. And we--it means that we need
    to react to this, even if it--with further sanctions, if that's
    necessary.

    War on Terror in Iraq

        Q. Mr. President, on the way to Europe, you gave a very interesting
    interview for the Times newspaper in which you basically said that you
    regret your war rhetoric. Now I'm wondering, do you actually just regret
    your war rhetoric, or do you regret having gone to war with Iraq?
        President Bush. I don't regret it at all. Removing Saddam Hussein
    made the world a safer place. And yes, I told the guy--the guy said,
    ``Now what could you do over?'' First of all, you don't get to do things
    over in my line of work. But I could have used better rhetoric to
    indicate that, one, we tried to exhaust the diplomacy in Iraq; two, that
    I don't like war. But, no, the decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the
    right decision.
        Myers [Steven Lee Myers, New York Times]. I mean--no, no, Eggen [Dan
    Eggen, Washington Post], Eggen, excuse me. I called you yesterday,
    Myers. What's the difference? [Laughter]

    Iraq-U.S. Security Agreement/Germany's Role in Iraq

        Q. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, sir.
        President Bush. Yes, no problem. [Laughter]
        Q. Speaking of Iraq, there are increasing controversy in Iraq over
    the security agreement that's being negotiated. Some top Iraqi officials
    are calling for a dramatic reduction in the U.S. presence. Does this
    concern you that the direction that those negotiations are going in?
        And, Madam Chancellor, does this have any impact on your approach
    towards Iraq?
        President Bush. First of all, I think we'll end up with a strategic
    agreement with Iraq. You know, it's all kinds of noise in their system
    and our system. What eventually will win out is the truth. For example,
    you read stories, perhaps in your newspaper, that the U.S. is planning
    all kinds of permanent bases in Iraq. That's an erroneous story. The
    Iraqis know--will learn it's erroneous too. We'll be

    [[Page 822]]

    there at the invitation of the sovereign Government of Iraq.
        And I strongly support the agreement because I think it helps send a
    clear message to the people of Iraq that, you know, that security you're
    now seeing will continue. And one of the lessons of Iraq is, is that in
    order for a democracy to develop or in order for an economy to develop,
    there has to be a measure of security, which is now happening. And so I
    think we'll get the agreement done.
        And as I said clearly in past speeches, this will not involve
    permanent bases, nor will it bind any future President to troop levels.
    You know, as to--look, Eggen, you can find any voice you want in the
    Iraqi political scene and quote them, which is interesting, isn't it,
    because in the past you could only find one voice, and now you can find
    a myriad of voices. It's a vibrant democracy; people are debating.
    There's all kinds of press in the Iraqi scene, of course, to the benefit
    of the Iraqi society.
        And I deal with Prime Minister Maliki. He appreciates our presence
    there, and he understands that we're returning on success. As the
    situation merits and the situation improves, we're bringing our troops
    home. And I'm pleased with the progress. I don't know whether or not
    it's--the progress has made it here to Germany or not yet, but the
    progress in Iraq is substantial, and it's going to help change the
    Middle East for the better. And I love the idea of having--giving people
    a chance to live in a free society. The blessings of freedom are--
    shouldn't be just in a regional blessing. I believe freedom is
    universal, and I believe freedom yields peace.
        Madam Chancellor.
        Chancellor Merkel. Well, obviously, from the German side too, and
    the European side for that matter, we have every interest, indeed, a
    vital interest in seeing Iraq taking a turn for sort of a good kind of
    development. I invited the Iraqi Prime Minister here to Germany, and I
    think he will pay us the honor of a visit. We have been trying to have
    economic relations. We've also, outside of Iraq, also trained security
    personnel, and we're ready to continue that.
        So everything we can do beyond a sort of military presence,
    everything we can do as regards civilian building up of the country,
    assisting them, is something that we're continuing to doing. And I would
    like to very much look forward to the visit of the Prime Minister. We're
    glad to see progress happening there on the ground, because it's in our
    vital interest to see to it that this region takes a turn for the
    better, and it's in the interest of the region too.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President's news conference began at 11:34 a.m. at Schloss
    Meseberg. In his remarks, he referred to European Union Foreign Minister
    Javier Solana Madariaga; and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of Iraq.
    Chancellor Merkel referred to Outreach 5 (O-5), a group of five
    important emerging economies that works with the G-8. Chancellor Merkel
    and a reporter spoke in German, and their remarks were translated by an
    interpreter.