President Bush’s Upcoming Visit to Poland

Question: President Bush is about to go to Poland, and President Kaczynski is coming to Washington very soon.

Assistant Secretary Fried: We look forward to consultations with our Polish friends. We have a lot of issues that we need to discuss. Poland, in particular, has very strong institutional knowledge about Ukraine, about Georgia, about Belarus, and we want to also talk about Russia.

Obviously missile defense will come up. How could it not? But consultation with a country as important as Poland is something we can't do too much of. And President Bush, I will tell you, has had a warm feeling about Poland ever since his first trip in June 2001.

Question: What is President Bush's message when he comes to Poland?

Assistant Secretary Fried: President Bush will speak for himself, but I would put it this way. We want to work with Poland in the world and in the region. The United States and Poland are bound not just by sentiment, though that's important, but also by common interests, common objectives to advance freedom and advance that wave of freedom that began in Europe in 1989. We have common interests in Afghanistan, obviously, where Poland has increased the number of troops - a move which we applaud and welcome and deeply respect.

I'm sure the issue of the Visa Waiver Program will come up, and I was delighted that yesterday's hearing in Congress went so well. The Polish Embassy was well represented, and I'm told that there is growing support for the President's initiative. Both Democrats and Republicans, friends like Senator Voinovich, Senator Mikulski, Congressman Wexler. There is a growing team of people on the Hill who want to help Poland and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and I personally very much want this to succeed.

Question: You've mentioned missile defense and Russia. Polish-Russian relations are currently very bad. Is it complicating U.S.-Russian talks on missile defense?

Assistant Secretary Fried: I don't think Poland has done anything in particular to cause relations with Russia to be more complicated. I'm not sure I understand the problem of Polish meat exports. I've heard various stories, but none of them seem to make sense.

I think that Poland has tried over the past several years to develop good relations with Russia. Right now Russia has complicated relations with Estonia, with Lithuania and with Poland. I think that Chancellor Merkel did a frankly magnificent job in Samara, standing up for a united Europe. Her message seemed to be this is not a Polish-Russia problem. This is a problem Russia has with all of Europe. That's a good message. We're Poland's ally. When Russia and Poland have a problem, we want to work with Poland.

Question: The Polish president wants to talk with President Bush about energy security. I assume that it's going to be about the pipeline that bypasses Russia.

Can President Kaczynski count on President Bush, on his political support on this issue?

Assistant Secretary Fried: Poland has a very legitimate strategic point when it seeks to lessen its dependence on Russian gas. Russia will and should be a source for Poland's energy. That's logical. But I don't believe that monopolies are ever a good idea. Not anybody's monopolies. So I think Poland is absolutely correct to seek multiple sources of gas, whether this is from Central Asia, trans-Caspian, Norway. Poland isn't just talking about a problem; Poland is going out to try to solve this. We're in close consultation with our Polish allies.

Question: But how can the United States help Poland? If it can at all?

Assistant Secretary Fried: In the 1990s the United States supported the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline which went from Baku to Turkey, without going through Russia, and it provided an alternative source of oil. Many people said this couldn't be done, but now Baku-Ceyhan exists and the oil is flowing.

We support projects like the Nabucco gas pipeline. We support the southern option. And we've made it clear to the Norwegian government that although pipelines from the north carrying Norwegian gas have to be judged on commercial merits, from a foreign policy point of view, this makes good sense. We're in constant touch with our Polish friends and we think that Polish strategic interests, their strategic view of this problem makes a good deal of sense.

Question: The last question. About Ukraine. You've mentioned also Ukraine. You praised and President Bush praised Polish government and Polish former President Kwasniewski for its role during Orange Revolution in Ukraine. Do you think that now Poland is playing any significant role in Ukraine? And President Kaczynski is pulling up his predecessor's actions?

Assistant Secretary Fried: We welcome Polish support for Ukraine's reforms and Ukraine's political consolidation. We're all concerned about the continued political standoff in Ukraine.

We don't take sides, orange or blue. We take a side for a Ukraine which is sovereign, independent, able to find its own way in the world. We'll deal with whatever government the Ukrainian people gives us if it's done democratically and legitimately. But right now we hope the Ukrainians put their differences aside, come up with a plan for new elections, respect that plan, and move ahead.

We look forward to working with Poland, and we think that the Polish government, given its knowledge about Ukraine and its influence there, is a key partner of the United States in helping Ukraine move ahead.

Question: You've worked at the White House for many years. You know President Bush. For President Bush very important are personal relations with other leaders - very important. Can you imagine any personal connection between President Bush and President Kaczynski since President Bush even doesn't speak Polish?

Assistant Secretary Fried: No, he doesn't speak Polish, but President Bush has an astonishing ability to reach out to other leaders and to develop strong personal relations with them. He's had good meetings with the Prime Minister and the President. He has gotten on with them both. He respects their strength, he knows their biography, their zyciorys [Polish for biography] in the communist period. So this is a relationship which has a good basis. We want to work together with Poland and with President Kaczynski, Prime Minister Kaczynski, and work together on the basis of common values. We're very much looking forward to this trip.

Question: Thank you very much.