ZAGREB, Croatia - President Bush today celebrated with several thousand Croatians their countrys acceptance into NATO, hailing the growth of their democracy over the last two decades as a hopeful example for nations in the Middle East.
Mr. Bushs praise for NATOs expansion deeper into former communist territory also highlighted his disagreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will host the U.S. president at a Black Sea resort tonight and tomorrow.
Mr. Bush delivered his speech here to about 6,000 people in St. Marks Square outside the Croatian Parliament, where this regions leaders have been inaugurated for the last 700 years.
Mr. Bush heralded the rise of democratic governments in Eastern Europe, and said Croatias emergence from a bloody war with Serbia in the early-1990s can serve as a model for the Middle East.
It is only a matter of time before freedom takes root across that troubled region, Mr. Bush said, in remarks translated to the crowd packed into St. Marks Square.
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Video: POTUS Notes: Thousands come out for Bush in Croatia
And when it does, millions will remember the people of your nation stood with them in their hour of need, the president said. Mr. Bushs speech was met with enthusiastic applause and cheering, but not the adulation Mr. Bush has experienced in previous trips to the region, in Georgia and Albania. Afterward, Mr. Bush met with leaders from Croatia, Albania, and Macedonia to discuss NATO membership. Croatia and Albania were invited this week to join the alliance at the NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania, but Macedonia, who had hoped for an invitation, was blocked by the Greeks. NATO operates by consensus, and the Greeks object to the use of the name Macedonia because they have a region in their country by that name. Mr. Bush expressed regret over that delay, and said Macedonia should take its place in NATO as soon as possible. He also thanked Croatia, Albania and Macedonia in his speech for their troop commitments in Afghanistan, and the Albanians and Macedonians for their troops in Iraq. Mr. Bush promised the Croatians that should any danger threaten your people, America and the NATO alliance with stand with you, and nobody will be able to take your freedom away. Mr. Bush did not mention NATOs rejection of Ukraine and Georgia, who had hoped to enter the membership action plan (MAP) but were given only promises that one day, maybe in December, they will be allowed to join the alliance. Russia vigorously opposes Ukraine and Georgias entry into MAP, and Mr. Putin yesterday called NATO expansion closer to Russias border a direct threat to his countrys security. Mr. Bush will travel to Sochi, Russia today, where he and Mr. Putin will have dinner together tonight and then hold meetings tomorrow, followed by a press conference, before Mr. Bush returns home. Also on the agenda will be NATOs backing this week of a U.S. plan for a missile defense system in Eastern Europe to protect from missile strikes launched from the Middle East. A great danger clouds the future of all free men and women, and this danger sits at the doorstep of Europe, Mr. Bush said of radical Islamic terrorist groups and rogue regimes such as the one in Tehran. Mr. Bush has used this trip to drive home the message that Europe, as he said today, is in a period of a new and hopeful history. Today he connected, with more emphasis than before on this trip, the European struggle to overcome wars and communism in the 20th century to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Croatia, he said, has seen long, dark winters of occupation and tyranny and war. But the spring is here at last. This is an era in history that generations of Croatians have prayed for, Mr. Bush said. May the hopeful story of a peaceful Croatia find its way to those in the world who live as slaves, and still await a joyful spring.
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