Bush
personally welcomes Romania to NATO
BUCHAREST, Romania - In two nations once darkened by Nazi and Communist rule, President Bush vowed Saturday to defend hard-won freedoms behind the former Iron Curtain.
He said that fledgling NATO states must in turn help defeat "new and terrible dangers": terrorism and the Iraqi regime.
"The world has suffered enough from fanatics who seek to impose their will through fear and murder," Bush told tens of thousands gathered Saturday evening in Revolution Square in Bucharest. "The NATO alliance and the civilized world are confronting the new enemies of freedom, and we will prevail."
Bush extended Romania a personal welcome to NATO, which last week voted to invite the country and six other Eastern European democracies to join its ranks.
Romania's entry "brings moral clarity to our NATO alliance," Bush said. "You value freedom because you have lived without it. You know the difference between good and evil because you have seen evil's face."
As the ceremony began, deep orange sunshine bathed the facade of the Romanian Athenaeum, a classical structure on the opposite side of the square, and provided a brief respite from the otherwise rainy and overcast day.
Bush, noting the rainbow, said: "God is smiling on us today."
Rich with historical symbolism, Bush's five-day trip through Eastern Europe concluded with an address in the square where a 1989 revolution brought down the government of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Noting Ceausescu's former offices above the square, Bush praised Romania for its move to democracy.
"From that balcony, the dictator heard your voices and faltered and fled," Bush said, as the setting sun produced a high-arching rainbow over the city. "Two generations of bitter tyranny ended, and all the world witnessed the courage of Romania, the courage that sets you free."
Earlier, Bush delivered a similar message to thousands in Vilnius, Lithuania, another NATO invitee.
"Like the Nazis and communists before them, the terrorists seek to end lives and control all lives," Bush said in Rotuse Square in Vilnius. "And like the Nazis and communists before them, they will be opposed by free nations, and the terrorists will be defeated."
The people who filled Bucharest's wide boulevards and Vilnius' cobblestone square came to celebrate their NATO invitations, reflecting on decades of oppression, occupation and human misery.
"We have waited for this for 300 years," said Vladas Ludkevicius, 73, clutching a yellow, green and red Lithuanian flag as he walked to Bush's address in Vilnius.
All but the youngest crowd members have lived under communism. Some remember the Nazis.
"Joining NATO will protect us from being occupied again," said Rimantas Grigaitis, a 70-year-old Lithuanian.
Saturday capped a busy week for Bush, beginning with the NATO summit in Prague, Czech Republic.
Born out of fears of Soviet aggression, the North Atlantic military alliance voted to expand its territory up to the Russian frontier by offering membership to Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. It agreed to form a U.S.-proposed rapid response force, designed for quick deployment anywhere in the world. Also, NATO celebrated its burgeoning friendship with Moscow, its former foe.
After NATO, Bush traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, to assure Russian President Vladimir Putin that a bigger NATO alliance of European democracies was in Russia's best interests.
And with a war looming against Iraq, Bush also secured strong statements from Putin and NATO reminding Iraqi President Saddam Hussein that he faces "serious consequences" if he fails to comply with U.N. weapons inspections.
Bush warned the Bucharest crowd of the danger posed by Hussein.
"By his search for terrible weapons, by his ties to terror groups, by his development of prohibited ballistic missiles, the dictator of Iraq threatens the security of every free nation, including the free nations of Europe," Bush said.
Repeating a familiar refrain, Bush warned that if Hussein did not disarm, the United States would lead a coalition of willing nations to make him do so, "in the name of peace."
Bush was treated like a returning hero in Lithuania and Romania. Both countries decorated him with national honors and thanked him for his role in getting them into NATO.
"You have liberated yourselves from tyranny, you're building a vibrant democracy, and you're preparing to join NATO," Bush said after receiving the Star of Romania from Romanian President Ion Iliescu. "In all these events of history, America has been your friend, and we'll be proud to call you ally."
Bush, the first U.S. president to visit Lithuania, called the Baltic state's acceptance into NATO the end to a "long night of fear, uncertainty and loneliness."
The Baltic states -- Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia -- emerged as democracies after spending most of the 20th century under Nazi or Soviet control. As all three prepare to join NATO, Bush assured them that their security was guaranteed.
"In the face of aggression, the brave people of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will never again stand alone," he said to loud cheers and calls of Aciu ("Thank you"). The crowd was one of Bush's largest overseas audiences, but was far smaller than 25,000 to 50,000 the White House had predicted.
In Bucharest, the White House estimated that as many as 210,000 people were in the crowd.