22 October 2009
Biden Praises Central Europe’s Democratic Advances, October 22, 2009
By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer
Washington — Vice President Biden praised the courage of the people of Central Europe for taking world history in the 20th century and moving it in a new direction toward freedom, justice and fairness.
“Twenty years ago the world watched in awe and admiration as men and women throughout this region broke the shackles of oppression, and emerged a free people,” Biden said in Bucharest, Romania, as Europeans observe the 20th anniversary of the end of the Cold War. “When the Iron Curtain was lifted, the wall fell in Berlin, in their places grew democracy, a democracy that you’ve deserved for a long time.”
“Across Europe, a new sense of possibility took hold, galvanizing the region, uplifting a continent, and literally inspiring the world.”
Biden was on the second stop of a three-nation visit to Eastern Europe. He is visiting the NATO allies Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic to express his support for their continued efforts at advancing democracy in the region and helping the United States advance security across Europe.
Addressing an audience of 200-plus university students October 22, Biden said, “You have begun to realize dreams that only the bold imagined 20 years ago — a Europe whole and free, anchored in a European-Atlantic alliance, institutions of NATO, and the European Union.”
In his speech at the Central University Library, intended to be the centerpiece of his three-day swing through the region, Biden observed that he was standing in a place that saw fighting two decades ago as Romania threw off communist rule and he was just blocks from where some of "freedom’s defenders" were killed. A fire swept through the library and burned 500,000 books in 1989.
Biden addressed concerns many in Eastern Europe have held that the recent change announced by President Obama for a proposed missile defense system was driven by the need to “appease Russia at the expense of Central Europe.”
“That is absolutely wrong. Missile defense is not about Russia,” Biden said. “Our approach is driven by security requirements of the United States and our NATO allies, period.”
In September, Obama announced that he would replace a proposed limited anti-ballistic missile system based in part in Poland and in the Czech Republic with a ship-based and land-based system using the Standard Missile-3 system currently in use by the United States. The SM-3 is a much better architecture, he said. (See “Obama Announces New Plan to Defend Europe from Iranian Missiles.”)
At a press conference earlier with Romanian President Traian Basescu at the Cotroceni presidential palace, Biden praised Romania for embracing the new missile defense system and for providing armed forces in Afghanistan and earlier in Iraq.
Biden said the United States is seeking to strengthen its relationship with Russia, arguing that a more constructive relationship will benefit everyone in Europe. “We share some common interests: cutting the arsenals of nuclear weapons; securing vulnerable nuclear materials; stabilizing Afghanistan; preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons,” he said.
And Biden also said the United States shares the desire of Romania that its neighbors, including Moldova, continue to advance democratic and economic reforms in search of full integration into the Euro-Atlantic institutions. He added that that is why the United States is helping to stabilize Moldova economically.
The European Union recently announced in Brussels that talks on new cooperation with Moldova would begin shortly. Moldova joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace in the 1990s to modernize its armed forces along the NATO structure and to boost its ties with the West.
Biden also traveled to Victoria Palace to meet with Prime Minister Emil Boc. The two posed for pictures. No words were spoken in front of reporters and no mention was made of the Romanian parliament’s vote of no confidence that toppled Boc’s government. Boc remains in office while it is determined who will assume his office.
Following the meeting with the prime minister, Biden went to the Central University Library for the speech. Afterward, he was scheduled to meet with former Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana and opposition leader Crin Antonescu.
Biden will be in Prague October 23 on the last stop of his brief visit to Eastern Europe.
A transcript of remarks by Biden and Basescu and a transcript of Biden's remarks at Central University Library are available on America.gov.
