Protests mark Bush’s arrival in Europe

HUNDREDS of demonstrators protested against US President George W Bush’s visit to Europe yesterday following the president’s arrival in Belgium.

Mr Bush will meet more than two dozen European leaders during a tour aimed at healing the trans-atlantic rift that opened during his first term, notably over the Iraq war.

“He is coming to persuade and influence the European leaders. We are afraid the European leaders will distance themselves from their people,” said Pol de Vos, one of about 700 anti-Bush protesters marching peacefully in downtown Brussels.

Police have mounted an unprecedented security operation for the visit, deploying 2,500 officers - 1,000 more than usually deployed for the three or four summits that bring European Union leaders to the Belgian capital each year.

An alliance of 88 environmental, human rights, peace and other groups have planned protests near the US Embassy for today and near the EU headquarters tomorrow.

Mr Bush’s four-day trip to Belgium, Germany and Slovakia is aimed at repairing relations with Europe that have been so badly damaged by a host of disagreements on international affairs, and especially the Iraq invasion.

In this, the first foreign visit of his second term in office, Mr Bush is having one-to-one meetings with two of his biggest critics of the past four years - French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Up to now the administration has preferred dealing with European countries on a one-to-one basis but tomorrow he has meetings with NATO, the European Commission and the EU Council of the leaders of the 25 member states.

“A few months ago it was inconceivable that Mr Bush would come to Brussels. Now we see a very specific effort to reach out to friends and allies and that means to Europe,” a European Commission diplomat said.

EU ambassador to Washington, former Taoiseach John Burton, who will be in Brussels for the visit, said he was not expecting any substantial agreement on the major issues to come out of the meeting itself.

“The question of whether the US is ready to engage with Europe will only be answered on a case-by-case basis over time,” he said.

Mr Bush was sending out positive signals of being ready to engage with Europe in interviews with European journalists before leaving Washington.

The White House says the focus of his main speech will be “his vision of a united transatlantic community, working together to promote freedom and democracy, particularly in the broader Middle East”.

At this stage no one is sure whether this indicated that Mr Bush is willing to form the kind of strategic partnership with Europe that it requires or simply wants to win over its unquestioning support.

The most difficult meeting of the visit promises to be with Russian President Vladimir Putin, not least because of Russia’s weapons sales to Syria and Iran and the growing autocratic power of the Kremlin.