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Skriven 2007-06-10 23:30:56 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0706101) for Sun, 2007 Jun 10
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President Bush Participates in Joint Press Availability with Prime Minister
of Albania, Dr. Sali Berisha
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary June 10, 2007

President Bush Participates in Joint Press Availability with Prime Minister
of Albania, Dr. Sali Berisha Courtyard Council of Ministers Tirana, Albania

˙˙White House News

˙˙˙˙˙ G8 Summit 2007

12:40 P.M. (Local)

PRIME MINISTER BERISHA: (As translated.) Today is a beautiful day. Today is
a great day, historic for all Albanians. Among us is the greatest and most
distinguished guest we have ever had in all times, the President of the
United States of America, the leading country of the free world, George W.
Bush.; his lady, Mrs. Laura Bush, and their close aides. For me, it's a
great honor, and a special pleasure to thank them with gratitude and extend
the most heartfelt welcome, in this historic visit, the first visit ever of
a United States President in Albania.

Thank you heartily, Mr. President, from the bottom of our hearts,
fulfilling ardent and long-awaited wish of all Albanians to have a special
guest in their home. Tungjatjeta -- an Albanian word, means "may you have a
long life." This is a most traditional greeting of Albanians that I chose
to greet you on their behalf, on behalf of Albanians. Welcome to Albania,
President Bush.

Mr. President, you are, today, an honorable guest and friend of a nation
whose gratefulness and friendship towards your great nation and your
country have been deeply embodied in the historic memory and in the
conscience of its citizens. No other nation in the region or in Europe has
ever gone through so much suffering, ethnic cleansing, racism, partitions,
occupations, and severe dictatorships as we Albanians have. History was
unjust and very severe to us.

We have been blessed, however. We have won in all our efforts to defend our
identity in Western oriented national vocation to emerge from the age of
oppression to the age of dignity, from the age of darkness to the age of
freedom. We have won because our just cause has always had the powerful
support of the U.S.A., the greatest and the most precious friend of
Albanian nation. God bless your great nation.

At the beginning of last century, President Wilson did not allow the
partition of the newly proclaimed Albanian independent state. The U.S.A.
recognized Albania 85 years ago. Your visit on this anniversary is its most
beautiful crown, the climax of excellent, friendly relations between our
two countries.

Afterwards, President Truman made big efforts to free Albanians from their
Orwellian dictatorship. At the outset of the '90s, President George Herbert
Bush and his administration provided an exceptional contribution to the
fall of Berlin Wall, but the fall of this wall in Tirana, as well, opening
the doors of freedom for Albanians.

President Bill Clinton led the North Atlantic Alliance in the fight for
Kosovo liberation from the barbarian occupation. And today, Kosovo citizens
find in your administration, Mr. President, the greatest hope and support
for their project of a free, independent, and integrated state in Europe.
Centuries ago, until our present days, hundreds and thousands of Albanians
migrated to your great country. They are loyal and honorable citizens of
the United States who have always loved, and still love the nation and the
country of origin. They have -- (inaudible) -- a lot, they have kept a life
of hope and freedom for Albanians always on.

In your presence, I'd like today to extend the most cordial greetings and
my deepest gratitude. The friendly feelings towards your nation and your
great country, the proud Americanism of Albanians are indeed a matter of
their national pride. Albanians are very proud about the friendship with
the U.S.A., and the cooperation they have with your nation in the war
against international terrorism, of their presence on your side in Iraq,
Afghanistan. I assure you that they will be on your side wherever their
modest, but resolute contribution is needed against international
terrorism, this most dangerous enemy of free people.

Above all, Albanians feel proud of their friendship with your nation
because we share the values and the principles of freedom and
market-oriented democracy. In this road, they have received an exceptional
overall political, economic, financial, and technical assistance provided
by the U.S. and the EU countries and other friendly countries, for which we
remain truly, always grateful.

Sixteen years ago, Secretary James Baker brought to Albanians the message
from the country of freedom, "Freedom works." Today, after 16 years, I can
say that despite the hardships experienced by our country, freedom for
Albanians has worked more than any other nation. Albania, a country of
denied freedoms and human rights, banned the constitution, a country of
hyper collectivization and true human slavery, and the most extreme
isolation, today is the country of political, economic, consolidated
pluralism, of excellent religious centers, of functioning, working
democracy. It is the country with a fast economic growth, with the private
sector accounting for 80 percent of GDP. And the income per capita has
increased 20 times more.

Albania is the country that signed -- that is implementing successfully
their stabilization association agreement with the EU, and received the
message from Riga summit on the possibility of receiving an invitation for
NATO membership. It is a country that welcomes today the President of the
United States of America, George W. Bush.

God bless Albanians. Ladies and gentlemen, in our talks with President
Bush, we have discussed our excellent, friendly bilateral relations and
their further development. I informed him of other reforms launched by my
government, and their results are strengthening the rule of law, the zero
tolerance fight against organized crime, the valuable assistance that law
enforcement agencies from the United States and other friendly countries
are providing to this end. We talked about the fight against corruption and
the much-expected assistance that a series of projects funding by the
Millennium Challenge Account, related to e-taxes, e-procurement and
one-stop shop, offer in this regard, and other reforms in the judicial
system, police, education, et cetera.

I briefed President Bush on the significant reforms that we are undertaking
in the view of turning Albania into a very attractive country for U.S.A.
and foreign investors -- other foreign investors. We hope that this visit
will encourage others.

A special place was the question of Albania's membership into NATO as the
main priority of Albania. In this regard, we have decided to increase our
defense budget to 2 percent of GDP, to triple our presence in Afghanistan,
and implement with seriousness the requirements of the ninth MAP cycle. In
addition, let me mention that 90 percent of Albanians support Albania's
membership to NATO. The support of President Bush and his administration is
of a vital importance to Albania for membership into NATO as the most
secure future.

We discussed about the situation in the region. After this press
conference, we'll continue the discussion in the framework of Adriatic
Charter A3, with the very good friends of Albania, the Prime Minister of
Croatia Ivo Sanader, and Prime Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski.

Special attention in our discussion was given to solution of the final
status of Kosovo in compliance with the proposal of President Ahtisaari for
its independence as a -- gradual independence as a precondition for
stability and peace in the region.

Ladies and gentlemen, in December 1990, students and citizens in Tirana
took to the streets and the squares, shouting, "USA"; "Long live President
Bush." We want Albania like the rest of Europe. President Bush visit
Albania in 2004 and 2006, and Mr. Jimmy Carter before. And after this
visit, Mr. President, our country will be visited by other Presidents of
the United States. But in the memory of Albanian citizens, the great honor
that you made to them with your first visit of a United States President in
office in Albania.

Thank you very much, Mr. President Bush, great friend of my nation.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Mirdita. (Laughter.) Thank you for having me. Prime
Minister, thank you for your hospitality. I thank the President for his
hospitality, as well.

I'm proud to be the first American sitting President to visit Albania. It's
a great honor to represent my country here. I've really been looking
forward to this trip, and so has my wife, Laura. The reason being is that I
love to come to countries that are working hard to establish the
institutions necessary for a democracy to survive. I'm particularly pleased
to be here in Albania, in a country that has casted off the shackles of a
very repressive society and is now showing the world what's possible. And I
congratulate the people of Albania, and I thank you for the warm welcome we
received on your streets.

We had a very good discussion. I learned a lot about your ct. I learned the
fact that this is a country that embraces the markets, is willing to do
necessary reforms to make sure that the small business person survives, the
entrepreneur is strong, that the tax code is fair. I'm impressed with the
desire of the government to fight corruption, to make it clear that the
government is of the people, that the government can be trusted by the
people, by routing out those who would use their exalted positions to steal
from the taxpayers. I appreciate that kind of commitment, Mr. Prime
Minister.

I appreciate the fact that Albania is a model of religious tolerance. And I
appreciate the fact that Albania is a trusted friend and a strong ally. And
this visit today hopefully will send a signal to the people of Albania, you
can count on America, just like America can count on you, to do hard work
necessary to spread freedom and, therefore, peace.

We discussed a lot of issues -- we discussed Iraq and Afghanistan. I thank
the Prime Minister and his government for putting troops in harm's way.
Albanians know the horror of tyranny. And so they're working to bring the
hope of freedom to people who haven't known it. And that's a noble effort,
and a sacrifice. And I appreciate your sacrifice.

Albania has 120 of its elite commandos stationed in Iraq. I had the
privilege of meeting some of the Albanian soldiers. Here's what I told
them: I said, first of all, you are respected by our military. Your
soldiers are good at what they do. They're well-trained, they're
disciplined, they're courageous. I told them that the United States
appreciates their contribution. So do the Iraqi citizens -- and also told
them, when they went home, to make sure that they told their wives and
their children, thanks on behalf of the United States of America, as well.
The families are just as much a part of a soldier's life as the soldier,
himself.

And so, Mr. Prime Minister, we thank you very much for your commitment to
freedom in Iraq, as well as Afghanistan. The Prime Minister has announced
that Albania will deploy 120 additional troops to Afghanistan this summer.
These are two vital fronts on the war on terror, and the United States has
a strong friend in Albania in this war. And I thank you.

We also talked about NATO and Albania's aspirations to join the NATO
alliance. I commended the Prime Minister for the progress that Albania has
made in defense reform -- in other words, part of becoming a member of NATO
requires a reformation of the defense forces. And Albania is working hard
to do that, as well as to meet performance-based standards for membership.
In other words, you're just not accepted into membership; you just can't
say, I want to join; there are certain standards that are expected to be
met.

And so I talked to the Prime Minister, first of all, about my deep desire
for Albania to join NATO. I support it. I also told him that there needs to
be additional political and military reforms, progress against organized
crime and corruption. And he understands that. He said, we're committed.
That's what the Prime Minister said -- Albania is committed to meeting
those standards. And I said, we're committed to help you.

And it's very important for the political figures here in this country to
understand what's at stake. The politicians have got to work together now
to meet the standards. They've got to set aside political differences and
focus on what's right for Albania. If the Albanian people want to join
NATO, then the politicians have got to work to meet the standards.

And so I call upon all in the government, government and the opposition, to
do what is necessary to join NATO, and we'll support you and help you. I
think it's best that Albania be a NATO ally. I look forward to welcoming
you some day into NATO.

We also talked about Kosovo. I'm a strong supporter of the Ahtisaari plan.
I said yesterday in Rome, the time is now. A fellow asked me a question,
well, when does this end? When does the process end? I said, the time is
now. In other words, I put a sense of -- I made it clear that -- two
things, one that we need to get moving; and two, that the end result is
independence. And we spent a lot of time talking about this issue here. The
Prime Minister was anxious to hear my views. He wanted to make sure that
what I said was clear for everybody, and what I said was: Independence is
the result; let's get the process moving.

Now, we want to make sure that Serbia hears that the United States supports
their aspirations for closer integration with the West. That means, working
with the United States in a bilateral fashion. It also means potential
membership of NATO, for example. I urged the Prime Minister to work with
the leaders in Kosovo to maintain calm during these final stages, of Kosovo
final status process. He assured me he would. He's got good contacts there,
and Kosovars look to the Prime Minister of Albania and the President for
Albania for leadership, and they're willing to provide it.

And so we discussed a lot of issues, and I must say I was very impressed by
the conversations, impressed with the vision, and want to help. The United
States wants to be a good ally and friend.

Again, I thank you again for the hospitality, and I know you're proud of
the historic progress that you have made. May God bless the people of
Albania, and, of course, the people of the United States. (Applause.)

A couple of questions here. He's calling on you.

Q You guaranteed President Bush that you will talk with the Kosovo leaders
concerning the proposal of President Sarkozy that may lead to the Kosovars
-- that they may self-proclaim independence. And what would the attitude of
Albania be in this case? And did you touch this factor, this opposition
with President Bush?

PRIME MINISTER BERISHA: We discussed at large about Kosovo with President
Bush. What I may publicly transmit to the leadership and the citizens of
Kosovo is that their project has the full understanding, good understanding
and support, full support, of President Bush. And in this context, as
before, now, as well, I don't expect and I don't advise any movement. On
the contrary. I suggest persistence and calmness, cool bloodedness. Kosovo
is in the heart of President Bush.

PRESIDENT BUSH: What's important is for the people of Kosovo to know that
the United States and Albania strongly supports independence, as did most
of the people in the G8.

President Sarkozy's recommendation was to try to provide some time for
people to possibly work out differences. However, what would be acceptable
to the United States, and I think most people in the G8, was that at the
end of any process there be certain independence. That's what's important
to know.

And that's -- the issue is whether independence or not; we strongly believe
in independence. And then the question is, the diplomatic moves necessary
to achieve that. I happen to believe it's important to push the process
along, the time is now. And by that I meant that Secretary Rice will be
moving hard to see if we can't reach an agreement. And if not, we're going
to have to move. Independence is the goal, and that's what the people of
Kosovo need to know.

Thank you for your question.

Toby.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. Yesterday you called for a deadline for U.N.
action on Kosovo. When would you like that deadline set? And are you at all
concerned that taking that type of a stance is going to further inflame
U.S. relations with Russia? And is there any chance that you're going to
sign on to the Russian missile defense proposal?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thanks. A couple of points on that. First of all, I don't
think I called for a deadline. I thought I said, time -- I did? What
exactly did I say? I said, "deadline"? Okay, yes, then I meant what I said.
(Laughter.) The question is whether or not there is going to be endless
dialogue on a subject that we have made up our mind about. We believe
Kosovo ought to be independent.

The G8 discussions were all aimed at determining whether or not there is a
way to make this acceptable to Russia. The ideal would be for Russia to
say, okay, we understand and we accept this conclusion, as well. And,
obviously, they're not there yet. And, therefore, the reason why I said
there needs to be movement is that there just cannot be continued drift,
because I'm worried about expectations not being met in Kosovo. That's what
I meant. And, therefore, we'll push the process.

President Putin made an interesting proposal on missile defense for Europe.
I suggested -- and I've made an interesting proposal for missile defense in
Europe, by the way, all aimed at protecting Europe, not aimed at Russia.
The reason I did is because the true threats we'll be facing will be from
rogue nations that may end up with a deliverable weapon. So I thought it
was in the interest of peace that we have the capacity to intercept such a
missile, and, therefore, need to proceed.

And President Putin said, well, I think I've got an idea that makes sense.
And this is the joint use of radar in Azerbaijan. I said, well, why don't
we look at it? But during the discussions it became apparent that he also
had doubts about the proposal I made as to its effectiveness or necessity.
And I said, well, you put out an idea, and I put an idea, why don't we both
get a group together to discuss our relative ideas in a transparent
fashion; get people from your foreign ministry and we'll get people from
the State Department and our respective defense departments and militaries
to sit at the table and to share different ideas, to share ideas about
technologies on how to intercept a missile, and radar positioning to make
sure that there's effective coverage.

I thought his statement was an important statement to make. In other words,
he recognized that there's an opportunity to work together. That's what
friends do, by the way. Russia is not our enemy. As I said repeatedly, the
Cold War is over, and now we're dealing with threats in the 21st century.
And I appreciated his recognition that there could be an opportunity to
work together to deal with those threats. I viewed it as a very positive
gesture, and looking forward to continuing discussions on this very subject
in July when he comes to Maine.

PRIME MINISTER BERISHA: I would like to add for the citizens of Kosovo and
its leadership, in my discussions I found out consciousness and awareness
of President Bush of the consequences of prolongation on -- unacceptable
prolongation around justifiable -- prolongation of the process. And in this
context, they should be clear that the President is aware of these
consequences and is not willing them to be.

Q In your meeting with President Bush, what important place was occupied by
NATO membership -- Albania being a member of NATO? Do you assure us that
you have won the support of President Bush for quick integration of
membership into NATO? And further, do you observe differences in speed of
Adriatic 3 countries?

PRIME MINISTER BERISHA: I can assure you totally that President Bush and
his administration support powerfully Albania's project for full membership
into NATO. In this framework, I would say that this help and support has
been of extraordinary importance in all reforms of democratic institutions
of the armed forces, and in cooperation in the framework of NATO, during
these years.

Of course, the invitation is defined to be given on the basis of
performance. We are determined to take any decision, adopt any law,
undertake any reform that would make Albania suitable to receive the
invitation.

I think that the cooperation with Adriatic Charter A3 was very fruitful and
very successful. Our three countries have common things in specifics. If we
take the level where from which Albania started, and it's progress, it is
one of the most evaluated, appreciated.

Second, Albania has a loyal cooperation with NATO for 15 years. I have to
stress one moment, that in '99, when Milosevic cleansed 1 million Albanians
from their homes, thousands of the area's homes, the friendly countries
built camps to receive the refugees. But about 500,000 Albanian families
turned their houses into tents of welcome for NATO. You may say they did it
for Albanians. Absolutely, yes. But no one can prove that Albanians
wouldn't do that for every citizen of another ethnicity who would be in
need like the Kosovo people were at that time. Ninety-three percent of
Albanians support membership into NATO. We have our own advantages.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. You've said that it's time to move the Kosovo
-- the Ahtisaari plan forward. What specifically are you going to do to
accomplish that, and at what point do you say, it's not working? And then
what?

PRESIDENT BUSH: What you do is you get your diplomats working with Russian
diplomats, as well as EU diplomats, to see if there is not common ground.
In other words, there has to be an effort to see if we can't find a way for
everybody to say, well, it's a good idea. And if you end up being in a
position where you don't, at some point in time, sooner rather than later,
you've got to say enough is enough, Kosovo is independent. And that's the
position we've taken.

The people of Kosovo need to know that it is a solid, firm position. And
even though there's diplomacy and talks, hopefully trying to find a way
forward to accommodate Russia and Serbia and the EU -- by the way, most
people in the EU are very much in favor. The EU position is for the
Ahtisaari plan. They just hope that there is some way that we can reach an
accommodation with a variety of interests, so that the transition to
independence will be as smooth and easy as possible. But if it's apparent
that that's not going to happen in a relatively quick period of time, in my
judgment, we need to put forward the resolution. Hence, deadline.

Thank you all for your attention. Mr. Prime Minister, it was a great press
conference. Proud to be the first American sitting President to actually
hold a press conference on Albanian soil, as well. Thank you very much.
(Applause.)

END 1:07 P.M. (Local)
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