Bush tells Putin of democracy concerns

BRATISLAVA - US President George W. Bush has met Vladimir Putin and says he told the Russian president about his concerns over democracy in Russia.

After a summit in Slovakia, both leaders stressed their close ties and common ground and Bush said they shared the goal that neither Iran nor North Korea should have nuclear weapons.

But Bush - who had set the tone for the meeting by predicting a march of democracy across Russia's ex-Soviet backyard - said strong countries needed to be democratic.

"Democracies have certain things in common - a rule of law and protection of minorities and a free press and a viable political opposition," he told a joint news conference.

"I was able to share my concerns about Russia's commitment in fulfilling these universal principles. I did so in a constructive and friendly way."

The meeting comes amid growing concern in the West that Putin is backsliding on democracy, with critics saying his tough policies towards opponents have curbed true democracy.

Putin said Western fears were unfounded.

"Russia has made its choice in favour of democracy," he said. "Any return to totalitarianism ... would be impossible."

The leaders have warm personal ties and put a brave face on differences as they stood side by side at Bratislava Castle, the final stage of Bush's fence-mending trip to Europe.

Addressing 4,000 people in a central square in snow-bound Bratislava earlier, Bush praised democratic change that swept ex-communist Eastern Europe over a decade ago and was now spreading to ex-Soviet republics.

"The advance of freedom is the concentrated work of generations," said Bush, who has made supporting democratic change around the world a theme for his second term.

"It took almost a decade after the (1989) velvet revolution for democracy to fully take root in this country. And the democratic revolutions that swept this region over 15 years ago are now reaching Georgia and Ukraine," he told a cheering crowd.

MOLDOVA, BELARUS

Bush said elections in Moldova could aid democracy in the ex-Soviet Union and even isolated Belarus would one day fall into the democratic fold.

"Inevitably, the people of Belarus will some day proudly belong to the country of democracies. Eventually the call of liberty comes to every mind and every soul," he said.

The ex-Soviet Baltic states Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia joined the European Union last year, along with Slovakia and much of formerly Soviet-dominated eastern Europe.

Bush won his first warm public reception on his four-day European tour in Bratislava, underscoring different attitudes to the United States between "old" European Union members such as France and Germany and newcomers from the east.

His speech met frequent applause, apparently encouraging him to immerse in the crowd after his speech to shake hands.

"He's the head of the world's superpower. In my opinion, it is good for Slovakia to be friends with such a big and strong country," said Stefan Ilavsky, 45, a clerk who took a six-hour train trip from eastern Slovakia to be at the speech.

Picking Bratislava for the final stop on his tour, Bush showed gratitude for support from new EU members in Iraq after spending three days mending fences with war critics to the west.

US and Russian officials announced deals on safeguarding nuclear materials and increasing nuclear security cooperation, as well as on limiting the spread of shoulder-fired missiles.

Bush hopes to forge more of a common front with Putin on dealing with Iran's nuclear ambitions after ironing out some of the differences on the issue with the Europeans.

ON THE SAME PAGE

In a sign Bush and leaders of France and Germany were ready to bury the hatchet over Iraq and re-forge the transatlantic alliance, the US president said he was "on the same page" as the Europeans in seeking a diplomatic solution over Iran.

In a concession to the Europeans, Bush made clear he may consider their suggestion of offering incentives to Tehran in return for abandoning any plans to build a nuclear bomb.

"Hopefully we'll be able to reach a diplomatic solution," he said. "I know we're all on the same page on this issue."

Western and Russian civil rights campaigners accuse Putin of restricting democracy by abolishing the election of provincial governors, pursuing a legal vendetta against the Yukos oil company and tightening the Kremlin's grip on the media.

They also fear he is trying to stifle democratic changes across the ex-Soviet bloc, with Russian reluctance to accept free elections in Ukraine often cited as the latest example.

Russia's heavy-handed crackdown on separatists in Chechnya has also drawn Western criticism.

Giving Bush fresh ammunition, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Russia committed serious abuses, including torture and killing of civilians, on military offensives in Chechnya.

Analysts said Bush's challenge was to get his democracy message to Putin without damaging relations in other areas.

Russia, helping Iran build a nuclear power station, has irritated Washington by declaring it believed Iran's assurance it will not convert the project to develop a nuclear weapon.

Putin said Russia was ready to make a "reasonable compromise" with the United States in negotiations on Moscow's effort to gain entry to the World Trade Organisation.

- REUTERS