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Skriven 2007-06-11 23:31:04 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0706111) for Mon, 2007 Jun 11
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President Bush Participates in Joint Press Availability with President
Parvanov of Bulgaria
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary June 11, 2007

President Bush Participates in Joint Press Availability with President
Parvanov of Bulgaria Archaeological Museum Sofia, Bulgaria

˙˙White House News

˙˙˙˙˙ G8 Summit 2007

10:35 A.M. (Local)

PRESIDENT PARVANOV: (As translated.) Distinguished members of the
delegation, ladies and gentlemen, I'd like briefly to outline the results
of the discussions we just had and just closed with the President of the
United States, George Bush. I must say this is a very significant visit.
This is rather proof, very cogent proof of the fact that our two countries'
relations are in their best state now in more than a hundred years of their
establishment.

I am happy we had a chance today to draw the balance sheet of what has
happened in the interim since the meeting, our visit there in Washington in
October 2005. And indeed, the balance sheet is definitely positive. The
United States and Bulgaria continue to be good, reliable partners within
NATO, within the peacekeeping missions in different parts of the world.
This is a firm, long-term commitment. It is not affected by the changes and
setup of the political situations in both countries.

The second thing that strikes about it is the new dynamics in the
development of our economic relations. We have either new or updated
treaties, bilateral treaties, which give the framework of our business
contacts. There has been a sharp trend of improving the term over the
American investments in Bulgaria, and the number of U.S. tourists to
Bulgaria also is on the increase. However, this is not the ceiling. We
believe there is a much greater potential. This is why we should seek and
explore the avenues of promoting these trends in several directions: A, by
presenting a better, fuller, and more adequate image of Bulgaria in the
United States, with an emphasis on the business information, addressed to
the businesspeople. And I hope that the newly set-up foundation, America
for Bulgaria, will promote these efforts.

Second, in the foreseeable future, very soon we will hopefully have a
positive solution on the visa regime, on facilitating, lifting the visa
barriers. And we do appreciate everything that President Bush has
personally been doing in the light of the negotiations within the United
States and European Union. And we, in turn, pledge to do our best to meet
our commitments on the security, which is one of the major criteria in
addressing this issue.

I believe we should make an effort to improve the structure of trade and
investment. And I did lay down to my guest, President Bush, the possibility
for a more significant involvement of American businesses in the major
energy projects, both in Bulgaria and the Balkans -- in the infrastructure
in the defense industry, a better cooperation in this area, in the defense
industry, could be an important incentive for the development of our
economy as a whole. I do hope we will have the support of President Bush
and the United States in our effort to modernize our armed forces at a
faster pace, so that we could be effective and efficient in performing --
discharging our commitments as allies.

And next I would like to thank President Bush for the support we've always
enjoyed from the United States to our efforts to find a fair, a just
solution to the crisis with the Bulgarian medics in Libya, and for their
release. And I was happy to hear from him this repeated support.

At the same time, we discussed the two countries' possibilities both within
our interaction with the European Union, and otherwise to support and help
for the treatment of the AIDS-infected children and their families, as a
longer-term commitment through involvement in the International Fund, which
is meant to streamline this process. And I did point out to President Bush
that there are expectations both among the public and in the media in this
country -- an expectation from the major companies to get involved and to
donate to this fund.

We also discussed a wide range of international issues related to the
situation in the Balkans, to our desire to play a stabilizing role in the
Balkans, to be a factor of stability here. We also commented on some of the
issues that are on both agenda, and on the agendas of the European Union
and NATO.

Thank you.

PRESIDENT BUSH: President Parvanov, thank you very much. I call him George.
He calls me George. It's good to be here in your beautiful country. Laura
and I are looking forward to our lunches together. Thank you very much.

We are allies, we share values, and we believe in freedom. And I appreciate
the progress your country has made toward a free society. And I thank you
for being an ally in helping others realize the blessings of liberty. We
have accepted our responsibilities to help defend freedom against
terrorists and extremists, and it's hard work. And I thank the people of
Bulgaria for understanding the stakes, the true challenges of the 21st
century.

We had a great discussion, and that's what you'd expect among friends. I am
impressed by the transition that Bulgaria has made to a free market
economy. Success is evidenced by results, by the results of attracting more
capital. I know U.S. companies are seriously looking at Bulgaria, and
that's because there is transparency and fairness in taxes. In other words,
when somebody invests in a country, they expect to get a reasonable rate of
return, and they expect government to not interfere, but, in fact, to
expedite the flow of capital. And so, therefore, when the President talks
about more capital coming to your country from the United States, it means
that the government has made reforms necessary to attract capital.

My call, of course, is to continue to make reforms, and if you find
corruption, rout it out. People of Bulgaria expect their government to be
open and honest, and so do those who spend capital in countries. And the
President is committed to that, I know.

We talked about the energy diversification program for Bulgaria. America
has got to diversify its energy, too. We're too dependent on foreign
sources of energy. So we share a common goal about diversification of
energy supply. We're in the process of spending a lot of money on new
technologies that will enable us to diversify our energy supply, and at the
same time, be good stewards of the environment. And I look forward to
sharing those technologies with countries once they become fully developed.

I appreciate very much the reforms you made so that the EU is comfortable
in accepting Bulgaria as a member state, and I congratulate you on those
accomplishments. And, of course, we're proud to stand with you in NATO.
These are big achievements for this country, and the people of Bulgaria
ought to be proud of the achievements that they have achieved.

We discussed, of course, Iraq. And I thank the President and I thank the
people of Bulgaria for supporting those in Iraq who long to live in a free
society. The fight is tough in Iraq, and I know some of your families have
suffered. And on behalf of our nation, I extend our condolences and prayers
to the families who have lost a loved one against these extremists and
murderers.

I thank you for your commitment to Afghanistan. And I appreciate so very
much your willingness to do the hard work necessary to enable young
democracies to survive, in the face of significant opposition from
ideologues who use murder as a weapon to achieve their objectives. Mr.
President, I firmly believe the commitments that we're making are laying
the foundations of peace for generations to come.

I thank you for your advice on Kosovo. We spent some time talking about
Kosovo. The time is now to move the Ahtisaari plan. America believes that
Kosovo ought to be independent, and I sought the President's advice. One of
the things he made clear is something I agree with, and that is, is that as
we seek independence for Kosovo, we've also got to make it clear to Serbia
that there's a way forward, maybe in NATO, maybe in the EU, and definitely
in better relations with the United States. So I thank you for your sound
judgment and your solid advice.

We talked about the Bulgarian nurses. This is not the first conversation
I've had with the President on this subject. He's deeply concerned about
the fate of the nurses. We spoke in person about it at the White House, we
have had phone calls on the subject, and, of course, today, again, he
emphasized his deep concern for the nurses and their families. And I
appreciate your compassion, Mr. President.

We strongly support the release of the Bulgarian nurses in Libya. That's
the position of the United States. They should be released, and they should
be allowed to be returned to their families. We will continue to make clear
to Libya that the release of these nurses is a high priority for our
country.

Our hearts also go out to the children who have been infected by HIV/AIDS.
Together with the EU, the United States is contributing to a fund to
provide assistance to the Libyan children suffering from this disease, and
to their families. My hope is that this issue gets resolved quickly.

We talked about visa reform. I assured the President what I said in the
past is what I still believe, and that is we need to reform our visa
system. The system is stuck in the past. It can be reformed to work better
for the citizens of this country. And I'm working with Congress to get it
done. We're in the middle of an immigration debate, as well, in America. I
hope that my country understands that it's in our interest to treat people
with respect and to treat people fairly. And so I told the President that
we'll continue to work with Congress to resolve this issue in a
satisfactory way. I've laid out a way forward, and I'm committed to seeing
it through.

And so, George, thanks for having me. It's been a good visit. I'm looking
forward to lunch. And I guess we'll answer some questions.

Q Good morning, Mr. President. You've had a week in Europe, and I wonder,
as we head home, if I could ask you to turn to some domestic issues. Your
Attorney General is under fire in the Senate. General Pace has had a
setback. The immigration reform bill seems not to be moving very quickly. I
won't even mention the latest polls. So I'm just wondering, sir, as you
head home, to what extent do you still have the political clout and capital
to get some of these issues done? Do you have any left? If you do, how do
you intend to use it?

PRESIDENT BUSH: First of all, we've had a great trip, Ed. It's a chance for
America to talk about a liberty agenda, and a chance to talk to our allies
about how we can advance it and what we can do together to make our
respective countries better off.

Listen, the immigration debate is a tough debate. I'm under no illusions
about how hard it is. There are people in my party that don't want a
comprehensive bill; there are people in the Democrat Party that don't seem
to want a comprehensive bill. I was disappointed that the bill was
temporarily derailed.

I, frankly, find it interesting that in -- a so-called important subject
they need to get to would be to pass a political resolution on my Attorney
General that's going to have no bearing on whether he serves in office, or
not.

I believe we can get an immigration bill. Now, it's going to require
leadership from the Democrat leaders in the Senate, and it's going to
require me to stay engaged and work with Republicans who want a bill.

Last -- earlier in this trip, I called three members of the Senate from the
Republican Party, and said, what can we do together to get the bill back
up? What do we need to do to work with senators like Senator Ted Kennedy,
who is strongly committed to a comprehensive bill? And tomorrow I'll be
going to the Senate to talk about a way forward on the piece of
legislation.

It's important that we address this issue now. And I believe we can get it
done. Listen, there was -- a lot of progress was made between people in
both parties making hard decisions necessary to move a comprehensive plan.
It's in the nation's interest to get a comprehensive bill done. The
political process sometimes isn't pretty to look at it; there's two steps
forward, one step back. We made two steps forward on immigration, we took a
step back, and now I'm going to work with those who are focused on getting
an immigration bill done and start taking some steps forward again. I
believe we can get it done. I'll see you at the bill signing.

Q President Bush, you have already voiced your support in favor of our
medics and their release. We appreciate that. Despite the fact that our
fellow country people are still in prison, absolutely innocent, as you well
know, I would like to ask you, as a part of the general effort to solve
this drama, which has been going on for more than eight years now, my
question is, would you commit yourself to lobbying in front of the U.S.
Congress, and doing so that some of the funds under your five-year program
for fighting HIV/AIDS can go to supporting the children infected with AIDS
and their families?

And, President Parvanov, I would be happy to hear your view on the Libya
issue, and notably, how would you comment the fact -- rather the Bulgarian
media's idea who are covering the trial in Libya, to send a letter to the
hundred most influential representatives of the community business,
according to the Forbes ratings, and call on them to donate to the building
of a modern, up-to-date medical center where children, or where people with
HIV/AIDS would be receiving?

PRESIDENT BUSH: There's a fund into which we're contributing money. And I
don't think you ought to be concerned about the source of the funding; what
you ought to be focused on is whether or not the U.S. is willing to commit
funds, along with the EU. And we are. And at the same time, we're willing
to send messages to the Libya government that we expect the release of the
nurses. We've been very much in concert with your government. This is an
issue that we care about. But we do agree with the strategy that there
ought to be some compensation for the Libyan children and their families.

PRESIDENT PARVANOV: Ladies and gentlemen, many of you know that I have
visited Libya, I have visited the hospital in Benghazi. I've spoken with
the parents and the infected children, and I'm clearly aware of the great
drama they're suffering, they're going through, and how much needs to be
done in order to invest in this hospital and in order to relieve the pain
and suffering of both the children and their families and friends.

This is a Bulgarian, this is a European, this is a commitment of the entire
democratic public, worldwide. By all means, Bulgaria, and I believe our
friends from the United States and the European Union, consider this not a
one-off, not a temporary attempt to release the nurses and then we quit --
and I'm happy that this was -- we went along with George on this. For us,
this is a long-term commitment. This is a commitment we take in respect of
both those suffering in Benghazi, but also everyone suffering of AIDS not
just in Benghazi, but in the whole of Africa. Let's remember the G8 and
their decision, $60 billion were allocated to this policy by the world
community a few days ago.

I, for one, six months ago, in addressing the European Parliament, I said
-- and I appealed to the big players, so to speak, worldwide, in the
businesses worldwide, to take a firmer commitment to this fund, to donate
more, contribute more to this fund. In this sense, I join my voice and I
welcome and I do support the appeal which the Bulgarian media have issued.
I hope their voice will be heard. I know whenever the media speak their
voice is heard more clearly than that of politicians.

Q Mr. President, I want to take you back to domestic issues again. You say
the no-confidence vote has no bearing as to whether Alberto Gonzales
remains as Attorney General. How can he continue to be effective? And it
seems like you're not listening to Congress when it comes to Gonzales, but
you are listening to Congress when it comes to Peter Pace.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes, it's an interesting comment about Congress, isn't it,
that, on the one hand, they say that a good general shouldn't be
reconfirmed, and on the other hand, they say that my Attorney General
shouldn't stay. And I find it interesting. I guess it reflects the
political atmosphere of Washington. And they can try to have their votes of
no confidence, but it's not going to determine -- make the determination
who serves in my government.

Pete Pace was going to go up for confirmation. That's the difference. I
have -- I had confidence in Pete Pace. But people view this as an
opportunity to make statements, and upon the recommendation of Secretary of
Defense Gates, I agreed to send up another nominee.

And as to how Gonzales -- first of all, this process has been drug out a
long time, which says to me it's political. There's no wrongdoing. You
know, he -- they haven't said, here's -- you've done something wrong,
Attorney General Gonzales. And therefore, I ascribe this lengthy series of
news stories and hearings as political. And I'll make the determination if
I think he's effective, or not, not those who are using an opportunity to
make a political statement on a meaningless resolution.

Q President, clearly the relations between our two countries, politically,
have been very good. How could we achieve the same in the area of security,
in the context of the anti-missile shield, our cooperation in using common
sites, and also in respect of the trade investment?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Let me to start on the missiles. The proposed missile
shield is aimed at long-range missiles, missiles that would fly over
Bulgaria. There are missile systems and defense systems available that
would deal with intermediate-range missiles. So just because Bulgaria is
not a part of the longer-range missile shield doesn't mean that there won't
be equipment and help available for intermediate range. That's how I can
answer that question.

I know this creates some concerns around Europe, this missile shield,
because of Russian objections. And so I had a meeting with President Putin
in Germany at the G8 and explained to him what I've been saying publicly,
is the missile shield would be developed to deal with a rogue regime that
would try to hold a free nation hostage, or free nations hostage. It's not
aimed at Russia.

I talked to Vladimir Putin a lot about our relations and made it clear that
I simply do not view Russia as an enemy. I view Russia as a country with
whom we should have and can have good relations to solve common problems.

One such problem is Iran. Another problem is proliferation. There are areas
we can work together, and he brought an interesting proposal. He said, I
have an idea; why don't we jointly use a radar in Azerbaijan to help deal
with a potential threat? And I said, that's a good idea, I don't know how
-- whether it's technologically feasible, I'm not an expert. I've got
experts in my government, however, who could analyze your proposal, and I'd
like for you to maybe -- not "maybe" -- I'd like for you to assign some
experts in your government to analyze my proposal.

And that's where we left it in Germany. So we're going to have a group of
people come together from the State Department, Defense Department and the
military to discuss how to deal with the true threats of the 21st century.

And I would hope that would help explain some of the rhetoric that people
in your country have seen coming out of the G8, that there's a process
where we can collaborate and share information in a very transparent way,
which I think will be beneficial. And I would hope that the Russians would
see the meetings as beneficial and our meetings -- realize our true intent,
and hopefully design systems that protect us all.

PRESIDENT PARVANOV: I would like to begin by saying that we welcome the
strategic dialogue, and it was described as a strategic dialogue by both
leaders, both by President Bush and by Putin, a dialogue which started
within the framework of G8. We Bulgarians would accept any solution that
would provide more guarantees, more security guarantees, more guarantees of
the indivisibility of the security of the Euro-Atlantic space -- any
solution that has been achieved, hammered out through dialogue and in
transparency, any solution that is not directed against a third country,
notably Russia, in this case.

I would take the liberty of paraphrasing something that was said in Prague
-- hopefully my source was reliable; the President would correct me if I'm
wrong or imprecise -- the Bulgarians must not choose between their
friendship with the United States and that with Russia. The Bulgarians
should and can maintain friendly relations with both countries. Just as I
am a friend with George and a friend with Vladimir, we could maintain,
within the context of our Euro-Atlantic orientation, friendly relations
with both, without diluting the things, without losing sight of our
strategic priorities. We should maintain relations with everyone who thinks
likewise.

This same approach would apply to the energy, the infrastructure sphere.
This is why Bulgaria maintains -- has maintained active relations with
Russia on the major infrastructure, or rather, energy projects.

I myself, earlier today, offered to President Bush a clearer, firmer
commitment by American companies to the energy project. Chevron, in respect
of Bourgas-Alexandroupolis, or AMBO -- I'm not going to list them all here
-- this is an investment in peace and the security of the region. This is a
geostrategic contribution. And I'm saying this both as the President of
Bulgaria, but also as a citizen of the Balkans, a region for whose fate and
future I feel responsible.

Well, I declare the end of the conference of both Presidents.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you.

END 11:05 A.M. (Local)

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