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Remarks With Panamanian Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis Navarro Before Their Meeting

Remarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State

Treaty Room

Washington, DC

April 8, 2009

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SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, good afternoon. Today, I’m very privileged to be meeting with First Vice President of Panama Sam Lewis, and I want to express how pleased we are to have you here and have this opportunity to discuss a range of important issues that not only matter to our two countries, but to the broader region.
FOREIGN MINISTER NAVARRO: Thank you very much. I want to thank the Secretary of State, Secretary Clinton, for this opportunity. As you’ve mentioned, we’ll discuss both bilateral and hemispheric issues, especially in light of the upcoming Summit of the Americas. Panama and the United States have enjoyed a very special relationship, historically, which has helped us tackle very – many issues in the past. And we are sure that that is what will continue to happen. Thank you very much.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you. Thank you so much.
FOREIGN MINISTER NAVARRO: Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, why is now the time to invite Iran to engage in direct relations?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, the – you’re referring to the P-5+1 meeting. And as we speak, Under Secretary Bill Burns is now participating in the P-5+1 as a full participant, not just as an observer. And obviously, we believe that, you know, pursuing very careful engagement on a range of issues that affect our interests and the interests of the world with Iran makes sense, and there’s nothing more important than trying to convince Iran to cease its efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon.

 

Remarks With Moroccan Foreign Minister Dr. Taieb Fassi Fihri Before Their Meeting

Remarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State

Treaty Room

Washington, DC

April 8, 2009

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SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, it’s wonderful to welcome Minister Fihri here today on behalf of Morocco. We are so committed to our relationship and have very high regard for the extraordinary progress that has taken place in Morocco over the last years, and we look forward to deepening and strengthening our relationship.
FOREIGN MINISTER FIHRI: Me, too. I’m very happy to be here and to have the opportunity for this meeting with Madame Secretary. As you know, USA and Morocco have a longstanding relationship, and we will continue to work together to defend peace and stability, mainly in the Middle East, in Africa. And we in Morocco really appreciate the statement made by the President and then Madame Secretary about new dialogue with Muslim countries and also how to reach the peace in the Middle East.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you so much, Minister.
FOREIGN MINISTER FIHRI: Thank you.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, do you have any clarity on the Somali piracy situation?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, we’re deeply concerned and we’re following it very closely. Specifically, we are now focused on this particular act of piracy and the seizure of a ship that carries 21 American citizens. More generally, we think the world must come together to end the scourge of piracy.
I think Morocco was the very first country that recognized us, going back a long time. And we worked together to end piracy off of the coast of Morocco all those years ago, and we’re going to work together to end this kind of criminal activity anywhere on the high seas. Thank you.
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Remarks With Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr Before Their Meeting

Remarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State

Treaty Room

Washington, DC

April 8, 2009

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SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I am very pleased to welcome Defense Minister Murr from Lebanon to the State Department. He has been in Washington for the last several days speaking with a number of officials. It is very important that the United States stand firmly and strongly on behalf of Lebanese democracy. We are very supportive of what the Lebanese Government is doing in its efforts to make sure that the upcoming elections are free and fair.
And we are very encouraged by the efforts that the Lebanese Government has been making to comply with international obligations and to continue to make progress on a whole range of issues which I’m looking forward to discussing with the defense minister.
DEFENSE MINISTER MURR: Thank you. I want to thank Mrs. Clinton for receiving me, for the backup that the State of Department and the U.S. Administration is giving to Lebanon, to the Government of Lebanon, and to the Lebanese army. And I hope that for the next coming time, the U.S. policy – and this is what I heard, and I can confirm it today – the U.S. policy will remain the same concerning Lebanon. Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you all very much.
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Remarks With Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivailo Kalfin Before Their Meeting

Remarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State

Treaty Room

Washington, DC

April 8, 2009

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SECRETARY CLINTON: Good morning. I’ve had the great pleasure of getting to know the minister over the last few weeks at the various meetings we have attended together. And now we have this opportunity to have an in-depth discussion about the issues that are of great concern to Bulgaria and the United States, not only between our two countries, but regionally and globally. So, thank you for being here.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER KALFIN: Thank you very much, Madame Secretary. It’s my pleasure to be here and to reconfirm the interest of Bulgaria for what we have been doing for the last years to base our relationship on a very long-term strategic basis and again discussing broad bilateral issues. We are allies in a number of international operations. We are sharing very same values in terms of promoting democracy, human rights protection. And I would like to continue this excellent tradition we have in the past to start a very new era (inaudible) cooperation with the new Administration. Thank you very much for hosting me and for being able to do that.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you, sir. You’re welcome.
FOREIGN MINISTER KALFIN: Thank you.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, one question (inaudible) from Bulgaria?
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, Roxana Saberi (inaudible)?
SECRETARY CLINTON: We are deeply concerned by the news that we’re hearing. We have asked the Swiss, who, as you know, are our protectorate in Iran, to obtain the most accurate, up-to-date information. I will, as will the rest of the Department, continue to follow this very closely. And we wish for her speedy release and return to her family.
FOREIGN MINISTER KALFIN: Thank you.
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Remarks With Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith Before Their Meeting

Remarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State

Treaty Room

Washington, DC

April 8, 2009

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SECRETARY CLINTON: Hello, everyone. Well, I am very pleased that we’re going to have a bilateral meeting this afternoon with the minister. And then tomorrow, we’ll have our Australian-U.S. ministerial meeting which will cover, in depth, a wide range of both bilateral, regional, and global issues. But we have few better friends in the world than Australia. And it is such a joy to work with the Australian Government. We have a lot of common values and common interests and common causes that we pursue.
So, Mr. Minister, thank you for being here.
FOREIGN MINISTER SMITH: Well, Madame Secretary, thanks very much. It’s great to be back in Washington. I’m very pleased to conduct a formal bilateral meeting with you and very pleased that tomorrow we do the AUSMIN meeting with our respective defense colleagues. The AUSMIN meeting underpins the alliance. It’s an alliance that’s served us very well for over 60 years. It’s an indispensible part of our strategic security and defense arrangements. And you’re quite right; we see our alliance as a growing asset where we deal not just with bilateral and regional matters, but with global issues as well.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Exactly. Well, thank you very much.
FOREIGN MINISTER SMITH: So I’m very pleased to be here.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you all.
FOREIGN MINISTER SMITH: Thank you.
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