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Skriven 2007-06-01 23:31:10 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0706014) for Fri, 2007 Jun 1
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Interview of the President by Eberhard Piltz, ZDF, Germany
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary June 1, 2007

Interview of the President by Eberhard Piltz, ZDF, Germany The Map Room

˙˙White House News


May 31, 2007

3:27 P.M. EDT

Q Mr. President, the German presidency of the G8 has put the focus for the
next meeting on climate change and what to do about it. Europeans want
fixed caps. You have been opposed to that all the time. Now you announced a
new proposal. Have you changed your position?

THE PRESIDENT: First, let me, if I might -- I think that my friend, Angela
Merkel, for whom I have great respect, wants to discuss a lot of matters,
whether it be HIV/AIDS, or malaria, or hunger, depravation, as well as
climate change. And I'm looking forward to it. I really am. I've been to
this part of Germany before. It's a beautiful part of your country.

No, I've always taken the issue seriously. I've told the American people,
and those who are willing to listen, that I take climate change seriously.
And today, I talked about a post-Kyoto framework in which the world can
discuss this issue in a serious fashion.

Angela was concerned at one time whether or not I'd be willing to accept a
post-Kyoto framework, and today, I expressed my keen desire to work with
her and other leaders on such a framework. And I also suggested that a good
first step toward achieving serious accomplishments would be to have the
major emitters gather and set a goal, international goal by the end of
2008. And I'm very serious about that. I'm looking forward to working with
G8 partners and others.

I think one of the breakthroughs that I hope we can achieve in Germany at
this G8 is to get India and China as participants in setting an
international goal. And what that goal is, that will determined as a result
of these meetings. But Angela should be proud of leading the international
community toward these kind of breakthroughs.

Q This is the beginning of a process at the end of which there could be
fixed goals?

THE PRESIDENT: There would be a goal, absolutely. And that would be
determined by the major emitters, the major greenhouse gas emitters.
Generally, sometimes people -- some sit around the table and come up with
what they think is the best solution. My view is, is that they need to get
the United States, China, India, the EU, Russia, other countries, as well,
around the table and say, okay, we agree on a goal. And each nation needs
to come up with a way to achieve that goal.

And listen, the truth of the matter is, the best way to achieve, in our
case, a couple of national objectives, energy security and economic
security, as well as being good stewards of the environment, is a strong
push for technologies. And I'll bring a very good record to the G8. We've
spent a lot of money here in the United States on clean technologies. We're
driving a lot of our automobiles now with corn-based ethanol. That's gets
us off of oil, which is good for economic and national security, and it
helps with the environment.

Q Missile defense, sir. The harsh Russian reaction on U.S. plans on missile
defense signals some sort of deterioration in relations. Are we headed back
to colder times?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, that's a really good question. I certainly hope not.
Our message to -- and my personal message to Vladimir Putin is, there's no
need to try to relive the Cold War. It's over. And we don't view Russia as
an enemy. We view Russia as an opportunity to work together. We don't agree
with every decision Russia has made. She doesn't agree with every decision
I have made. But I have worked hard to make sure that we can find common
ground on issues like proliferation and dealing with Islamic radicals, and
Iran, or North Korea.

You know, Vladimir Putin has spoken out very strongly on missile defense.
And so, frankly, I visit with Angela quite often, and one of the things she
talked to me about, is there not a way to open a dialogue with President
Putin on missile defense? So I sent Bob Gates, our Secretary of Defense,
there, and my message to Vladimir Putin, and it will be when I see him at
the G8 in Germany, as well as here in the states, is you don't have
anything to fear. As a matter of fact, this system is aimed at protecting
NATO allies, and if you want to participate, we would like you to
participate with us. We'll be totally transparent in the technologies that
we're deploying. We want you to come and inspect our sites, we want you to
talk to our military. We want to be wide open, because this system is not
geared toward Russia. It's geared toward a rogue state that may be able to
acquire a nuclear weapon.

Q You mentioned Angela Merkel's role. Is there a role for Germany in this
difficult dialogue, as a bridge builder, or something like that?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, it sounds like to me Angela has had some pretty
difficult dialogues herself, as the leader of the EU. And I think the key
thing is for Angela and me to work closely together to have a -- when we
can in dealing with Russia. But each nation has to deal with Russia in her
own terms. I don't need any help dealing with Vladimir Putin, and he
doesn't need any help dealing with me. We're sovereign nations, we have our
positions.

One of the things that I have worked hard to do is to -- and received some
criticism here in the States -- is I've worked hard to have a personal
relationship with Vladimir Putin so that when I discuss things with him, I
can find areas of agreement, but I've also got a relationship such that I
can bring up areas of concern without rupturing relations. And it's -- you
know, some have suggested, well, there's no need to have relations with
Russia. Well, I strongly disagree with that. I think it's important for the
U.S. and Russia to have relations.

Q Sir, how satisfied are you with international burden-sharing in the war
on terror?

THE PRESIDENT: Good, it's good. As a matter of fact, the coalitions are
much bigger than anybody could have envisioned. You know, one of my
concerns, however, is that, just in general, people don't take the threat
seriously. In other words, they say, well, there haven't been many attacks,
there's been a few attacks, but we shouldn't be that worried about it. I'm
deeply worried about it, and I really strongly believe the free world ought
to be worried about radicals and extremists who will kill in the name of an
ideology.

See, I view this as an ideological conflict between people who are willing
to murder and want to spread their vision, and those of us who believe in
liberty and the universality of liberty.

And so my main worry is complacency over the long run. I am pleased with
the cooperation at this point in time. We've got great relations with
Germany. Obviously, if we know of a plot that may be taking place in
Germany, we will share information on an instant basis, and vice versa. And
that ought to be comforting to the German citizens.

Q That was my next question, the state of the relationship between America
and Germany. Are we back to, as your father put it, "partners in
leadership?"

THE PRESIDENT: I think we are. First of all, I had a decent relationship
with Gerhard Schroeder. I never bore any -- look, there was a difference on
Iraq, obviously, it was a clear difference on Iraq. But that didn't cause
me to say, well, Germany isn't worthy as a worthy ally. Quite the contrary.
I felt Germany always was a worthy ally and an important ally for the
United States, and an important player in Europe.

Angela Merkel comes at a different time in our relationship. She's a woman
who I -- for whom I've got great admiration. I don't know if you know this
or not, but she and I, we speak by secure video on a regular basis. And
that's what strategic partners do, and our discussions are important
discussions. She understands the issues very well. She is a -- she's the
kind of person that can get a fellow to talk freely and candidly, and she
speaks the same way to me, and I admire her a lot. I would say our
relations are vital and they're strong right now. And that's the way I
intend to keep it.

Q Thank you very much, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: Glad to have you. Looking forward to coming to your great
country again.

Q I'll be there, too.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, sir. (Laughter.)

Q Thank you very much.

END 3:35 P.M. EDT
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