President Bush began a five-country European tour on Monday, his last trip to Europe as President. The pre-take-off remarks he made to the Washington press corps on what he hopes to acheive there can be read here and watched here.
Bush kicked off the trip with an annual European Council summit in Slovenia. While the subject of the talks ranged from human rights, to climate change to European affairs, but Bush's aim was squarely focused on pressuring Iran to abandon its nuclear program. A summary of the declaration passed at the summit can be read here.
The trip comes at a point where Europeans’ opinion of Bush are lower than that of Americans–despite efforts on the part of the President to reachout to European leaders. Many of these leaders already see Bush as a “lame duck,” and hope that the next President will usher in a new phase in transatlantic relations.
But a recent International Herald Tribune article reminds:
“The one-day meeting will also show that many areas of friction will remain, no matter who is elected to the White House. “It will be easier to work with a new administration,” said one EU official who deals with trans-Atlantic relations speaking on condition of anonymity, “but the best way not to lose your illusions is not to have too many to start with.”
European newspaper editors told PRI's The World radio program yesterday what issues they consider most desreving of Bush's attention, and what they think Mr. Bush's legacy will be.
