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Skriven 2006-07-13 23:34:20 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0607134) for Thu, 2006 Jul 13
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President Bush and German Chancellor Merkel Participate in Press
Availability
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
July 13, 2006

President Bush and German Chancellor Merkel Participate in Press
Availability
Town Hall
Stralsund, Germany


˙˙˙˙˙ President's Trip to Germany and Russia

12:34 P.M. (Local)

CHANCELLOR MERKEL: (As translated.) Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to
be able to welcome the President of the United States here to Stralsund yet
again. We had a lengthy conversation right now in the Office of the Mayor.
We felt very much at home here in this beautiful city. We talked about all
of the different issues on the global agenda.

We shall, later on, see a little bit more of the countryside here, of the
city itself. I am really pleased to be able to show to the President of the
United States how matters have developed here, with some problems still
existing, but also with problems we've coped with quite successfully. And
it's such a great thing to have this lovely weather for our visits.

Just now, in our talks, we talked at great length about international
issues. Unfortunately, there are quite a lot of problems that we need to
deal with and for whose solution we feel responsible. The first and
foremost, on top of the agenda is certainly Iran. The international
community actually submitted a very substantial, very fundamental offer to
Iran, starting from the firm view that Iran should not be in possession of
a nuclear weapon, but that, on the other hand, Iran should have -- should
know good development. So far we have not received any sort of reaction
from the Iranian leadership as to how their position is on this offer.

And this is why it was only consistent that yesterday the foreign ministers
decided yet again to show clearly, also through a resolution in the U.N.
Security Council, that should Iran not in any way reply to this offer and
accept this offer, we, unfortunately have to embark on a new course. The
door has not been closed, but Iran must know that those who have submitted
this offer are willing -- and this is the success of yesterday's meeting --
Russia, China, the E3, and the United States of America -- all of them
together are willing to act in concert and to show this clearly through
their action in the Security Council.

We also addressed the very disturbing situation in the Middle East, and it
fills us with concern and we have also stated clearly that everything needs
to be done in order to come back to a peaceful resolution. We need to
remind all of us again how this escalation started, with the kidnaping of a
soldier, through rockets -- for the firing of missiles against Israeli
territory. And we can only urge all parties, appeal to all parties to stop,
to cease violence and to also release the kidnaped soldier, and to stop
this firing of missiles at Israeli territory.

We would like to appeal to the powers in the region to see to it that
further escalation is warded off, and that, first and foremost, the root
causes of this conflict are removed. And only in this way will a
negotiating process become possible again. We have every interest in seeing
the Lebanese government be strengthened and this government being able to
pursue its policies in a sensible and secure environment.

We also addressed matters of trade, global trade. Here we -- and I'm saying
this from a German perspective -- have a common interest in seeing this
world round be a successful one, this world trade round. But that means
there has to be movement on all sides. And we're expecting a reasonable,
sensible offer by the G20, because this is where movement is necessary.
Europe and others have submitted far-reaching proposals, and we would like
to explore every possibility of these negotiations, but that means, as I
said, movement on all sides. And here I see that the G20 has to deliver.

We also addressed those issues that will be on the agenda at the G8 in St.
Petersburg. Here, first and foremost, energy policy, secure energy supply,
was at the top of the agenda. We addressed African issues, Darfur and the
Congo mission. We, as Germans, as you know, have taken out a commitment as
regards Congo. We also, however, see the situation in Darfur as a
threatening one.

We found that there is a lot that we agree on, as regards our common
responsibilities, responsibilities that we see for the two of us the world
over. And I, for one, think that as regards, for example, Iran, this
responsibility ought to be shouldered by more and more countries -- that
goes for Russia, that goes for China. It will only be if we act in concert
that we will be able to vanquish the tyrants, remove dictatorships and
contain those who sponsor terrorism. And Germany would like to give its
contribution to that.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Chancellor, thank you very much. Thanks for the invitation.
This is a beautiful part of the world, and Laura and I are so honored to
come to your constituency and meet some of the friendly people who live
here. I remember you coming to the Oval Office, and you said, if you are
coming to Germany, this is the part of Germany I want you to see. And now I
can see why you suggested it. I'm looking forward to the feast you're going
to have tonight. I understand I may have the honor of slicing the pig.

We had a good discussion -- it's more than a discussion, it's really a
strategy session, is the way I'd like to describe it. We talked about a lot
of subjects. We talked about the Middle East and Iran, and I briefed the
Chancellor on North Korea. We talked about Iraq and Afghanistan, as well.

But when we talked about the issues, it's important for you to understand
we're really trying to figure out how to work together to solve problems.
And I appreciate -- appreciate the Chancellor's judgment a lot. It's an
interesting conversation, you know, when you toss out what may seem to be a
problem that's insoluble, and all of a sudden, two people start thinking
about how to solve it, solve the problem. And that's what we're doing.

You know, on the Iranian issue, for example, the last time that we were
together we talked -- spent a lot of time on Iran, and the Chancellor was
wondering whether or not the United States would ever come to the table to
negotiate with the Iranians. You made that pretty clear to me that you
thought it was something -- an option we ought to consider, which I did.
And I made it clear to the Iranians that if they were to do what they said
they would do, which is to stop enrichment in a verifiable fashion, we're
more than pleased to come back to the table.

There's no question that this issue can be solved diplomatically, and
there's no question that it can be solved diplomatically with Germany and
the United States strategizing as how to solve it. And I want to thank the
Chancellor's leadership on this issue. It's really important for Europe to
speak with one common voice. And it's important for Angela and myself to
work with Vladimir Putin, which we will do at the G8, to continue to
encourage him to join us in saying to the Iranians loud and clear, we're
not kidding, it's a serious issue, the world is united in insisting that
you not have a nuclear weapons program.

We talked about the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli issues with Hezbollah,
and our common desire to work together to help bring peace to that troubled
region.

My attitude is this: There are a group of terrorists who want to stop the
advance of peace. And those of -- who are peace-loving must work together
to help the agents of peace -- Israel, President Abbas, and others -- to
achieve their objective. You got to understand when peace advances, it's in
the terrorists' interests in some cases to stop it. And that's what's
happening.

We were headed toward the road map, things looked positive, and terrorists
stepped up and kidnaped a soldier, fired rockets into Israel. Now we've got
two more kidnapings up north. Hezbollah doesn't want there to be peace. The
militant arm of Hamas doesn't want there to be peace. And those of us who
do want peace will continue to work together to encourage peace.

We talked about North Korea. I assured the Chancellor that I'm committed to
the six-party talks and that the five of us in the six-party talks will
work to convince North Korea to come back to the table. I'm hopeful that we
can get some U.N. action on North Korea.

We did talk about Doha, the trade round, and it's -- look, these trade
rounds are difficult to negotiate with; we've all got our own interests.
But the good news is we do share a common desire to open up markets.
Germany is a great exporter. It's in Germany's interest that tariffs be
reduced around the world. It's in our interests that tariffs be reduced
around the world. And I committed to what I told the world back last
September, we will reduce agricultural subsidies. But all we want is fair
treatment when it comes to market access.

I'm optimistic we can still get something done on the Doha Round. It's
going to take work, but G8 is a good place for us to continue the dialogue,
and we will.

And I guess that's about all -- we discussed a lot of things, in other
words. And thank you for having me. I'm looking forward to that pig
tonight. (Laughter.)

I'll be glad to answer a couple of questions. Do you want to start her off?

Q Chancellor, you spoke about charting a new course as regards a response
to the Iranian conflict. What new course will that be? You talked about the
results of the foreign ministers' meeting where they will appeal to the
Security Council. What sort of action will there be? Again, just a
resolution that only demands certain things, or is the objective a
resolution that will then actually threaten sanctions of a specific nature?
This question is also addressed to the President.

CHANCELLOR MERKEL: Well, essentially what we're talking about here is not a
totally new process, it's just another phase. We have waited patiently
whether Iran will examine this offer and in which way it will react. So far
we have not had any sort of reliable reaction. And for us, the precondition
for talks has always been suspension of the enrichment activities, and a
precondition for talks has always been, well, we will then, under the
circumstances, not react with sanctions. But through this common action, we
are now making clear, because we are not receiving a reply, that there will
be a concerted action and that there will be specific steps. And we're
defining what steps these will be if Iran continues to let us wait with its
response.

So we wanted to demonstrate yet again that the international community is
willing to show resolve to pursue this strategy further in every direction.
Iran has received a proposal that I think is a very substantive one, a very
good one, one that is good for the development of its own country, of its
own interests -- is in its own interests. But if Iran should not reply, if
they think they can prevaricate in the hope of the international community
being split, then this proves them wrong. And this is why I am so happy
about the conclusion of that meeting of the foreign ministers.

PRESIDENT BUSH: This notion that the Iranians must understand that they
can't wait us out and can't hope to split a coalition -- and so the first
step is to go to the United Nations and speak with as common a voice as
possible.

Your question really is, how fast should the process move along? And my
attitude is, the answer to that is, it should move as fast as necessary to
make it effective, which is a non-answer, admittedly. But the truth of the
matter is, diplomacy takes a lot of work, and there are different interests
involved here. We do share a common goal of no nuclear weapon and no
program. And, by the way, we've already sanctioned Iran, so we've got a
different position than others. It's easy for me to espouse sanctions,
since it's already a fait accompli. But we understand other nations have
got -- there's a pace to this diplomacy. And I assured the Chancellor that
the United States will continue to work to make sure the process is steady
as it moves forward.

The key first step is, common goal, which is no nuclear weapon or program,
and united message to the Iranians. I truly think they're trying to wait us
out. They think it's a matter of time before people lose their nerve, or a
matter of time before different interests are able to influence the
process. And I think they're going to be sorely mistaken. I think they're
going to be disappointed that this coalition is a lot firmer than they
think.

It is in our interests to make sure they don't have a weapon. It would be
dangerous if the Iranians had a nuclear weapon. And that's a recognizable
fact now. So I appreciate the Chancellor's position on this.

Yes, Terry.

Q Madam Chancellor, Mr. President. Terry Hunt with the AP. Looking ahead to
St. Petersburg, I'd like to ask you, do you think that Russia is honoring
human rights and democratic freedoms and has a responsible approach to
energy security?

And, Mr. President, were you surprised by President Putin replying to Vice
President Cheney's criticism, saying that it was an "unsuccessful hunting
shot?"

PRESIDENT BUSH: Did I think it was a clever response? It was pretty clever.
Actually, quite humorous -- not to dis my friend, the Vice President. I
don't know, do you want to start with this? I'd be glad to -- (laughter.)
No, I think our job is to continually remind Russia that if he wants to do
-- have good relations, that she ought to share common values with us. We
share common values -- free press is a common value we share. And I've
expressed my opinion to President Putin. You might remember my visit with
him in Slovakia where I was quite pointed in my concerns about whether or
not there is a free and vibrant press in Russia. We share concerns about
the ability for people to go to the town square and express their opinions,
and whether or not dissent is tolerated, whether or not there's active
political opposition.

And so I will continue to carry that message. My own view of dealing with
President Putin, though, is that nobody really likes to be lectured a lot,
and if you want to be an effective person, what you don't go is scold the
person publicly all the time; that you remind him where we may have a
difference of opinion, but you do so in a respectful way, so you can then
sit down and have a constructive dialogue.

And that's exactly how I'm going to continue my relations with President
Putin. I'll be firm about my belief in certain democratic institutions;
I'll be firm in my belief about the need for there to be an active civil
society and NGOs should be allowed to function in Russia without
intimidation. But I'm also going to be respectful of the leader of an
important country. And I may not tell you exactly what I talked to him
about in private. And I would hope that he wouldn't tell you what he talks
to me about in private.

But, yes, we've got issues. Listen, we've got common problems that we need
to work together to solve -- North Korea and Iran are two. And we've also
got -- I hope he continues to understand that it's in his country's
interest to implement the values that Germany and Russia -- Germany and the
United States share.

CHANCELLOR MERKEL: Well, first as to the issue of energy security, I can
safely say that, looking at Germany over the past few decades, Russia has
always proved to be a reliable supplier of energy. They have always abided
by the treaties that we signed. But we would wish -- and I've addressed
this with the Russian President -- that they actually bring the energy
charter to its completion, that is to say, commit themselves to it, because
then we would have a greater degree of certainty and security that we
understand our common commitments on this.

As regards -- a strategic link between Russia and Europe, obviously, is of
tremendous importance. It's important because we need energy supplies from
Russia. And this is why we shall work towards Russia accepting that
charter, that energy charter, so that we get a legitimate charter that is
also based on contracts. But again, it has to be said that Russia has
always been a reliable supplier.

As to democracy and human rights, during my visit to Russia I met with a
number of representatives of non-governmental organizations. We discussed
what is desirable, what ought to be there as regards Russia's further
development, and what needs to be addressed, time and again, and let me
tell you that I talked to the President about these issues.

I think also we ought to have an open, confidential dialogue. We should not
sort of speak loudly and in public about certain issues; that we have
different ideas about how a pluralist society, a democratic society ought
to work; that there ought to be a strong opposition is certainly one of the
realities of life. There are differences of opinion between Russia and the
European Union. We would wish for Russia to embark on a path that leads to
a lively and very pluralistic political landscape, that they enter into a
dialogue with their civil society, which is at yet not there, for many
reasons.

But we would like to share with them also the experience that we've made
with democracy, that pluralism in a democracy, last but not least, actually
enhances stability in a country. And that is an experience that we have
made, and that is a very strong force which drives reform processes
forward. For example, we've seen that in German unity. It's sometimes
complicated to bring those decision-making processes forward in a
democracy, but then you receive the necessary legitimacy. And that is the
experience that informs us in our talks.

Q A question addressed to you both. You talked about the Middle East, and
what is your assessment of the military action of Israel in Lebanon? The
French Foreign Minister already said it is disproportionate. Does that give
you cause for Europe or the United States to intervene?

And apart from the pig, Mr. President, what sort of insights have you been
able to gain as regards East Germany? -- (inaudible) --

CHANCELLOR MERKEL: Neither have I, but apparently a camera team was there
when it was shot. So apparently it is already there, physically.
(Laughter.) I hope it's actually roasting; otherwise we won't be able to
eat it tonight.

Well, as to the violence in the Middle East, particularly as regards
Lebanon, I think that one needs to be very careful to make a clear
distinction between the root causes and the consequences of something. So
we started here from a case of kidnaping of a soldier, and one of the other
root causes also is the activity of Hezbollah. And it's most important for
the Israeli government to be strengthened, but it is also clearly shown
that these incursions, such as the kidnaping of soldiers, is not
acceptable.

And the parties to that conflict obviously have to use proportionate means,
but I am not at all for sort of blurring the lines between the root causes
and the consequences of an action. There has to be a good reaction now, not
from the Israeli government, but from those who started these attacks in
the first place.

PRESIDENT BUSH: -- to help calm the situation, we've got diplomats in the
region. Secretary of State Rice, who is here, is on the phone talking to
herf counterparts. I'll be making calls.

I gave you my initial impression earlier, and that is that it's a sad
situation where -- when there is a very good chance for there to be a
two-state solution enacted -- that is two states living side-by-side in
peace -- it's really sad where people are willing to take innocent life in
order to stop that progress. As a matter of fact, it's pathetic.

And having said that, Israel has a right to defend herself. Every nation
must defend herself against terrorist attacks and the killing of innocent
life. It's a necessary part of the 21st century.

Secondly, we -- whatever Israel does, though, should not weaken the Siniora
government in Lebanon. We're concerned about the fragile democracy in
Lebanon. We've been working very hard through the United Nations and with
partners to strengthen the democracy in Lebanon. The Lebanese people have
democratic aspirations, which is being undermined by the actions and
activities of Hezbollah.

Thirdly, Syria needs to be held to account. Syria is housing the militant
wing of Hamas. Hezbollah has got an active presence in Syria. The truth of
the matter is, if we really want there to be -- the situation to settle
down, the soldiers need to be returned, and President Assad needs to show
some leadership toward peace.

To answer your question about the involvement, we will be involved
diplomatically, and are involved diplomatically.

Steve.

Q Thank you, sir. Just to follow up --

PRESIDENT BUSH: Follow up on?

Q On both of these. Does it concern you that the Beirut airport has been
bombed? And do you see a risk of triggering a wider war?

And on Iran, they've, so far, refused to respond. Is it now past the
deadline, or do they still have more time to respond?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I thought you were going to ask me about the pig.

Q I'm curious about that, too. (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT BUSH: The pig? I'll tell you tomorrow after I eat it.

The Iranian issue is -- will be taken to the U.N. Security Council. We said
that we have -- to the Iranians, we said, here's your chance to move
forward, and we'd like a response in a reasonable period of time. And we
meant what we said. One of the important things about moving toward the
Security Council, it shows that when we say something, we mean it. In order
for -- to help solve these problems, you just can't say things and not mean
it. And so when we spoke, we said, reasonable period of time; weeks not
months -- that's what we explained to the Iranians. They evidently didn't
believe us. And so now we're going to go to the Security Council, and we're
united in doing that.

Q Their deadline has passed --

PRESIDENT BUSH: Their deadline passed, right. That's why we're going to the
U.N. Security Council.

Q -- have time?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Oh, they've got plenty of time. I mean, the U.N. Security
Council, they've got time to react. They've got time to make a decision. By
the way, it's their choice. We've made our choice. It's the Iranian choice.
And as Angela mentioned, there was an offer put on the table, a reasonable
offer for them to make the choice as to the way forward.

And our choice is, look, we want to have relations with you, but you're not
going to have a weapon or the capacity to make a weapon. It would be
incredibly dangerous if we -- five years from now, Iran shows up with a
nuclear weapon and threatens people in the neighborhood, and they're going
to say, where were you? What were you doing during that period of time? And
that's what we're working on.

And so time -- that's -- when we said, weeks not months, we meant it. And
now we're heading to the U.N. Security Council. They can show up any time
and say, wait a minute, now we'd like to go back and negotiate, now -- take
a look at the interests. We're not precluding any further negotiations with
the Iranians.

In order for us to come to the table, however, what they must do is
verifiably show that they're not enriching, like they said they would do
earlier. This is not a -- this is not a new statement by them. They agreed
to this in Paris. All we're asking them to do is to honor what they said
they would do in the past in a verifiable fashion.

The rest of your four-part question?

Q Sorry about that, sir.

PRESIDENT BUSH: That's okay, it just -- it's a bad habit.

Q Does the Beirut -- the attack on the Beirut airport, does that concern
you, and are you concerned about triggering a wider Middle East war?

PRESIDENT BUSH: As I mentioned, my biggest concern is whether or not
actions taken will weaken the Siniora government. Democracy in Lebanon is
an important part of laying a foundation for peace in that region. We have
worked really hard to get Syria out of Lebanon -- U.N. Resolution 1559, and
it's follow-up Resolution 1680 were manifestations of the work of the
international community to get Syria out of Lebanon. We've always felt that
a democracy in Lebanon is important for the Lebanese people, and it's
important for the region.

So the concern is that any activities by Israel to protect herself will
weaken that government. And we have made that -- or topple that government
-- and we've made it clear in our discussions.

Having said all that, people need to protect themselves. There are
terrorists who will blow up innocent people in order to achieve tactical
objectives. In this case, the objective is to stop the advance of peace --
which is a remarkable statement, isn't it? Willing to kill to stop peace.

We have a good chance to get a two-state solution, two democracies living
side-by-side in peace. It is a clear and achievable vision. There is a way
forward called the road map to achieve that vision. What will prevent that
vision from being achieved is -- are terrorist activities, and that's what
you're seeing taking place.

Thank you all.

CHANCELLOR MERKEL: Thank you.

END 1:03 P.M. (Local)

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