Text 1142, 192 rader
Skriven 2005-06-27 23:33:30 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0506271) for Mon, 2005 Jun 27
====================================================
===========================================================================
President Welcomes German Chancellor to the White House
===========================================================================

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 27, 2005

President Welcomes German Chancellor to the White House
The Oval Office

President's Remarks
"); //--> view


11:45 A.M. EDT

PRESIDENT BUSH: Opening statements and we'll answer two questions a side.

It's my honor to welcome the Chancellor of an ally and a friend back to the
Oval Office. We have had and will continue to have a frank and open
discussion about very important issues. Germany is a very important country
in Europe, and Germany is a friend of the United States. We talked about
the EU, we talked about the United Nations, we talked about Iraq, we've
talked about how to spread freedom and peace. We talked about Iran. I told
the Chancellor how much I appreciated the German government working with
France and Great Britain to send a very strong unified message to the
Iranians.

Our agenda is wide-ranging because we -- both countries assume
responsibility to help the poor and feed the hungry and help spread freedom
and peace. And I want to thank the Chancellor for his willingness to come
over, and I want to thank him for such a good discussion.

CHANCELLOR SCHRÖDER: (As translated.) It is, indeed, true that we have
covered all the -- topics that the President has just mentioned and had
intense conversations on all of those. I've gone in to say that it is now
important in Europe that we go in and adopt our budget for the period from
'06 to 2013. And I've obviously also emphasized how important it is for us
to continue with the constitutional process in Europe.

I was also very pleased to hear -- and that was why I said that to the
President, as well -- that it was so helpful that he said he very much
would hope to see a strong, united Europe.

Well, as you can see, we have covered a range of international topics here
together. I have very much pointed out to the President what Germany does
do around the world, what Germany does do in Afghanistan, for example, what
Germany does contribute towards the stabilization of the situation in Iraq.
I have mentioned our training schemes in the Emirates, et cetera, et
cetera. I've talked about the work, the stabilizing work that Germany is
doing in the Balkans, for example. And I have mentioned that since we're
doing all these things internationally, we would very much hope that at
some point in time we could also have a right to representation on the
Security Council if there were the space. So I said very much we're doing
lots of things, so hopefully we'll be involved with deciding things, as
well.

PRESIDENT BUSH: We'll answer some questions here. First, starting with the
American side. Excuse me for a minute.

Q Hi. Thank you, Mr. President. Do you oppose Germany's bid for a Security
Council seat?

PRESIDENT BUSH: We oppose no country's bid for the Security Council. We
agree that there needs to be U.N. Security Council reform. The U.N. also
needs broader reform than just the Security Council. There needs to be
management reform. There needs to be reform of the Human Rights Commission.
There needs to be broad reform. And part of that reform is the U.N.
Security Council, and I want to thank Gerhard's frank discussion about
Security Council reform. But we oppose no country.

Do you want to call on somebody?

CHANCELLOR SCHRÖDER: We are very much in agreement that this reform is duly
and urgently needed, and it's always been clear that it is first the reform
and then the candidacies to potential seats. And obviously, then, the
process will have to continue.

And if you ask me about whether I see differences, then I'd possibly say
there are differences in the timing. We were pushing to have things
happening very quickly. But I was very pleased, indeed, to hear that there
was no opposition vis- -vis Germany, as such, from the President.

Q Mr. President, Chancellor Schroder is seeking for early elections in
Germany. And what is your position? Have you wished him luck for this
election? (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT BUSH: He's lucky he's got short elections. (Laughter.) I still
remember my election -- month after month after month of campaigning.

We haven't talked about the elections yet. The Chancellor is -- you know,
he's a seasoned political campaigner, and if there's elections, I'm
confident he knows what he's going to do out there. But we have not talked
about the elections yet.

As we say in Texas, this won't be his first rodeo. (Laughter.)

Steve.

CHANCELLOR SCHRÖDER: I just have to add at this point, it is important that
our national German President hasn't even yet decided whether we are going
to have these elections. So by that very rule, we shouldn't be discussing
them here as a topic.

But when it comes to elections, I think there's this wonderful saying from
back home in Lower Saxony where I come from which says, "Ducks are fat at
the bottom end." (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT BUSH: Steve.

Q Iran has a new leader -- do you think this will alter the climate of the
nuclear talks? And what's your message to the new leader?

TRANSLATOR: I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Iran has a new leader. My message is -- to the Chancellor
is that we continue working with Great Britain, France and Germany to send
a focused, concerted, unified message that says the development of a
nuclear weapon is unacceptable. And a process which would enable Iran to
develop a nuclear weapon is unacceptable. And I want to again appreciate
the EU 3's strong unification and message. The message hasn't changed.

Q Was the election free and fair?

PRESIDENT BUSH: It's never free and fair -- free and fair when a group of
people, unelected people, get to decide who's on the ballot.

CHANCELLOR SCHRÖDER: Well, firstly, I couldn't agree more with this
message. We are going to continue being tough and firm on all of that. The
message must stay very crystal clear, and it is.

And, secondly, the new President has emphasized that he wants the talks to
continue, so here we are.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Final question.

Q Mr. President, sometimes you praise what Germany is doing in Afghanistan
to help that country. How would you qualify what it is doing in Iraq to
help the reconstruction? Maybe you even could be so free to label it as a
part of a reconstruction coalition of the willing?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I think that Germany's contribution in Iraq -- oh, sorry,
do you want to answer?

CHANCELLOR SCHRÖDER: No, it's okay.

PRESIDENT BUSH: You understand? Okay. Very good English, by the way.
(Laughter.)

Germany's contribution in Iraq is important. The key to success in Iraq is
a -- is for the Iraqis to be able and capable of defending their democracy
against terrorists. And the training mission that the Chancellor referred
to is an important part of helping the Iraqis defend themselves.

Parallel with the security track is a political track. Obviously, the
political track has made progress this year when 8 million people went to
the polls and voted. And now they must write a constitution and have the
constitution approved, then have elections later on this year for a
government elected under the new constitution.

And part of the political process is not only the elections and the
constitution, but part of the political process is the reconstruction
programs, of which Germany is an important part. And I want to thank the
Chancellor and his government.

A free and democratic Iraq in the heart of the Middle East will help the
United States and help Germany, because we have been -- we will have laid a
foundation of peace for generations to come, and I appreciate the --
appreciate your focus.

CHANCELLOR SCHRÖDER: There can be no question a stable and democratic Iraq
is in the vested interest of not just Germany, but also Europe. And that is
why we have committed ourselves to that topic right from the start,
actually very much from the beginning. We were the ones that jumped at the
idea of having a debt relief initiative right at the start, and we are also
the ones who have gone in with practical hands-on help. We've gone in and
started training of homegrown Iraqi security forces and admin people right
away. By now, we've trained a good 1,200 people, about 50 percent of them
security staff, and the other 50 percent admin advisers that help with the
reconstruction of institutions from within. And this training happens in
the Emirates.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, thank you all for coming.

END 12:00 P.M. EDT

===========================================================================
Return to this article at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/06/20050627-1.html

 * Origin: (1:3634/12)