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Skriven 2005-10-07 23:32:46 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0510071) for Fri, 2005 Oct 7
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President Meets with Prime Minister Gyurcs ny of Hungary
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 7, 2005

President's Remarks
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President Meets with Prime Minister Gyurcs ny of Hungary
The Oval Office



10:50 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: We'll have opening statements, and we'll both take questions
-- two a side.

Mr. Prime Minister, welcome. I thank you for coming. We have just had a
very lengthy discussion -- and it should be a lengthy discussion, after
all, we're friends and allies. I appreciate very much your understanding of
the importance of democracy and freedom. I want to thank you for your
leadership.

I am pleased with the economic progress that you've made. I say "pleased"
because there is a lot of U.S. investment in Hungary. People have chosen to
invest in Hungary because it's a place that honors rule of law, it's got
reasonable taxation and reasonable regulation. I'm not surprised that the
country has got a good economic environment. After all, the Prime Minister
is somebody who understands economics and business. And so congratulations
on setting an environment that people -- in which people feel comfortable
about investing.

We talked about the world. And, again, I want to thank Hungary for its
contributions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Prime Minister also brought up some issues of concern to the people of
Hungary, one of which, of course, is visa policy. He understands that his
job, when talking to the President, is to -- is to say, the people of my
country -- which he did -- are concerned about the visa policy. And I told
him that we recognize that we need to move forward and work with our
friend. We have set up a road map, a way forward, to make sure our visa
policy works for the people of Hungary.

Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for bringing up the issue. I assured him that
I will continue to work with Secretary Rice to put a plan in place, to
cooperate with Hungary and to have a plan in place that is a fair and
reasonable plan for the people of Hungary.

All in all, I found it to be a great visit. The visit, by the way, started
yesterday when his good wife and my wife visit -- had a -- had a strong
visit. She laid the groundwork for this diplomacy that's being conducted
today, and she did a great job. So welcome to you and your wife, here to
America.

PRIME MINISTER GYURCS NY: Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, let me use
my mother tongue, mainly because I would like all the Hungarian people
understand what I'm saying here in the Oval Office. Please understand, just
-- Hungarian sometimes is very hard.

(As translated.) So we came to the United States to strengthen our
friendship and our ally. We came to emphasize once again that we understand
that we have joined matters, joined affairs in this world to do. And maybe
the two countries have different possibilities, but we have equal
responsibility to sustain stability and peace in the world and to represent
the case of democracy.

Now in these matters, the United States and Hungary are not just allies but
are also good, understanding friends. We did reinforce our former agreement
about our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, we did not introduce any new
elements to that field.

I think we also would like to see that besides security elements the
cooperation, the partnership between the United States and Hungary are more
and more about business and good relations. And, also, American investors,
the largest American businesses, have played a key role in making sure that
Hungary has reached a record high in terms of (inaudible) capital influx
over the past year.

Many similarities and some differences between our two countries, but there
is one thing where we are completely identical in our ideas. Both President
Bush and myself want to make sure that our people in the -- in the United
States and in Hungary live in security, that they have peaceful lives,
prosperity, democracy. And these are the key issues, really.

Many thanks, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thanks for coming. A couple of questions.

Jennifer.

Q Thank you, sir. The criticism from some conservatives of Harriet Miers is
continuing and getting rather sharp, as you know. Are you willing to rule
out ever letting her nomination be withdrawn?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Harriet Miers is an extraordinary nominee. She is a very
bright woman. She is a pioneer in the law in Texas. In other words, she was
the first woman hire of her firm, first partner of the firm, she's the
first head of the Texas Bar Association. I mean, she has got a record of
accomplishment that is extraordinary, in my judgment. She is a woman of
deep character and strength. She is -- she didn't come from the bench, but
so did -- you know, a lot of other people didn't come from the bench when
they were named for the Supreme Court. I would ask people to look at Byron
White, for example, or Judge Rehnquist, himself.

And I'm confident she's going to be a Supreme Court Judge who will not
legislate from the bench, and will strictly interpret the Constitution. I
am incredibly proud of my friend being willing to take on this task. She's
going to be a great judge.

Q So are you ruling it out, any withdrawal?

PRESIDENT BUSH: No, she is going to be on the bench, she'll be confirmed --
and when she's on the bench people will see a fantastic woman who is
honest, open, humble and capable of being a great Supreme Court Judge.

Q Have you set a deadline for the visa issue to be solved?

PRIME MINISTER GYURCS NY: (As translated.) We agreed on a road map which
makes sure that Hungarian people can really perceive that it's easier and
more equitable to have access to American visas. I could feel that Mr.
President has a very clear understanding about why this is important for
Hungarians. And I was completely sure that we will achieve the fastest
possible progress which is allowed by legislative background and laws here
in the United States.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Good answer. Steve.

Q How significant was the threat against New York yesterday, and did New
York overreact?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I'm getting a little older, Steve, I can't hear you.
(Laughter.)

Q Sorry. Did New York City overreact to the threat yesterday? And how
significant was that threat, and are there any suspects?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, our job is to gather intelligence and pass them on to
local authorities. And they make the judgments necessary to respond. The
level of cooperation between the federal government and the local
government is getting better and better. And part of that level of
cooperation is the ability to pass information on. And we did, and they
responded.

Q So you don't think they overreacted?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I think they took the information that we gave and made the
judgments they thought were necessary. And the American people have got to
know that, one, that we're collecting information and sharing it with local
authorities on a timely basis, and that's important.

Q I would like to raise the question to President Bush, as well, if, as far
as you know, you've got an invitation from the Hungarian government for
next year for the 50th anniversary of the 1956 revolution? So would you
accept this invitation?

PRIME MINISTER GYURCS NY: (As translated.) We certainly spoke about the
invitation; 1956 is a huge achievement for the Hungarian nation. And the
impact of that goes far beyond the borders of Hungary. We certainly want to
make sure that our friends, friends of democracy are there next year in
Hungary. Therefore, I extended an invitation to the President for next year
to Hungary, and I'm completely certain that he will come. (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, he did extend the invitation, and I appreciate the
invitation, because 1956 means a lot to a lot of Americans. A lot of
Americans came from Hungary to live here after the '56 incidents. They can
trace their history to our country because of those -- of what took place
in Hungary. Plus, a lot of Americans followed the incidents in 1956, and
appreciated and respected the courage of folks who were willing to stand up
for freedom and liberty.

See, 1956 says to us, there are key moments in history when ordinary
citizens are willing to defend the right for all to be free. And so it's an
important event. I told the Prime Minister, I'm not my own scheduler. I
will pass the word on how important this event is, and I will look very
carefully at the invitation.

Listen, thank you all. Mr. Prime Minister, thanks for coming, appreciate
it.

END 11:01 A.M. EDT

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