(continued)
But Mrs. Rice noted that he had not yet made a decision on an eventual military offensive and wished to consult with Mr. Putin on the means of stopping Iraq from equipping itself with weapons of mass destruction. This trip permits Mr. Bush to forget, at least for a week, the battle brewing in Washington for the last several days on the breakdown in national security in the war on terrorism before the September 11th attacks. But when he arrives Wednesday evening in Berlin, the first stop where he will be received by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Mr. Bush will discover that he is still an American president under attack by the European Left. Several thousand people gathered Tuesday afternoon in the middle of Berlin to protest against his presence Wedsneday and Thursday, and the center of the historic German capital, where Mr. Bush is staying, has been transformed into a fortress by the authorities in order to prevent rioting and violence. Mrs. Rice minimized the expected demonstrations. “I have no worries about risks coming betweeen the United States and Europe”, she declared to the press, emphasizing that
Americans and Europeans remain solidly allied, united by their common values”. She predicted that the meeting between Bush and Schroeder on Wednesday night and Thursday morning would center on cooperation in the war against terrorism, the relations between NATO and Russia, and various bilateral questions, the subject that will also
figure prominently in meetings with French president Jacques Chirac, Sunday evening in Paris. Mrs. Rice minimised the importance of the trade issues between Washington and Europe, on steel and agriculture, which will arise during Mr. Bush’s stop in Paris, and said that they are a small part of the trade between the two great commercial blocs. Mr. Bush will use the visit to France to make a pilgrimage, on May 27th, to the Normandy beaches where the allies disembarked, before going to Rome that evening for the Russian, NATO summit. The American president will also, on that day, receive an audience with
the Pope before returning to Washington. |
