ROME - President Bush is urging Europe to work with the United States on matters that extend beyond their trans-Atlantic ties, such as securing Mideast peace, curtailing the rise of Islamic terrorists and keeping regimes such as Iran in check.
"Instead of dwelling on our differences, we are increasingly united in our interests and ideals," Bush is expected to say in a speech today in Paris. "In leaders like Berlusconi and Brown, Merkel and Sarkozy, I see a commitment to a powerful and purposeful Europe that advances the values of liberty within its borders and beyond."
The White House released a portion of Bush's remarks on Thursday, while the president was still in Rome.
He is on a weeklong European trip where he is meeting with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
On his visit to Rome, Bush was getting a hearty welcome from Berlusconi, his old friend, and Pope Benedict, who will see Bush today.
In his speech in France, Bush will acknowledge that Europeans are keenly interested in who will succeed him.
"When the time comes to welcome a new American president next January, I will be pleased to report to him that the relationship between the United States and Europe is the broadest and most vibrant it has ever been," Bush said.
The White House has billed the Paris speech at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development as the centerpiece of the trip, as a way for the president to lay out his view that relations between the United States and Europe are now in a "new era."
