Bush warns allies against divisions

Urges bond of unity in 'interests and ideals'

By Elizabeth Bryant THE WASHINGTON TIMES | Saturday, June 14, 2008

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PARIS | President Bush made a passionate appeal for trans-Atlantic unity Friday, urging Europe and the United States to work together in areas ranging from securing peace and stability in the Middle East, to promoting democracy and curbing climate change.

"Instead of dwelling on our differences, we are increasingly united on our interests and ideals," Mr. Bush said during a keynote speech at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris.

Praising leaders from Italy, Germany, France and Britain - all of whom he has met or will meet during his current European trip - he added, "I see a commitment to a powerful and purposeful Europe that advances the values of liberty within its borders and beyond."

"When the time comes to welcome a new American president next January, I will be pleased to report to him that the relationship between the United States and Europe is the broadest and most vibrant it has ever been," Mr. Bush said in an address that also commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Marshall Plan.

Friday's speech came midway through what may be Mr. Bush's last official visit to Europe, capping seven-plus volatile years of trans-Atlantic relations on a less discordant although not completely harmonious note. Besides France, Mr. Bush also has stopped in Germany, Italy and Slovenia, which currently holds the European Union presidency.

He next heads to Britain and Ireland.

"Europe to whom George W. Bush is paying his farewells this week, has rarely felt so distant from an American president," France's conservative Le Figaro newspaper wrote in an editorial this week.

But paradoxically, the newspaper added, Mr. Bush is bidding goodbye to a Europe "whose relations with the United States have rarely been so good," as the two regions increasingly converge on a range of foreign-policy issues.

About 1,000 anti-Bush demonstrators staged a peaceful protest in central Paris, waving banners denouncing the Iraq war and U.S. policy, the Associated Press reported.

Overall, observers say, European sentiments are far less hostile toward the Bush administration than a few years ago, at the height of bitter clashes over the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

"I don't think you will find very deep feelings about him coming here, which is different from previous occasions," said analyst Pierre Gervais of the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris, noting Europeans are now looking ahead to Mr. Bush's successor.

"The common feeling is that Bush is out of the picture pretty much. You won't find his visit on the front pages. A lot of people will consider this as a sideshow, which is not going to produce much," he said.

A survey published Thursday by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project found America's image abroad had improved. Still, the poll found that less than 20 percent of people in France, Germany, Spain and Britain had confidence in Mr. Bush.

Such misgivings, however, were not reflected in the president's address at the OECD as he called on the U.S. and Europe to work together to secure democracy, liberty and peace in unstable countries and to curb terrorism and Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Describing Cold War-era tensions that tested the trans-Atlantic alliance as "fleeting differences between friends," Mr. Bush added: "We'll have more disagreements in the decades ahead, but we must never allow those disagreements to undermine our shared purposes."

"Dividing democracies is one of our enemies' goals and they must not be allowed to succeed," he said.

Few countries better reflect the improving trans-Atlantic ties than France. Five years ago, then-President Jacques Chirac led international opposition to the Iraq war, sparking outrage and forcing some U.S. congressmen to rename french fries "freedom fries."

Today, Mr. Chirac is out of office and his replacement, Nicolas Sarkozy, who dined with Mr. Bush later Friday, is an unabashed admirer of America. Paris and Washington largely agree on areas like Iran, Afghanistan and Kosovo's recent declaration of independence.

In an interview with France 3 television Thursday, Mr. Bush described bilateral relations as "great."

"Of course, we've had our differences, but that's OK," he added. "There have been differences throughout our history. The fundamental question is, do we understand there are common values that unite us? And we do."

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