Press Releases

Rice To Promote Bush Democratic Vision in Europe, Middle East (Feb. 2, 2005)

Itinerary includes eight European countries, Israel, the West Bank

Washington -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit eight European countries, as well as Israel and the West Bank, February 3–10 with the aim of advancing President Bush's agenda in cooperation with European friends and allies, according to the U.S. Department of State.

The trip comes in advance of the President Bush's scheduled February 22-25 visit to Europe.

Secretary Rice is scheduled to visit the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Turkey, Israel, the West Bank, Italy, France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

During the course of her visit, the secretary intends to promote President Bush's vision of democracy and freedom as the keys to peace and prosperity, according to a State Department statement. She will work to identify a common agenda for 2005 with European partners and U.S. partners in the Middle East.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher described that common agenda January 31 as one that includes "fighting terrorism, building democracy, fighting disease like AIDS, and cooperating around the world ..."

Another focus of Rice’s trip, according to Boucher, will be "to take advantage of opportunities between the Israelis and Palestinians, but also to continue and perhaps make even more concrete as we go forward the initiatives on modernization, reform and democracy in the Middle East that are embodied in such things as the Forum for the Future, the other G-8 outreach programs, the NATO outreach programs, the European outreach programs."

The third focus, Boucher said, "is to support and work with European institutions as well to express our continuing support for united Europe and recognize that as Europe goes through a lot of discussions and changes in this current period, that the United States has always been one of the supporters of a united Europe and an active European role and to work together with them on many of the things involved in that process."

Boucher also provided additional details on Rice’s scheduled itinerary January 31 during the State Department’s daily press briefing:

Rice will arrive in London late on the evening of February 3;

No events are scheduled until Friday, February 4, when she will be in London, and then go on to Berlin, where she will spend the night;

Saturday, February 5, Rice will be in Berlin, Warsaw [Poland] and finally Ankara [Turkey], where she will spend the night;

Sunday, February 6, Rice will have meetings in Ankara and then go on to Tel Aviv, Israel, where she will stay overnight;

Monday, February 7, she will be in Jerusalem and the West Bank, departing that afternoon for Rome; and

Tuesday, February 8, she will spend the morning in Rome, and then go on to Paris.

Secretary Rice is scheduled to deliver a speech on the afternoon of February 8 in Paris, a speech that Boucher described as a "chance to discuss her view of U.S.-European relations, current policy and other things, as we go forward."

Asked why Rice chose Paris as the place in which to give a major policy speech, Boucher said Rice "felt Paris was one of the places where there's a lot of debate and discussion about the U.S., about Europe, about common goals, about how we achieve our agenda, and … she wanted to be part of that discussion and put her ideas into the mix."

On Wednesday, February 9, the spokesman said, she will spend the morning in Paris, go on to Brussels, Belgium, and then to Luxembourg, where she will spend the night.

In Brussels, Rice will meet with Belgian government officials, as well as NATO and European Union (EU) colleagues, but the schedule of meetings has not yet been finalized.

The stop in Luxembourg is not only a chance to talk to the Luxembourg government, Boucher explained, but is also where Rice will meet with the so-called EU Troika because Luxembourg currently heads the EU’s rotating presidency.

The EU Troika comprises the current, most recent past and future EU presidencies, usually represented by the foreign ministers of the three countries.

On Thursday, February 10, Rice will have meetings in the morning in Luxembourg before returning to Washington.

In each of the places she visits, Rice will have a number of high-level meetings, including meetings with prime ministers and foreign ministers.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)