13 June 2007
The Prime Minister has reiterated that US plans to place missiles in Europe are not a threat to Russia.
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Prime Minister:
Good Afternoon everyone. Can I extend a very warm welcome to the Czech Prime Minister here in Downing Street and say that we have had a very good and constructive meeting. I would like to thank the Czech Republic and its people, as well as the government of the Czech Republic, for their continuing support in Afghanistan and Iraq where our troops are engaged with their forces. I would like to thank them for that commitment.
We went through a range of different issues, but obviously we talked significantly particularly about the up-coming Summit in Europe next week. And I think the Czech and the British positions are pretty much aligned. We want to see an agreement on the key elements for a treaty that is not a constitutional treaty, but a conventional amending treaty that allows Europe to work more effectively, but does not get us into the difficulties that we have had before, and allows Europe to move forward properly. And I think in relation to all of the basic elements there I think we are very much on the same line.
So what we will continue to do from now right up until the Summit is make sure that we coordinate our positions carefully together, and obviously there is going to be some tough negotiating there, but nonetheless we are determined to make sure that we can get something that satisfies I think the desire for Europe to be more effective, but not to go back to the Constitutional Treaty.
Czech Prime Minister:
I don’t think I can express it better. I think I can very much agree that we have a common or the same position on a number of issues which either relate to the foreign policy or to EU methods which I do not regard foreign policy. There are a number of issues which we have not had time to discuss, and we will leave it for later.
Both countries are strongly supportive of the transatlantic relations. Both countries share the same approach to freedom and the defence of freedom. We jointly take part in different missions. I think we also share the same view on the financial perspective of the European Union, also on the Common Agricultural Policy and its potential reduction. And also we have a long term consistent and similar common view on the institutional reform and the role of the institutions of the European Union.
Of course we cannot agree on everything. As ever, some of those positions or some of those ideas we will try to push them through in Brussels and we will try to find or make an agreement on them in Brussels next week.
We believe that the role of the national parliament should be maintained and a number of issues should be still decided on the national level by the national parliaments. We believe that the EU should be open, it should be flexible. I am very happy with our meeting and we will see each other again in Brussels next week and hopefully we will be able to make a deal on some of those mentioned issues.
Question:
May I ask you, what is your view of the Chancellor’s proposals announced in Baghdad on his visit earlier this week when he said that in future he proposed that intelligence analysis should be completely independent of the political process and there should be more accountability on intelligence for parliament?
Prime Minister:
Well this is very much what the Butler report looked into, and I think as I said at the time, I think it is sensible to make a change in the way - should we ever do this type of thing again - make a change in the way that the intelligence is handled, because it is important that people understand the difference between the politics and the intelligence. And of course the most important thing to realise is that so far as the Iraq issue is concerned, people can actually see exactly what evidence I received at the time, because it is published on the website following all the different inquiries there have been, and people can see the Joint Intelligence Committee assessments at the time. But I think what he was saying is absolutely in line with what the Butler Inquiry recommended and what I think I myself said at the time.
Question:
You have spoken about issues that put you together, but looking at the wider Europe, which two or three issues do you think are the most worrying before the next summit is successful, and can you foresee the possibility that the summit will not come to an agreement?
Prime Minister:
There is going to be some very tough negotiating I think in the run-up to the summit and at the summit and of course there are a range of different issues that different countries have. But for us, I think for the Czech Republic, for France, for Holland, for other countries the issue is this, that we had a No vote in the two referendums in France and Holland on the constitutional treaty, there is no point in going back to that constitutional treaty again, we should go back rather to the concept of a conventional amending treaty, as we have done before. And those areas where there are obviously going to be real issues and real difficulties, I mean I think we are going to have to accept that if people want an agreement then there is going to have to be satisfaction of the points that we are raising. So I think there is a real desire in Europe to get this issue settled and move on. You know there are other issues that we need to talk about that are of huge importance - energy, migration, how we make our economies more effective, how we ensure that European defence works well. These are the key questions.
We need to resolve this issue, and it is best resolved by putting aside the concept of a constitutional treaty, going back to a conventional amending treaty. And you know frankly in order to get an agreement then the types of issues we are talking about are going to have to be met and satisfied, and if that happens then we will get the agreement. And I know that the German Presidency is working in a very good way, in a very determined way to try and reach that agreement.
Question:
[Inaudible] European defence, do you support the idea of frustration in parts of the US, [inaudible] the Russian proposal as the way forward?
Prime Minister:
I have supported all the way through the ability, and indeed the right, of countries to negotiate this, and have made it clear on many occasions that this is not aimed at Russia. And the Americans have made it clear, I know they are in intensive negotiations and discussions with the Russians about it. But you know this is a situation that I think has to be resolved in each individual country by the government concerned there, and I would also stress that for us, and in our relations with the Czech Republic, you know the Czech Republic are good partners in the European Union and they are very strong partners in NATO, and these are important relationships for us to have. And in the end I don’t think people should see the concept of ballistic missile defence as anything other than an attempt for protection against, not Russia, but you know those types of states that are in breach of international obligations are developing nuclear weapons systems.
Czech Prime Minister:
I think that the Russian offer represents a major shift in Putin’s view of the problem. He basically admitted that there is a threat of [inaudible] by a long-range missile, and he actually acknowledged that there is a need to defend against those long-range missiles. And if you ask me how would I comment on the missile defence system or infrastructure, set up in Azerbaijan, my comment would be that I would not see this as a substitution but rather as a complementary act, so it would be an additional feature, not a substitution.
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