By
Ken Fireman
Bucharest, Romania - Speaking at the epicenter of Romania's 1989 anti-communist revolution, President George W. Bush yesterday praised that country's "historic journey" from dictatorship to democracy and welcomed it into the NATO alliance.
"Should any danger threaten Romania - should any nation threaten Romania - the United States of America and NATO will be by your side," the president told the large, enthusiastic crowd that gathered under rainy skies to hear him. "As a NATO ally, you can have this confidence: No one will be able to take away the freedom of your country."
Earlier in the day, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Bush performed a similar ceremony of welcome to another new NATO member, praising the Baltic nation's fortitude during years of Soviet domination. "The long night of fear, uncertainty and loneliness is over," he said.
The crowd in Vilnius was smaller - well short of the 25,000 to 50,000 White House officials had predicted on Friday - and far more restrained than the one in Bucharest. Yet many Lithuanians expressed personal delight that Bush had become the first U.S. president to visit their nation, which regained its independence from Moscow in 1991.
"I am happy that he has come here," said Audrone Lickute, one member of the Vilnius audience. "We are grateful that you supported us during the years of occupation. And now you support us in our freedom."
Bush's stops in Bucharest and Vilnius came at the conclusion of a five-day European trip. The centerpiece was a NATO summit last week in the Czech capital, Prague, at which the alliance formally invited seven former communist nations to join and endorsed the U.S.-led campaign to disarm Iraq. The other new members are Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia and Slovenia.
On several occasions during the week, Bush spoke of his belief that the new members would "reinvigorate the soul" of the alliance because of their recent passage from totalitarianism to political and economic freedom. His stops yesterday were clearly designed to punctuate that point.
In Bucharest, Bush spoke in Revolution Square, the scene of dramatic events in the uprising that swept Romania's communist regime from power nearly 13 years ago. It was from a balcony overlooking the square that communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu made a final speech to a jeering crowd, then escaped in a helicopter before being overthrown and killed.
"Here in December 1989 you broke the silence of your captivity," Bush told the cheering, flag-waving crowd. "From that balcony, the dictator heard your voices, and faltered, and fled."
Amid all the monuments to Romanian history on the square, Bush said, one building has been left in ruins: the offices of Ceausescu's secret police. "It is a fitting reminder of all the cruelties done there, and the justice that rose up against oppression," he said.
Bush hopes the newer NATO members will enthusiastically support his campaign to disarm Iraq, counterbalancing the reservations of older members such as Germany and France. He made an overt case for such support in Bucharest, saying, "The NATO alliance and the civilized world are confronting the new enemies of freedom. ... The dictator of Iraq threatens the security of every free nation, including the nations of Europe."
Tens of thousands of Romanians braved the steady rain to greet Bush, dancing giddily to American rock music played over giant speakers as they awaited his arrival.
They were rewarded by a bit of celestial symbolism. Just as Bush and Romanian President Ion Iliescu walked onstage, the setting sun broke through the lowering clouds and a pale rainbow arced across the eastern sky. "God is smiling on us today," Bush told the crowd.