Bush to make European trip in February
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House announced Tuesday that President Bush will travel to Belgium, Germany and the Slovak Republic in February for meetings with NATO allies and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The White House decided not to add a stop in France, though administration officials said French President Jacques Chirac will come to the United States early in the second Bush term.
In Brussels, Belgium, Bush will attend a meeting with NATO and other European leaders.
In the Slovak Republic, he will have bilateral discussions with Slovak officials and hold a meeting with Putin, with whom Bush enjoys a good personal relationship but with whom ties have chilled a bit of late because of steps by the Kremlin the White House views as antidemocratic and strains over the political situation in Ukraine.
The stop in Germany is a sign of the improving relations between Bush and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
The two men did not speak for months after a German re-election campaign in which Schroeder played up his opposition to Bush administration policies in Iraq.
But in recent months White House officials have had high praise for the German leader, crediting him with taking a number of steps to help improve ties, including a lead role for Germany in the international security forces in Afghanistan and more recently the chancellor's role in helping broker an agreement on forgiving or reducing Iraq's debt.
U.S. officials said Bush has a good personal rapport with Chirac and wants a productive working relationship, but there are clear differences when administration officials talk about the state of relations with Chirac as opposed to Schroeder.
Still, eager not to start talk of a new rift with France because of the decision not to add a France stop to the trip, administration officials contacted reporters after the Europe stops were announced to note that Chirac's office had agreed to have the French president visit the United States "in the first few months" of the new Bush term. A date is still being negotiated.
Chirac also will be at the NATO meetings, though as of now no separate one-on-one meeting is scheduled with Bush.
