President Bush Participates in Joint Press Availability with Slovenian Prime Min

PRIME MINISTER JANŠA: (As translated.) Good afternoon, and welcome to Slovenia. Welcome to Brdo, where we have just concluded this year's summit meeting between the EU and the U.S.A. I welcome in our midst the President of the United States of America, Mr. George W. Bush, and the President of the European Commission, Mr. José Barroso., For the U.S. President, this is the eighth summit, and his second visit to Slovenia. It happened on the same spot; also the press conference was held here. This is a historic event. On my visit to Washington two years ago, Mr. President, you welcomed us by saying that Slovenia is a piece of heaven on earth, and we enjoyed your excellent hospitality. I hope we are returning that hospitality to some extent today.,Our discussions at this summit were very good and open. We confirmed that the transatlantic partnership is solid and dynamic. This message carries special weight in the historic context of this summit. Sixty years ago, the U.S. offered the ravaged and divided Europe hope through the Marshall Plan and through courage, solidarity and vision. The first U.S. President, George Washington, once said that there will be a United States of Europe. This has not happened yet, but the European Union has been created, an area of freedom and progress uniting 500 million Europeans.,The European Union and the U.S. shared the most important fundamental values: democracy, free entrepreneurial initiative, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the respect for the principles of the rule of law. The EU and the U.S. together represent 10 percent of the world's population. The trade in goods and services amounts to €3 billion a day, and they together produce almost 60 percent of the world's GDP. And together, they contribute 75 percent of development aid to poor countries. However, they also emit the majority of greenhouse gases.,Because of all these reasons, they also share a significant joint responsibility impacting the key global challenges. Our views on certain paths differ. Our views are different on, for example, the death penalty, or the mandatory restriction on CO2 emissions, but we are openly discussing these differences and looking for solutions.,We spoke at length about the issues of climate change and energy security. These issues affect all humanity and are well-established habits in our way of life. We confirmed our readiness to face this challenge together. We in the European Union consider it necessary to define the mandatory objectives for reducing CO2 emissions, and to reach a global agreement. We must cooperate in protecting the environment, in searching new sources of energy, and in developing new technologies.,High oil prices have forced us to intensify our search for new energy solutions. We are on the threshold of a new industrial revolution. Low carbon production and transport are becoming an economic necessity in addition to an environmental one. We need the most efficient solution to the benefit of the present and future generations as soon as possible. The European Union and the U.S. will lead the new industrial revolution., We must also create broad alliances. Several important meetings are ahead of us this year. We have great expectations concerning the G8 summit and the U.N. conference on climate change in Poland.,We spoke about the most topical issues of the world economy. Our goals include a secure future, preservation of jobs, and combating protectionism. We are determined to cooperate in eliminating the global imbalances and to attract to this task the new fast-growing economies. We are committed to continuing discussions on the Doha development agenda within the framework of the WTO and to the realization of the Millennium Development Goals.,We also discussed a series of regional issues. We focused in particular on the Western Balkans. In the European Union, we value greatly the role the U.S. played in the 1990s in putting an end to the violence in the region. Today, we are united and firm in our support of the prospect of these countries joining the Euro-Atlantic structures. This is the path which leads to peace and stability, as well as to the necessary democratic and economic reforms.,We were informed of the work carried out by the Transatlantic Economic Council. We remain committed to the elimination of barriers to mutual trade, a process which will bring economic growth and create new jobs. We are in favor of establishing the Transatlantic Economic Council as a mechanism for bringing tangible results that will benefit both consumers and producers in the EU and the U.S. The European Commission, and its President Barroso, are making every effort to this end.,The concrete results also includes the air transport agreement. The first stage of the agreement has already entered into force. It liberalizes conditions for mutual investment and enables a freer access to air services. And in the middle of the former months, we launched the negotiations on the second stage. The work on the aviation safety agreement has also been completed and I hope it will be signed by the end of the month.,We also spoke about visa-free travel to the U.S. for all EU citizens. I am pleased that we are close to seeing new countries join the visa waiver program soon. We are aware that certain restrictions are necessary for security reasons. Nevertheless, we remain determined to ensure that the need for enhanced security will not restrict the visa-free travel for our citizens., (Speaking English) -- develop democracies. The last big EU enlargement, which included Slovenia and other Central and Eastern European countries -- has been one of the greatest achievements in terms of promotion of democracy. Today almost whole Europe is free and united. This is very strong message for 21st century. The world is now complex. Nobody alone can solve all problems. War, peace, security and promotion of democracy, climate change and fight against poverty are global challenges today. Even together we are not able to solve all of them, but if we don't work together and we are not able to form even stronger alliance, then I'm afraid we won't succeed.,I'm glad that we can conclude after last few and also after today's EU-U.S. summit that we indeed work together. Although we might have different approaches in some aspects, it should never overshadow the depth and quality of our cooperation. We covered, as I said, a wide range of issues during our talks, from foreign policy to economic cooperation. Many strategic projects are underway. Maybe we need to develop also a common name for them. Symbols and names are important in the world's politics.,Mr. President, we led strongly to the rich story of your -- this time's European tour -- 60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift and the Marshall Plan. United States engagement did not only bring rehabilitation to Europe by promoting integration; it set an irreversible process in motion. Today Slovenia is hosting EU-U.S. summit, something that seemed impossible 60 years ago; something that seeming impossible even 20 years ago during the Slovenian Spring, when our streets were full of people fighting for freedom and democracy.,Our history teach us that we must be ambitious. It's time to be ambitious. We have to create stronger alliance based on our democratic values -- ever to protect them, but also to share them with others. Alliance of democracies is strong (inaudible) inside and open to outside world. Alliance able to lead, to change, and to help. A new hope for those who suffer. Who else can start the work if the biggest and most developed democracies can't?,Now I invite the President of United States, Mr. George Bush, to take the floor, and then the President of the European Commission. Thank you.,PRESIDENT BUSH: Mr. Prime Minister, thank you. Commission President Barroso, good to see you. Thank you for your time and friendship. Let me correct the record, Mr. Prime Minister. I said, "Slovenia was a little slice of heaven." (Laughter.) I'd like to -- with your indulgence, change my remarks. Slovenia is a big slice of heaven. (Laughter.) And I'm honored to be back in your beautiful country.,PRIME MINISTER JANŠA: Thank you.,PRESIDENT BUSH: One of these days I'm going to come back as a tourist. As you know, I'm close to retirement. (Laughter.) And I'm looking forward to seeing more of your beautiful country and meeting more of your really gracious and hospitable people. So thank you very much.,This is my eighth EU-U.S. meeting. My message at the end is that it's really important for the United States to stay close with the EU. It's in our interest that the EU be strong, vibrant, and it's in our interests to work hard to have a partnership that solves problems.,And we discussed a lot of problems today. First, we discussed the Freedom Agenda. I find it ironic -- not ironic, just interesting, that 20 years ago, Mr. Prime Minister, you were in jail -- (laughter) -- because of your beliefs, because --,PRIME MINISTER JANŠA: Not very happy times. (Laughter.),PRESIDENT BUSH: You shouldn't have been happy about it. But because you had the courage to stand up and speak out clearly for freedom for all people, you were put in jail. And it seems like -- that any time we find people who were put in jail because they're willing to speak up for freedom, those of us who live in free lands ought to work to liberate them, Mr. Prime Minister.,And we spent a lot of time talking about how to help others realize the blessings of liberty, whether it be in the Balkans, whether it be a Palestinian state, and whether it be to use the EU as a way to encourage people to develop the habits of reformist societies.,And, by the way, one subject we didn't spend a lot of time on that I'd like to clarify the U.S. position on is, we strongly believe Turkey ought to be a member of the EU, and we appreciate Turkey's record of democratic and free market reforms, and working to realize its EU aspirations.,We spent a lot of time on the Middle East. Besides the Palestinian state, we talked about Lebanon, Iran and Syria. One thing is for certain: If more people lived in free societies in the Middle East, the Middle East would be a more hopeful and more peaceful place. And so we strategized as to how to do that, Mr. Prime Minister, and I want to thank you for that.,I thank you for your support in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's amazing how these countries have gone from tyrannical situations to hopeful, young democracies. And I believe it's in our mutual interest to work hard to help these democracies survive for the sake of peace, and for the sake of human rights and human dignity. We talked about Cuba.,I want to thank very much your leadership, both of your leadership, in having the EU summit in South America. Obviously it's in the U.S. interest that you do so. We've got a lot of relations with countries in our neighborhood. I want to thank you very much for your expressions on Cuba. They said before relations should go forward, all political prisoners ought to be freed. If the Castro administration really is different, the first way to show that difference to the world is to free the political prisoners. That's something, Mr. Prime Minister, that I'm sure you can relate to.,We talked about Zimbabwe, Darfur, and Burma. We talked about how to make sure we have travel in a way that comforts our societies. I understand the visa waiver issue very well. I spend a lot of time talking to people that are worried about not being able to be treated like other members of the EU. I know the problem. We're on our way to solving it in a way that I think will satisfy countries as well as the EU itself, José.,We spent a lot of time on Iran. I appreciate the Foreign Minister Solana going to Iran to deliver a clear message: there is a better way for you to move forward than a way that so far has led to isolation. Iran with a nuclear weapon would be incredibly dangerous for world peace. And so we've got to continue to work together to make it clear, abundantly clear to them, that it's their choice to make: They can either face isolation or they can have better relations with all of us if they verifiably suspend their enrichment program.,We talked about trade and the Doha Round. We're committed to a successful Doha Round. It's not going to be easy, but it's, in our judgment, necessary that we continue to work together. I appreciate Ambassador Schwab and Commissioner Mandelson's cooperation in trying to get an agreement that we all can live with. It's really important to defeat the voices of protectionism now. And if you're truly worried about global development, if you're worried about poverty, one of the best ways to help poor people is to trade. And so we're committed to the global round.,I thought our discussions today were very good. We spent time talking about HIV/AIDS and malaria on the continent of Africa. The United States looks forward to working with EU nations to helping elevate folks from needless death. We've got a strategy in place that's effective, and we look forward to having partners join us.