President George W. Bush went to Europe on Sunday on a five-day trip aimed at fostering a friendly atmosphere early in his second term and addressing questions on how to deal with Iran, Syria and NATO's future.
Bush left for Brussels to meet with European Union and NATO leaders. He will give a speech on Monday setting the tone for his visit, underscoring his bedrock belief that spreading freedom will make the world more peaceful.
He will offer a sweetener to governments upset by his abrupt withdrawal from the Kyoto treaty in 2001 by saying climate change is a problem and offering to work together on new technologies.
He will seek a fresh start in relations with French President Jacques Chirac by meeting him at a working dinner, and will go to Mainz, Germany, on Wednesday for talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
Chirac and Schroeder led European opposition to the Iraq war but officials on both sides of the Atlantic see an intense period of rapprochement under way so they can work together on Iraq's reconstruction and other urgent priorities.
"America and Europe are the pillars of the free world. We share the same belief in freedom and the rights of every individual, and we are working together across the globe to advance our common interest and common values," Bush said in his weekly radio address on Saturday.
Bush will end his trip in Bratislava, Slovakia, where he will praise the country's democracy and will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and raise U.S. concerns Putin is backsliding on Russian democracy and centralizing power.
"He's done some things that has concerned people," Bush told Slovak state television.
Europe and the United States appeared united on the need to put pressure on Syria after the targeted killing last Monday of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Syria denies involvement in the death but Washington suspects it had a role and is pressing Syria to remove its troops from Lebanon.
DIVISIONS ON IRAN
The two sides are more divided on the debate over Iran's nuclear program, which oil-rich Tehran insists is for generating electricity but which Washington believes is aimed at building a nuclear weapon.
The ranking Democrat on the U.S. Senate intelligence committee, Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, said Bush's discussions with Putin would be crucial, particularly over Iran.
"I think his most important conversation will be with President Putin of Russia because he has come out very recently and said the Iranians are not producing nuclear weapons, it's only nuclear power and therefore he's going to go ahead and continue helping them. And I think that's a stern conversation they need to have," Rockefeller told "Fox News Sunday."
The European Union, led by France, Germany and Britain, has offered trade and political benefits if Iran gives up uranium enrichment, and believes it would bolster the EU's leverage if the United States got involved in the bargaining.
The United States supports the EU effort and is closely monitoring the talks with an eye toward bringing the case to the U.N. Security Council and asking for sanctions. European diplomats would prefer resolving the issue without the Security Council.
The future of the NATO alliance and trans-Atlantic relations will provide an important touchstone for discussions.
Bush took exception to Schroeder's recent comment that NATO was no longer "the primary venue" for trans-Atlantic dialogue. He also is questioning Chirac's call for a united Europe to act as a counterbalance to the powerful United States.
Sen. Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican and chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, said the trip could be a critical test of the NATO alliance.
"I think the trip by the president is to mend fences or basically to mend what may be public opinion. Obviously the situation in Iraq has been controversial and I think he'll do just that," he told Fox.
