21 November 2002
NATO Expansion Make Defending Peace Easier, Bush Says
(Interview with LNK TV of Lithuania) (1240)
President Bush said in an interview with LNK TV of Lithuania that NATO
will be strengthened and given a "new spirit" by the addition of
countries that previously experienced Soviet domination.
"If you lived under slavery and subjugation, and you're [now] free,
there's a spirit. There's a strength of purpose. There's a remembrance
of what it's like," he said.
"The Baltic countries know what it means to live under fear and the
lack of freedom, and to have these countries be allied with the United
States and other nations is important to our soul. It's important to
have that sense of freedom as a source of vigor and strength, and a
very important alliance," Bush said in the interview, which was taped
in Washington prior to his departure for Europe to attend the NATO
summit.
The President said NATO will change its military strategies to meet
new threats, "and Lithuania will have an important contribution to
make, as will all countries in NATO. So the expansion of NATO will
make it easier for us to defend the peace."
"We've got to share intelligence; work together militarily in a way
that complements everybody; cut off the money of the terrorists," he
noted.
Bush is scheduled hold a bilateral meeting with the president of
Lithuania and a joint meeting with the presidents of Estonia, Latvia
and Lithuania November 23 in Vilnius. This stop will be sandwiched
between visits to St. Petersburg and Bucharest after the NATO summit.
He said that in St. Petersburg he would tell the Russians not to fear
the expansion of NATO to their border because NATO countries "are
peace-loving people, these are freedom-loving people.. It should help
Russian security that the Cold War is over. That the United States
doesn't view Russia as a threat and neither does NATO."
Following is a transcript of the interview, released by the State
Department November 21:
(begin transcript)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
November 21, 2002
INTERVIEW OF THE PRESIDENT BY LNK TV OF LITHUANIA
The Library [of The White House]
November 18, 2002
1:32 P.M. EST
QUESTION: Mr. President, you are the first President of the United
States to visit Lithuania. What is your message to Lithuania's people?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, first, I'm honored to be invited. Secondly, I'm
really looking forward to it. And my message is: you're free. Freedom
is precious and we welcome our friends, the Lithuanians into the -- as
a free nation into the brotherhood of nations.
I'll also say to the world that the Baltic countries know what it
means to live under fear and the lack of freedom, and to have these
countries be allied with the United States and other nations is
important to our soul. It's important to have that sense of freedom as
a source of vigor and strength, and a very important alliance. That's
what I want to say.
Q: What are America and Lithuania going to do after the Prague,
together?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we're going to work to fight terror. That's the
new threat we face. It's most evident here in America because we've
been under attack. And we're still under attack. People still want to
hurt us because of what we stand for. But countries which love freedom
are not immune from these people. These are cold-blooded killers and
we've got a charge to keep for a long time coming. And the best way to
do that is work together.
So the NATO mission is one of defending freedom by fighting against
those who would try to defeat freedom. Which means we've got to share
intelligence; work together militarily in a way that complements
everybody; cut off the money of the terrorists. I mean, there's a lot
to do. But that's the true threat that we face.
Russia is no longer a threat. After Prague, I'm going to Russia. And
I'm going to say to the Russian people, you shouldn't fear expansion
of NATO to your border, these are peace-loving people, these are
freedom-loving people that are now on your border, you ought to
welcome them. It should help Russian security that the Cold War is
over. That the United States doesn't view Russia as a threat and
neither does NATO.
So we've got to address our sights to the new threats.
Q: Relationship between Western democracies and Russia seems to be
very friendly. But do you really trust President Putin?
THE PRESIDENT: Sure, of course. I press any leader that doesn't
believe 100 percent in freedom. And of course I do -- I'm freedom of
the press, or Chechnya, or issues that indicate that there might not
be a whole-hearted commitment to freedom of the people. I do it in a
way that's a friendly way. I believe the best way to work together is
to do it in a spirit of cooperation. I believe the best way to make
sure we've got good relations is to make it clear that there's no
animosity. But of course I do. I work very closely with him; Russia is
an important country.
And we want Russia to be a country based upon the values which we
share, because we believe those values are the best values for the
human condition of everybody. I like to tell people, freedom is not an
American gift; freedom is a gift from the Almighty God. And I firmly
believe that. And freedom is important in any country in the world.
Q: Some people wonder why the United States, the superpower of the
world, pays so much attention to the small Baltic state Lithuania.
What could you tell those people?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I can tell those people everybody matters. See,
our country believes in the worth of every individual. We believe
everybody is precious, everybody counts; and that we are rooted, our
whole history, and our very being is rooted on the notion of people
being able to realize their dreams. And that's what we believe.
That's why we never recognized the Soviet domination of the Baltics.
We called Lithuania independent for all those years. And now we can
say Lithuania is independent and Lithuania is forever free. And that's
our commitment.
Q: How do you imagine the future of NATO alliance after new members
will join?
THE PRESIDENT: Better. Better because the -- NATO will have this new
spirit. Listen, if you lived under slavery and subjugation, and you're
free, there's a spirit. There's a strength of purpose. There's a
remembrance of what it's like. There's no gray areas between good and
evil. That's an important spirit in NATO. Lithuania brings a wonderful
spirit of strength of purpose, of endurance.
Secondly, as we change the military strategy to reflect the new threat
-- see, Russia is not a threat militarily. The threats that we now
face come from a global terror network. And we'll change our military
capabilities to meet the strategies necessary to defeat terrorism. And
Lithuania will have an important contribution to make, as will all
countries in NATO. So the expansion of NATO will make it easier for us
to defend the peace.
Q: Mr. President, thank you very much, indeed. It was a great pleasure
to talk to you.
THE PRESIDENT: We'll see you in Vilnius.
Q: Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: It's going to be exciting for me.
Q: For us, too. We're waiting for that.
THE PRESIDENT: I can't wait, thanks. Make sure the weather is good,
will you? (Laughter.)
Q: Yes, we'll do our best. Thank you.
END 1:38 P.M. EST
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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