The Slovakia Summit 2005 was a

summit meeting A summit meeting (or just summit) is an international meeting of heads of state or government, usually with considerable media exposure, tight security, and a prearranged agenda. Notable summit meetings include those of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winst ...

between United States President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

and Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

(hence also known as the Bush-Putin summit). It took place on February 24, 2005, in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. This marked the first occasion when a sitting President of the United States visited Slovakia since its independence in 1993. The previous " Bush-Putin summit" had taken place in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

on 16 June 2001. Also attending was

Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist who is the current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 66th Uni ...

(U.S. Secretary of State) and

Sergey Lavrov Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (russian: Сергей Викторович Лавров, ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat and politician who has served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Russia), Foreign Minister of Russia since 2004. ...

(Russian

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

) as well as the first ladies of both countries,

Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (''née'' Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American teacher, librarian, memoirist and author who was First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Bush previously served as First Lady of Texas from 1995 to 2000. ...

and Liudmila Putina.

Bush's European trip before the summit

Prior to the summit, Bush had traveled to

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and met with several European leaders and councils of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

, including

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...

, and

Javier Solana Francisco Javier Solana de Madariaga (; born 14 July 1942) is a Spanish physicist and PSOE The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-dem ...

. He also met with

Viktor Yushchenko Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko ( uk, Віктор Андрійович Ющенко, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. As an informal leader of th ...

, the new President of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, and gave a public speech directed at citizens of Europe outlining his policies. He then travelled to Germany and met with

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany ...

. In preparation for the summit, Condoleezza Rice spent a week visiting officials in European capitals.

The summit

Bush met with Slovak leaders including President

Ivan Gašparovič Ivan Gašparovič (; born 27 March 1941) is a Slovak politician and lawyer who was third president of Slovakia from 2004 to 2014. He was also the first and currently the only Slovak president to be re-elected. Biography Ivan Gašparovič was ...

and Prime Minister

Mikuláš Dzurinda Mikuláš Dzurinda (; born 4 February 1956) is a Slovak politician who was the prime minister of Slovakia from 30 October 1998 to 4 July 2006. He is the founder and leader of the Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK) and then the Slovak Democratic a ...

. On 24 February Bush also gave a public speech in

Hviezdoslav Hviezdoslav is a Slovak name, meaning ''star celebrator''. * Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav ** Hviezdoslavovo námestie ("Hviezdoslav Square") *** in Bratislava, see Hviezdoslavovo námestie (Bratislava) *** in Námestovo, see Hviezdoslavovo námestie ...

Square ('' Hviezdoslavovo námestie'') in Bratislava. Topics of discussion at the summit are partly private, but included Russian democracy (this was the main topic at the subsequent press conference), the situation in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, the North Korean nuclear talks and other international topics. One of the objects of the summit activities was to improve relations between the U.S. and Europe. Notably, Slovakia is an ally of the U.S. in the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

and contributed troops to the

Coalition of the willing The term ''coalition of the willing'' refers to an international alliance focused on achieving a particular objective, usually of military or political nature. Usage *One early use was by President Bill Clinton in June 1994 in relation to possib ...

. In conjunction with the summit, a conference, "A New Quest for Democracy", was held in Bratislava by the Marshall Fund in conjunction with Slovak partners, to which mainly past or contemporaneous "fighters" for democracy from Eastern Europe (incl.

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

, Serbia etc.) were invited

Both first ladies visited the famous

Primate's Palace The Primate's Palace ( sk, Primaciálny palác) is a neoclassical palace in the Old Town of Bratislava the capital of Slovakia. It was built from 1778 to 1781 for Archbishop József Batthyány, after the design of architect Melchior Hefele. I ...

. The US first lady opened a department of the University Library in Bratislava (which was being restored and modernized at that time) that was devoted to US literature and studies. The Russian first lady opened a similar department for Russian literature in the same library one day later. Among other things, Bush promised that US administration will prepare a "road map" for Slovakia (and probably also the neighbouring Central European countries) aiming at abolishing the need of US entrance

visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

for the citizens of Slovakia and those countries.

Approximate program

*23 February ** 7.40 pm – Bush's landing at

M. R. Štefánik Airport M. R. Štefánik Airport ( sk, Letisko M. R. Štefánika; german: Flughafen M. R. Štefánik) , also called – especially in English – Bratislava Airport ( sk, Letisko Bratislava; german: Flughafen Pressburg or Flughafen Bratislava) or ''Bra ...

*24 February ** c. 9.00 am – Bush, President's palace ** 9.50 am – Bush, The Slovak Republic Government Office ** 11.45 am – Bush's speech,

Square, in front of the

Slovak National Theatre The Slovak National Theater ( sk, Slovenské národné divadlo, abbr. SND) is the oldest professional theatre in Slovakia, consisting of three ensembles: opera, ballet, and drama. Its history begins shortly after the establishment of the first ...

** afternoon – Vladimir Putin's landing at M. R. Štefánik Airport ** c. 3.30 pm – Putin and Bush,

Bratislava Castle Bratislava Castle ( sk, Bratislavský hrad, ; german: Pressburger Burg; hu, Pozsonyi vár) is the main castle of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. The massive rectangular building with four corner towers stands on an isolated rocky hill ...

, press conference at c. 6.00 pm ** c. 7.30 pm – Bush's take off from M. R. Štefánik Airport *25 February ** c. 9.30 am – Putin,

Slavín Slavín is a memorial monument and military cemetery in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It is the burial ground of thousands of Soviet Army soldiers who fell during World War II while taking over the city in April 1945 from the occupying Ge ...

Memorial, meeting with Slovak and Russian World War II veterans ** c. 10.00 am – Putin,

National Council of the Slovak Republic The National Council of the Slovak Republic ( sk, Národná rada Slovenskej republiky), abbreviated to ''NR SR'', is the national parliament of Slovakia. It is unicameral and consists of 150 members, who are elected by universal suffrage under ...

** c. 11.15 am – Putin, The Slovak Republic Government Office ** c. 12.40 pm – Putin, President's palace ** c. 4.00 pm – Putin's take off from M. R. Štefánik Airport

Security

Safety was the pinnacle of concerns for all participants. The

Slovak Army The Slovak Ground Forces, also known as the Slovak Army, is the land specialized service branch of the Slovak Armed Forces. Structure Ground Forces Command * Ground Forces Command, in Trenčín (Commander: 2 Star General) ** Command Suppo ...

and Slovak government had pledged their full resources for the security of each individual. Among the resources being deployed were: *5,300 policemen *400 soldiers *

SA-10 Grumble The S-300 (NATO reporting name SA-10 Grumble) is a series of long range surface-to-air missile systems developed and operated by the former Soviet Union, now fielded by the militaries of Russia and Ukraine as well as several other former Easte ...

– ''an

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

missile system on alert'' *chemical laboratory – ''standing by in case of a

chemical attack Chemical warfare (CW) involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from nuclear warfare, biological warfare and radiological warfare, which together make up CBRN, the military acronym ...

'' *permanent air surveillance by

Mig-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (russian: Микоян МиГ-29; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the Mi ...

s over Bratislava *the Slovak government prepared a law under which the minister of defense can approve shootings down of a civilian aircraft

Common safety steps

*more security controls at General M. R. Štefánik Airport, Bratislava *traffic restrictions; no thoroughfare for lorry above 3.5 tons at frontier crossing since Wednesday until Friday *Bratislava, ironically called "Fort Bratislava" at that time, consisted of three security zones (Bratislava Castle, Hviezdoslav Square, President's palace), each zone was divided into three circles (yellow – controlled space, green – more controlled space and red – restricted space)

References