Good afternoon.
I am joined on stage by a number of my distinguished colleagues.
I'd like to welcome Home Secretary of the United Kingdom Charles Clarke, Minister of the Interior of Austria Liese Prokop, Minister of Justice of Austria Karin Gastinger, and Vice President of the European Commission Franco Frattini.
My co-host and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is also here.
We've just completed a very successful meeting on a range of counter-terrorism and law enforcement topics of interest to the European Union and the United States.
The bonds that unite our nations – and our citizens – across an ocean remain strong.
We all understand a common truth that underscores the relationship between the EU and the US – we are stronger together than apart.
We are bringing that truth to bear on the challenges we face as freedom-loving nations.
As you might expect, today we focused a great deal of our attention on the global war on terrorism.
Joint actions between the United States and the European Union to combat international terrorism – including practical cooperation between our prosecutors and law enforcement agencies – is, as EU High Representative Solana has said, one of the unsung transatlantic success stories of our generation.
Today, to further our joint actions, we have agreed to a number of practical steps, two of which are:
The strategies, action plans, and practical recommendations that we discussed today will help further protect Americans and Europeans from violence and terrorism in the future.
Our work is never done. But the free exchange of ideas and the critical examination of joint proposals – examples of the work we've accomplished today – will help us achieve our goals together.
Thank you. And now I would like to invite Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to share a few remarks.
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