Improving Relations with Europe

ASSISTANT SECRETARY JONES: Thanks very much for spending time with me this morning. Let me just start by outlining the plan for the second administration. I will start this way. In his first address after Senator Kerry conceded the election recently, last week, President Bush included in his statement his desire to improve relations with Europe; his desire to work as collaboratively as possible with the European Union and NATO. Secretary Powell reinforced that message in a conversation yesterday with journalists on his way to a meeting in Mexico with specific reference to the importance of Europe as the United States works toward its goals in the international community worldwide.

What this means, for Estonia in particular, is how grateful the United States is for Estonia’s very strong participation in the difficult issues of our day in Afghanistan and in Iraq. This is very important as Estonia has become a member of NATO and a member of the European Union. All of us, as like-minded countries, think about the kinds of issues, the kinds of challenges that we--this group of like-minded nations--wish to engage in. One of the most important goals in Afghanistan was to have free and fair elections. Estonia’s troop contribution in Afghanistan was a very important part of that. Stability was important to the Afghan population as they went to the polls, as they wanted to participate in choosing their leader themselves.

This will be equally important in Iraq. More difficult, possibly, but nevertheless extremely important as we work toward elections in Iraq at the end of January. Obviously the counter insurgency operations are critical to that. We can talk about Falluja a little bit today, if you would like, but the work of the international community, both in terms of counter insurgency work in the coalition, in reconstruction (terribly important), and in support of the UN as it makes the arrangements for the elections at the end of January. All of this is an important part of what the United States wants to do with the EU, with Europe, and in NATO.

The Middle East Peace process obviously is terribly important as well. I can’t tell you what the specific plans are of Secretary Powell and President Bush to engage in that, but it is something that is very high on their agenda. It is something that we’ll be talking about with our European friends and allies to understand if there are particular ideas or particular initiatives there, coming from the European side, that might be useful and helpful as we pursue that. In the meantime, we will have a meeting of the broader Middle East/North Africa initiative in Morocco in December. This is a very important element to the work that all of us are doing in the broader Middle East/North Africa as we promote political reform, economic reform, education, and the kinds of things that will help bring prosperity and stability, and therefore undercut the violence that has been underway in the Middle East for way too long.

Why don’t I stop there and see what kinds of issues you would like to talk about today.

QUESTION: Priit Simson, Estonian daily Eesti Päevaleht: the Estonian units in Iraq currently have a mandate until July 2005. Will you request an extension of this mandate?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY JONES: In terms of the coalition itself, a lot of that depends on our bilateral discussions--how is it that we are going to address the particular situation. Of course, we are extremely grateful for Estonia's participation in the coalition. Now it is very important that Estonia participates through the entire period of the run up to the Iraqi elections and then into the elections itself and then into the period right after that. Depending on the situation, I am sure we will have very detailed discussions between the United States and Estonia on the military level about what capabilities might be the most required in Iraq.

QUESTION: Kadri Liik, Diplomaatia monthly: In George Bush’s second term, would you expect a change in U.S. policy towards Russia?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY JONES: No, I don't think policy will change. We have for quite sometime been working very hard with our Russian counterparts, our Russian colleagues, to impress upon them the importance we attach to constructive engagement--to working on, in a constructive way, all of the issues that are of importance to all of us. For instance, it is very important to us that we engage constructively on counter-terrorism--very, very important particularly in the post Beslan period for Russia.

At the same time that is not the only issue on which we should be engaging. It is very important that we work on the broad range of issues on the frozen conflicts. Very important for Russia to engage constructively to resolve the issues involving South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Very important for Russia to engage to the OSCE or whatever format--the most appropriate format--is to resolve the issues involving Transnistria and Moldova. It is very important for Russia to engage in the issues of Nagorno-Karabakh. They are engaged in it, in any case, because they are participating in the Minsk Group. There are a whole set of issues involved in Chechnya, involving free media, involving rule of law, involving democracy. All of these issues have to be part of the discussion that all of us, not just the United States, have with Russia.

We look forward very much to increasing that engagement because it is our very strong view that it is in Russia's interest to resolve the issues with the frozen conflicts. It is in Russia's interest to assure good neighborly relations with the Baltic States, with the EU, and with NATO, because these countries are part of the EU and NATO as well. So we insist on discussing every one of these issues as often as we possibly can with our Russian counterparts.

QUESTION: Indrek Kiisler, Estonian Radio: What is Washington’s strategy in case the elections in Iraq fail?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY JONES: We are working on elections succeeding. That's the main thing--we don't really work on those kinds of hypotheticals. Right now, the focus is on the UN. The UN has experts on organizing elections. They did that in Afghanistan. The UN staff can't operate effectively without a UN protection force, so it is very, very important for the international community to contribute to the UN protection force so that the UN experts can work inside Iraq. Part of the strategy obviously is humanitarian assistance, reconstruction, that kind of thing--that's part of the strategy as the Iraqi government and the multinational coalition force work to end the insurgencies in various parts of the country. Falluja is the obvious example now.

QUESTION: Kaarel Kaas, Estonian daily Postimees: How do you feel about the conflict in Chechnya, and do you feel that it can be resolved through military means?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY JONES: We maintain very strongly, especially with Russia, that it cannot be solved by military means. The only way to resolve the issue in Chechnya is to address the political, economic, social issues that underlie the conflict.

QUESTION: Mikhail Vladislavlev, First Baltic Channel: What do you plan to discuss with Minister [of Populations] Rummo?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY JONES: Well, I want to get his sense of what he sees as the situation here with the Russian minority--that is, are the programs working? One of the things that we are proud of, as members of NATO, is all of the work that was done in order to assure that these minority issues were addressed in the run-up to being invited to join NATO. It was one of the requirements on the table, actually, in terms of membership, to address minority issues in an appropriate way. I am interested in checking with him to see how that issue has progressed.

QUESTION: Vladislavlev: Is there a problem with the Russian-speaking national minority?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY JONES: Our sense is that the issue is being addressed very well here, actually.

QUESTION: Simson: Continuing in that vein, do you have particular suggestions?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY JONES: I don’t have particular suggestions, no. I am not an expert on the subject. It is an issue that we hear about in the international community obviously. It is important as far as the United States is concerned to address integration issues, to address minority questions to assure diversity. Those kinds of things are part of the American political underpinnings, and the way Estonia chooses to do that is up to Estonia. There is also, I know, a very important aspect of this through the OSCE and that conversation continues with the OSCE minorities expert.

QUESTION: Tõnis Arnover, Estonian business daily Äripäev: Do you foresee an improvement of the U.S.’s relations with Europe, especially with France, over the next four years?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY JONES: One of the things that is very interesting to focus on is the extremely good work and good cooperation that have been underway between the EU institutions and the U.S. on counter terrorism. This has been particularly the case since 9/11, obviously. The kinds of arrangements and agreements and exchanges that have been agreed between Home and Justice Affairs Ministers of the European Union, and the United States are really terrific. Intelligence exchange, law enforcement cooperation -- all those things work extremely well. This underpinning of the trans-Atlantic relationship doesn’t get a lot of attention, but is nevertheless a very, very good new part of the trans-Atlantic relationship.

Another area where there is extremely good cooperation is on HIV/AIDS, where we do a tremendous amount of work together.

We are in constant conversation with the European Union on issues involving border controls, issues involving Central Asia, the Caucasus, and particularly on issues involving Ukraine and Belarus. We, the United States, find, that when we collaborate and cooperate with the European Union to work on free and fair elections in Ukraine, or to work on changing the situation in Belarus, or to work on best ways to assure stability and prosperity in Georgia, we do a much better job when we can do it together. We find that our representations in Ukraine or in Uzbekistan or in Azerbaijan or, wherever it is, work better when the United State and the European Union work on it together. It is received better when the message is the same. We have huge collaboration, and it is not hard to get to the point of what to do next in each of these countries in our conversations with the European Union.

The biggest issue that divided us was Iraq. We still have a disagreement with several European countries--certainly not all of them--about whether we should have gone to war in Iraq. Now, that question is over. We find that every single one of our European friends and allies, including France and Germany, say that we disagreed then, but it is now behind us. Now we must find a way to address all of the issues that remain. In Iraq, it is working on the counter-insurgency, developing prosperity, working toward WTO, reducing the Iraqi debt and moving toward elections. We find extremely good collaboration and cooperation with every single European country, including France and Germany. France and Germany did not oppose, but supported NATO training in Iraq for the Iraqi military. That is a very, very big step forward. It is something that demonstrates that, in fact, the page has been turned on Iraq.

On Afghanistan, there were never any differences. Collaboration has been excellent, as I mentioned earlier, particularly leading up to elections in Afghanistan.

Another area where we work very well together is in Darfur right now. A lot more work needs to be done there. I think that is part of the conversation--can’t we do some of these things more quickly to address the difficulties there in Darfur? We’ll see.

We have good collaboration in Cote d’Ivoire right now and one of the things that Secretary Powell and Foreign Minister Barnier were on the phone late Saturday night, even, to talk about was what the situation there, and how could we cooperate to resolve the situation.

Same thing with Haiti: our biggest collaborator there is France.

QUESTION: Kaas: When will coalition forces leave Iraq? Can you give us any dates?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY JONES: No, I have no idea. First of all, the main group that is going to tell us when to leave is the Iraqi government. That’s part of the Security Council resolution, the way it was written. That is the kind of discussion we have with the Iraqi interim government now. One of the reasons we are so focused on the elections in Iraq is to make that government even more legitimate, as it will be selected by the Iraqi people. Then a discussion will take place as to whether the coalition should remain or not. I do not know the answer; I’m not part of the Iraqi government.

QUESTION: Simson: While the human rights situation in Russia has been deteriorating, the U.S. has avoided criticizing Russia. Is there a reason for this?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY JONES: Well, you are not reading or listening to many of the things that we have been saying. Let me just lay out for you a few of the things that underpin the public statements that we make. First, I would point you to the op-ed piece that Secretary Powell put in Izvestia at the end of January. That was a very, very clear and very detailed statement about the importance to us of all of the issues on the agenda, along the lines I outlined at the beginning of our conversation this morning. We use those themes in a variety of ways. That said, our goal is to get the kind of improvements that the international community seeks, in Russia. The question then is how best to get those improvements? Is it better to have quiet conversations or is it better to say things publicly? We try to find the balance with that so that in public we say some things and we have a much more extensive conversation in private in order to accomplish our goals. That’s always the key. Are we trying to make statements or are we trying to get things done?

QUESTION: Josef Katz, Estonian Russian-language daily newspaper Molodjozh Estonii: How long should Estonia expect to wait to be included in the visa waiver program?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY JONES: We have legal requirements. It is spelled out in a U.S. law how the visa waiver program is meant to work. There are a variety of requirements, one of which is a much reduced refusal rate. There are certain other issues in terms of prosperity and that kind of thing. The purpose of these requirements is to be certain that those who enter the United States on visas enter the United States do only the kinds of things that their visas permit them to do. The bottom line is that we have to end illegal work in the United States. That’s the key to any country being able to join the visa waiver program. So when the time comes and those criteria are met, then the conversation can begin about whether the visa waiver program can be extend to include to this country or that country. That is what the law says.

There is also an attitude in Congress. Every parliament has attitudes about certain things and one of them is still nervousness about the visa waiver program in the first place. We have been fortunate that Congress has not withdrawn the visa waiver program altogether. We worked, Secretary Powell especially, very hard to retain the visa waiver program as it exists now. We want to continue to demonstrate to our lawmakers that the visa waiver program is being handled extremely well, so that when other countries could qualify, they won’t face opposition to their participation, because there is still nervousness about whether we are letting in the people we don’t want to let in.

One of the things that is helping us is that, as a result of 9/11, we are upgrading our ability to know what is going on--meaning, we are upgrading our information systems, our technology at the borders. so that we have a good idea who is in the country and who isn’t in the country. We were a little bit loose on that before and that made a lot of Americans nervous, especially members of Congress. That’s something that we had fallen behind on and are very pleased that we've been able to get the resources from Congress to increase our ability to have one port of entry talk to another port of entry in the United States, for instance, which wasn’t so easy before.

QUESTION: Kiisler: What do you expect from the new Ukrainian president?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY JONES: Well it is a very good question. We want very much for the run-off election on November 21^st to be a free and fair election. There is a tremendous amount of work that the European Union is doing, that we are doing, that a lot of the international community is doing to put many, many, many hundreds of observers in Ukraine to emphasize the importance of a free and fair election and to prevent manipulation of the election. What we would like from Ukraine is a good partner. We would like to encourage Ukraine to keep working toward European integration and integration into trans-Atlantic institutions.

Obviously it is not up to the United States to say whether Ukraine should be invited to join the European Union, but integration into European structures is nevertheless extremely important because that brings rule of law. It increases prosperity; it increases trade. We, the United States, are working very hard to increase Ukraine’s ability to join the World Trade Organization, WTO. That’s a very important element in our integration goals.

The more we have defense interoperability, the more we have transparency in the defense establishment, which also speaks to the trans-Atlantic goals that we would have for a country like Ukraine. Ukraine is a very, very important country, there is no question about it. The more free and fair this election is on November 21^st, the more we are going to be able to work quickly toward the kind of integration that we think is in our interest. We know that NATO believes it is in its best interest and the European Union does as well.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY JONES: It is a little unusual for me to have a press roundtable before I have actually met with any Estonian colleagues, but I very much appreciate your interest. One of the important things for us as we enter the new administration of President Bush is for us to come here, to come and listen, to understand how best we can cooperate and collaborate and I very much appreciate the opportunity to do that in my stay today in Estonia. I thank you all for your interest.