布什于保加利亚总统会晤(2008-06-18)

PRESIDENT BUSH: Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to the Oval Office. It was about a year ago that I had the great pleasure of visiting your beautiful country, and I want to thank you for the warm hospitality you showed and thank you for giving me a chance to welcome you here to the Oval Office. We had a very extensive conversation --

PRIME MINISTER STANISHEV: Indeed.

PRESIDENT BUSH: -- and that's what you'd expect among friends.

First, I want to congratulate you and thank you and your government for the role you have played in the Western Balkans. You've been a constructive¹ force for stability, a constructive force for hope. You've projected a hopeful future and -- for the people in Kosovo and Serbia. And I want to thank you for that. It's really important that there be leadership in the neighborhood, and you've provided it.

Secondly², I want to thank you very much for your nation's strong contributions to helping³ others realize the blessings⁴ of liberty, whether it be in Afghanistan or Iraq. I fully⁵ understand how difficult these issues can be. On the other hand, you understand how hopeful the world can be when people live in free societies. So I want to thank you and I want to thank the people of your country for the sacrifices that you have made.

Thirdly, we talked about a mutual⁶ concern, and that's energy: How do we get more energy on the market; how do we help others, our respective countries and others, realize the blessings of additional energy supply? I mean, we're in a world that is -- where supply has exceeded -- where demand has exceeded supply. There's high prices. Both our countries -- the people in our countries are wondering what do we intend to do about it.

And so we had a good discussion about the diversification⁷ of energy supply. I really appreciate the Prime Minister's discussion about nuclear power. Prime Minister, we're trying to expand nuclear power here in the United States of America because it's clean, it's renewable, and it will help us become less dependent on hydrocarbons⁸.

We talked about two other issues that are of importance to the Prime Minister and the people of his country. First, we talked about visas. I fully understand the concerns of your people when it comes to visas. On the one -- we're helping, we're part of a very important coalition⁹; we're allies, and yet we don't get treated the same as other people within the EU.

PRIME MINISTER STANISHEV: It was a good breakthrough.

PRESIDENT BUSH: And today because of the Prime Minister's hard work, there has been a breakthrough on the visa waiver, as an important step toward achieving the same status as other countries in the EU. And I want to congratulate you on that. Thank you for your hard work and thank you for your care about the people of your country.

Finally, I applauded the Prime Minister for his and his government's work on dealing¹⁰ with corruption¹². I reminded the Prime Minister that all of us have got a responsibility to deal with corruption. When we find corrupt¹¹ officials in the United States, we expect them to be, within the rule of law, be dealt with. And that's what you're doing. And the people who ultimately benefit from that decision are the people of your country. They -- I know they appreciate your tough stand. Nobody wants to have a government where it looks like a few benefit at the cost of many.

And so your tough stance have made a big difference. I'm proud that you're here. I want to thank you for it. You're a good, young, strong leader, and that's said from an old guy. Welcome.

PRIME MINISTER STANISHEV: Thank you. Well, thank you, Mr. President, for the good words about Bulgaria, indeed. And my assessment¹³ is that our relations have reached the level of strategic partnership¹⁴. And I see no contradiction in this with our good behavior and our contributions to the European Union.

PRESIDENT BUSH: That's right.

PRIME MINISTER STANISHEV: I think Bulgaria proved in the last several years that we can be good contributors of stability for NATO, we can be active in the European Union, and we can develop our excellent relations with the United States -- because it is amazing that in 18 years, our countries have reached this level of trust, confidence. And from this point of view, I appreciate your very strong leadership role in the support of the reform process in Bulgaria.

It is never easy. It requires a lot of efforts, persistence¹⁵. Results do not always come overnight. But they develop, and everyone who comes to Bulgaria after several years of absence is saying the country has made great progress. And the United States have always been very helpful in this process.

I must say that we see our role in the region as a country which is bridging and guaranteeing stability both for the Western Balkans and for the broader Black Sea area, which are very important, because without stability in the Balkans, without European perspective and NATO perspective for these countries, we cannot speak about real prosperity and democracy in the region. The region has many wounds from the war in former Yugoslavia, and they have to be healed. And the international presence is very important, and the European perspective, as well.

And we also see the importance of the Black Sea area, both politically, from the point of view of security issues and from the point of view of energy issues. And I appreciate the dialogue which we had on diversification of energy supply, on nuclear energy. Bulgaria will be developing our nuclear facilities, not only the new ones, but there are many other projects where American companies can participate in nuclear issues, but also in thermal¹⁶ power plants, many other energy projects, because we want to be indeed a hub of energy stability in the region. We want to be enough independent; we want to be exporter of energy.

We are good partners in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Kosovo. And Bulgaria really is not simply a beneficiary of our membership in NATO or the European Union, but we are a contributor, because we know our responsibilities and we shall not give up on these responsibilities because there are many challenges around the world. We have to overcome them together with our friends and partners.

I thank you very much for this support and for the American experts who worked on this declaration on visa waiver. You, Mr. President, were the first to say that this is not a normal situation, when two nations have such confidence, when we have 200,000 Bulgarians living in the United States, more and more Americans coming to Bulgaria, to have this obstacle for normal human contacts. There is a way to go. There is work to do. But we shall do it together, and I believe that the sooner we achieve -- make our business, the better for the citizens of our two countries.

And finally, thank you also for the supporting the reforms in the fight against organized crime and corruption. Bulgaria is a nation which became member of the European Union, which is modernizing¹⁷. Our economic growth is excellent. Our performances in economy are good. And we see the reform in the fight against organized crime and corruption, the judiciary reform, as a very important further precondition for our economic growth, and for the development of the nation.

And I remember that last year you supported the establishment of the new State Agency for National Security. I can say with satisfaction that it is already operational, it works excellently with American services, and it has operations which are bringing concrete fruits. But there is work to do.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you for coming.

PRIME MINISTER STANISHEV: Thank you, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you all.

1 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

2 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

7 diversification   

n.变化，多样化；多种经营

参考例句：

• The seminar was to discuss diversification of agriculture. 该研讨会讨论的是农业多种经营。 来自辞典例句
• Firm diversification is increasingly achieved by the means of takeover and merger. 通过接管和兼并，厂商经营范围日益多样化。 来自辞典例句

8 hydrocarbons   

n.碳氢化合物，烃( hydrocarbon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Hydrocarbons (HC), like carbon monoxide, represent unburned and wasted fuel. 碳氢化合物(HC)像一氧化碳一样，为未燃尽的和被浪费掉的燃料。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• With this restricted frequency range it is not applicable to hydrocarbons. 这个较紧缩的频率范围不适用于烃类。 来自辞典例句

9 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

12 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

13 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

14 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

15 persistence   

n.坚持，持续，存留

参考例句：

• The persistence of a cough in his daughter puzzled him.他女儿持续的咳嗽把他难住了。
• He achieved success through dogged persistence.他靠着坚持不懈取得了成功。

16 thermal   

adj.热的，由热造成的；保暖的

参考例句：

• They will build another thermal power station.他们要另外建一座热能发电站。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

17 modernizing   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• Modernizing a business to increase its profitability and competitiveness is a complicated affair. 使企业现代化，从而达到增加利润，增强竞争力的目的，是一件复杂的事情。
• The young engineer had a large share in modernizing the factory. 这位年轻工程师在工厂现代化的过程中尽了很大的“力”。