Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 121: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will report on the recent visit of President Bush to the EU and his meeting with EU leaders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7644/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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President Bush met with the EU Council, Commission and Troika on 22 February 2005. Among the topics discussed at the meeting with the Council were the Middle East peace process, Iraq, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, the Western Balkans and the UN summit scheduled for September 2005. During the meeting each EU head of state or government focused on a particular agenda item, with the Taoiseach, at the request of the Presidency, leading on Russia.

In his intervention, the Taoiseach focused on the common interest the EU and the US have in building and maintaining their own strategic partnerships with the Russian Federation, in accordance with the standards of democracy and human rights which both sides of the Atlantic hold in common. While the heads of state and government met with President Bush, I attended a meeting between EU Foreign Ministers and the US Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, which had a similar agenda. In my intervention I focused on the millennium development goals, insisting that they are eminently achievable, UN reform and on the need to address the situation in Darfur.

President Bush's meeting with the European Council took place in a relaxed and positive atmosphere and I believe that his visit to the EU, and particularly his support for European integration, has given renewed impetus to the transatlantic relationship. I welcome the strong emphasis which the President put on the current opportunity for progress in the Middle East peace process during his visit. I also welcome the fact that he said in his address at the Concert Noble in Brussels on 21 February 2005 that the US had found that a narrow definition of security is not enough and spoke about removing the causes of terror.