For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 15, 2001
Press Conference of President Bush and
President of the Republic of Poland, Aleksander Kwasniewski
Presidential
Palace
Warsaw,
Poland
Listen to the President's Remarks
12:40 P.M. (L)
PRESIDENT KWASNIEWSKI: Mr.
President, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, once again,
I'd like to extend my words of welcome to all those attending the press
conference. And I wish to express my joy upon the occasion
of the official visit of the President of the United States of America,
George Walker Bush, Jr., in Poland.
We are very honored that the first visit of
the newly-elected President of the United States of America is taking
place in Poland; we take it as a symbol but, at the same time, as the
confirmation of friendly and allied relations that Poland and the
United States have enjoyed for more than a hundred years and which have
developed in the last decade very strongly, and that is a good reason
for respect. I, once again, want to welcome Mr. President
Bush here in Poland.
This transformation began in Poland over 12
years ago is successful. Also, thanks to our allies, to our friends
and also thanks to American politics -- politicians, businessmen, all
those who have supported us in this uneasy work. We remember
the visit of George Bush, Sr., President of the United States in 1989,
when Poland was just starting its transformation. We are
happy, Mr. President, that we can demonstrate a better and changed
democratic Poland to you -- the Poland that is using its political
opportunity.
During our talks, we discussed the
international border and I wish to accept the determination on the part
of the United States towards the enlargement of NATO. We're
happy to say that we have similar views over the political situation
and political relations in central and eastern Europe. The
United States has been very supportive of Poland's aspirations as a
future member of the European Union.
We're very close, not only in the political
sense, but in everyday cooperation we have been very close, as
well. We have adopted the common resolution of the President
of the Republic of Poland and the President of the United States of
America. You've been distributed this important document
because it refers to all important, most important issues and, at the
same time, it has been written in a very legible and understandable
language to everyone.
In our joint resolution there is nothing that
relates to diplomacy, but there is only the substance of our very
close, friendly and allied relations.
This is what I wanted to say by introduction
and welcome you, Mr. President, once again.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you for the
beautiful weather.
PRESIDENT KWASNIEWSKI: We have
special relations. (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT BUSH: I'll try to
highlight that in my speech this afternoon.
I'm the third President to come to your
beautiful land since Poland regained freedom. Many more will
follow, because the bond between our two countries is very
strong. And that bond is formed of many things, starting
with our love for freedom.
Over the last generation, the people of Poland
have suffered greatly to win freedom. America stood with
Poland in that struggle, and we stand with you today in facing the
challenges of a new era of democracy and economic progress.
Our hopes for peace for Poland and all of
Europe depend on NATO. Since joining the alliance two years ago,
Poland has contributed greatly to its success, and serves as a fine
example for all future members of NATO.
The President and I talked about how NATO must
continue to enlarge, to increase Europe's security. We
talked about the challenges and opportunity NATO faces in its relations
with Russia and with neighbors in transition, like the Ukraine.
Today, U.S. and Polish soldiers serve
side-by-side, as part of the NATO contingent that seeks to bring peace
and democracy to the Balkans. It's important that Poland's military
remain well equipped. To that end, I'm pleased to announce
the United States is making the necessary legislative preparations to
transfer a second frigate to the Polish Navy.
The President and I also discussed Poland's
move toward membership in the European Union. The EU is
America's largest trading partner outside North
America. Joining Poland's economy to that of the EU is in
all our interests, and will only strengthen America's ties with all our
Atlantic partners.
The interests of America and Poland are clear,
and they are the same: to continue building a more stable Europe, to
strengthen the institutions of democracy, freedom, commerce and mutual
security, and to promote the prosperity that comes through investment
and open trade.
Another topic we covered today was the common
commitment of the United States and Poland to spreading prosperity and
democracy in this part of the world. And I was pleased to
inform the President that the Polish-American Enterprise Fund will
transfer $20 million to the new Polish American Freedom
Foundation. In this way, our countries can continue the
joint work of promoting democracy and free markets and the rule of law
throughout central and eastern Europe.
I look forward to my meeting, as well, with
the Prime Minister. I look forward to conveying my respect
to him for his role in helping bring Poland into
NATO. Friendship and cooperation between our two countries
is strong and is growing stronger. The Republic of Poland
today is an equal partner in the work of building greater prosperity
and security across Europe and it's a huge honor for me to be here.
Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT KWASNIEWSKI: Thank you,
Mr. President. Now is time for questions.
Q In accordance with
the Brussels decision yesterday, in one year's time there will be
further candidates in Europe to negotiate their
membership. Will that one year be a sufficient period of
time and will one of the criteria be for NATO membership so that NATO
could constitute a wholeness, a whole area, in political terms?
PRESIDENT BUSH: If I understand the
question correctly, it was about NATO expansion.
Q Yes.
PRESIDENT BUSH: My government
believes NATO should expand. We believe no one should be
excluded because of history or location or geography. And we
don't believe any nation should have a veto over who is
accepted. We also believe a lot of progress has been made
toward achieving the requirements necessary to be accepted into NATO
and look forward to the Prague summit a year from this fall, to a
positive statement of expansion. I think it will happen -- to the
extent, we will see. How many nations are accepted, we will
see.
But in my speech today I will say it's not a
matter of whether NATO expands, it's a matter of when NATO
expands. We strongly stand on the side of expansion of
NATO.
Major Garrett.
Q President
Krasniewski, thank you for your hospitality. President Bush,
there are fresh reports today about concerns of the U.S. government of
proliferation from the Russian government, selling certain materials to
nations such as Iran. And before we left on this trip, your
National Security Advisor expressed some doubts about President Putin's
commitment to democracy.
I'm curious, sir, what is your general
assessment of Russia on these two vital questions -- proliferation and
its commitment to democracy. Thank you, sir.
PRESIDENT BUSH: As you know full
well, I've got a meeting with President Putin tomorrow. And
I am really looking forward to it, because it's an opportunity for me
to say to President Putin, the United States is no longer your enemy.
I also will stress that my vision of Europe
includes Russia. And that Russia should not fear the
expansion of freedom-loving people to her borders. Russia
has got fast potential and great opportunity, particularly if she makes
a commitment to democratic institutions and to the rule of law, and
embraces the open market.
I am concerned about some reports of the
proliferation of weapons throughout -- on Russia's southern border, for
example, countries on her southern border, and I'll bring that subject
up. I think it's important for Russia to hear that our
nation is concerned about the spreading of weapons of mass
destruction. And I'll bring it up in the context of
explaining why it is important for us think differently about missile
defenses, to think differently about the Cold War doctrine that is
codified in the ABM Treaty of 1972.
The more capacity a nation has to develop a --
a nation that can't stand America or our friends or allies to develop
weapons of mass destruction, the more necessary it is for freedom
loving people to have the capacity to halt any political blackmail they
may choose to inflict upon us. And so I will talk about
democracy, democracy building, I'll talk about capital investment and
the need for capital to have open markets and rule of law, transparency
in economy. And I will also talk about security measures.
Q This is a question to
Mr. Bush -- to Poland, as a symbol of our openness and our sympathy for
the U.S. Unfortunately, this gesture is not
returned. I'd like to ask you, may Poles count on not
needing American visas soon? Thank you.
PRESIDENT BUSH: American visas?
Q Yes. Yes,
sir.
PRESIDENT BUSH: In other words
whether or not someone going to America needs a visa?
Q Yes, sir.
PRESIDENT BUSH: We can discuss that
issue at the State Department level. But Poles are welcome
in America. We welcome you to come. There are, as
you know -- Chicago is a city with many, many people of Polish
heritage. I would hope that it's easy to travel to our
country.
David Gregory.
Q Mr. President, good
afternoon.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you,
sir. Mighty sharp today, by the way.
Q Well, hank you very
much.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Don't you
think? (Laughter.)
Q I wonder if you would
be specific, sir, about what incentives you're prepared to offer
Russian President Putin to get both his blessing and perhaps his
cooperation in missile defense. And additionally, as you
just mentioned, you no longer consider Russia an
adversary. Then what is it? What do you want
Russia to become -- an ally, a strategic partner, a strategic
adversary, what?
PRESIDENT BUSH: My hopes are the
same as the President's hopes about Russia. We want Russia
to be a partner and an ally -- a partner in peace, a partner in
democracy, a country that embraces freedom, a country that enhances the
security of Europe.
The discussion tomorrow, David, is going to be
a broad discussion. It won't focus just on defenses,
security arrangements. It will focus on a frame of mind and
an attitude. This is my first meeting with the President,
and certainly won't be my last. The purpose of the meeting
is to share a vision about Russia's role in the world and in
Europe. It is to assure -- it is to provide assurances to
Russia that our country doesn't want to diminish the nation; we want to
help elevate the nation.
We will have a long discussion about the role
of capital in a society, that if Russia makes the right choices, she
will attract a lot of capital, U.S. capital. Russia has got
enormous resources and great potential. This is the first of
what I hope are many meetings between Mr. Putin and me, and many
discussions. And first and foremost is to
develop a trust between us. He doesn't know me and I don't
know him very well. But at my press conference tomorrow, I
am confident I will be able to say I've got a pretty good feel for the
man and he's got a good feel for me. And he'll see that I'm
the President of a peace-loving nation, a nation that wants Russia to
succeed and do well.
The definition of the relationship will evolve
over time but, first and foremost, it's got to start with the simple
word, "friend."
Q The first question to
President Kwasniewski, I am intrigued whether you used the opportunity
during your talks with the President and have you asked the question
about the missile defense? Have you talked also about
Brussels and have you developed that subject or have you rather
concentrated on bilateral relations and -- in connection between Russia
and NATO and good relations between NATO and Russia? And, of
course, in future relations in the world.
PRESIDENT KWASNIEWSKI: When it
comes to the missile defense system, following the presentation of
President Bush's opinion in Brussels, the case seems very
clear. The United States wishes to build this system -- not
exclusively safeguarding its own interests, but to reinforce a general
world security. And the United States wants to do some more
research and enter dialogue with all partners, both in NATO as well as
in -- with Russia and other partners about that issue.
And I think this is a very rightful and a very
appropriate position. And if we're going to work along these lines, it
may turn out that the new security systems are not controversial at
all, and that they would not constitute any problems for us, but would,
rather, reinforce our feeling of security. It goes beyond
any doubt that the Cold War is over, and that today we do not have such
enemies that we used to have in the past, and that it is possible to
cooperate with every democratically organized state in the world.
We're convinced that if reaching these
decisions could be -- if these decisions could be achieved through a
dialogue, and the search for opinions in the form of a dialogue, then
certainly we will achieve mutual understanding.
And this is how I understood President Bush's
presentation in Brussels. And I think that President Bush's
presentation actually took away all those fears that were connected
with this position. I think this is a very reasonable, very
appropriate attitude on the part of the United States of
America. Star Wars was an idea that matched the ideological
confrontation. Today we're talking about global security,
and these are completely two different animals.
PRESIDENT BUSH: I appreciate what
the President said in the meeting that went on in Brussels, and he's
right. There was receptivity to a new way of thinking about
the ABM Treaty. And I was very pleased to see how
forward-leaning many nations were during our
discussion. There are a lot of leaders who understand that
the old Cold War mentality is not necessary anymore, that it's time to
set a new strategic framework for the peace of Europe and peace for the
world. I don't know what the press reports are like, but I
can assure you, inside the meeting there was a receptivity was very
warm and for which I was very grateful, and the President just
reflected that.
Secondly, Poland serves as an example of
what's possible. One of the reasons I came here was to be
with my friend. But I also came here to show nations that
are hungry for democracy or striving for democracy or looking at
democracy what's possible. And Poland serves as a bridge and
an important example.
If you believe in a Europe whole and free and
secure, a good place to make that case is right here. And
so, you bet, we talked about Poland's important role, and it's an
incredibly important role. We spent time talking about the
Ukraine, as well. Poland has played, thanks to the
President's leadership, a very important role in the
Ukraine. The Ukraine is a country in transition.
And Poland and the United States and other
nations in Europe must work with the Ukraine to help Ukraine make the
right decisions and right choices for the future. And those
decisions are freedom and democracy and open markets -- the very same
values embraced by Ukraine's neighbor, Poland. I'm proud of the
accomplishments of the President, and proud of the accomplishments of
this great people.
Holly.
Q The Europeans have
never rejected a merger between a U.S. and European company, but
they're set to reject a deal between GE and Honeywell, the largest
merger ever. In your talks this week, has your
administration raised the issue? And if the deal is
rejected, what would that do for U.S.-European relations?
And Mr. Kwasniewski, how deep is Poland's
support for the President's missile defense deal and do you have
reservations about it?
Thank you.
PRESIDENT KWASNIEWSKI: Well, I
explained our position in last question. When we will
discuss not about MD system in sense of American security and some
technical concept. But we'll see it is necessary to create
effective security system for new world, for global world after World
War II and after Cold War. So I think we can discuss many details and
we can support such concept.
I repeat again what President Bush said in
Brussels. I understood American approach to this question as
a very open, very full of wish of dialogue, and -- in speech and
statement of President Bush in Brussels, it was a concept not for the
United States, it was a concept for all of us, and a concept which is
absolutely different than everything what we had during Cold
War. That is not the reputation of Stars War
again. That is a new idea how to create better system for
security, which can be for disposal of all of us, of NATO countries and
all countries, including Russia and then China.
So I think this approach is extremely
interesting, and is necessary to continue this dialogue.
PRESIDENT BUSH: We have brought up
the proposed merger at the appropriate levels during this trip and
before the trip. Our government looked at the merger and
approved it, the Canadian government looked at the merger and approved
it, and I am concerned that the Europeans have rejected
it. That's all I've got to say on it.
Thank you, all.
PRESIDENT KRASNIEWSKI: We have --
no questions more? You know, this is a souvenir for
Poland. One question more, please.
PRESIDENT BUSH: All you're trying
to do is butter up to your press corps. (Laughter.)
Q A question to
President Kraskiewski. Would you be so kind as to mention
what is included in the joint declaration we received in the English
version? Do you know if there's any Polish joke?
PRESIDENT KRASNIEWSKI: That is the
main mistake of the politician to give chance for next
question. (Laughter.)
Thank you very much for your
attention. Thank you.
END 1:00 P.M. (L)
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