View source for Slovakia Summit 2005

{{Short description|Meeting between George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}{{Use British English|date=January 2025}}

{{unreferenced|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox summit meeting
| summit_name  = Slovakia Summit 2005
| other_titles = 
| image        = Slovakia Summit logo.jpg
| alt          = <!-- See [[Wikipedia:Alternative text for images]] -->
| caption      = 
| country      = {{Flag|Slovakia}}
| date         = {{Start date|2005|02|24}}
| venues       = 
| cities       = [[Bratislava]], [[Slovakia]]
| participants = {{flagicon|USA}} [[George W. Bush]]<br>{{flagicon|Russia}} [[Vladimir Putin]]
| follows      = 
| precedes     = 
| website      = {{URL|http://www.slovakiasummit.com/}} 
}}
[[Image:Bratislava's Hviezdoslavovo Square 2005-02-24.jpg|right|thumb|Hviezdoslav square in Bratislava during the visit of [[George W. Bush]]]]

The '''Slovakia Summit 2005''' was a [[Summit (meeting)|summit meeting]] between United States President [[George W. Bush]] and Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] (hence also known as the '''Bush-Putin summit'''). It took place on 24 February 2005, in [[Bratislava]], [[Slovakia]]. This marked the first occasion when a sitting President of the United States visited Slovakia since its independence in 1993. The previous "[[Slovenia Summit 2001|Bush-Putin summit]]" had taken place in [[Slovenia]] on 16 June 2001.

Also attending was [[Condoleezza Rice]] ([[United States Secretary of State|U.S. Secretary of State]]) and [[Sergey Lavrov]] ([[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Russia)|Russian Foreign Minister]]) as well as the first ladies of both countries, [[Laura Bush]] and [[Lyudmila Putina]].

==Bush's European trip before the summit==
Prior to the summit, Bush had traveled to [[Brussels]] and met with several European leaders and councils of the [[European Union]] and [[NATO]], including [[Tony Blair]], [[Silvio Berlusconi]], [[Jacques Chirac]], and [[Javier Solana]]. He also met with [[Viktor Yushchenko]], the new President of [[Ukraine]], and gave a public speech directed at citizens of Europe outlining his policies. He then travelled to Germany and met with [[Gerhard Schröder]]. In preparation for the summit, Condoleezza Rice spent a week visiting officials in European capitals.

==The summit==
[[Image:Bush Gasparovic 2005-02-24.jpg|thumb|President George W. Bush and Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic in [[Grassalkovich Palace]] in Bratislava]]
Bush met with Slovak leaders including President [[Ivan Gašparovič]] and Prime Minister [[Mikuláš Dzurinda]]. On 24 February Bush also gave a public speech in [[Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav|Hviezdoslav]] Square (''[[Hviezdoslavovo námestie (Bratislava)|Hviezdoslavovo námestie]]'') in Bratislava.

Topics of discussion at the summit are partly private, but included [[Politics of Russia|Russian democracy]] (this was the main topic at the subsequent press conference), the situation in [[Iran]], the [[North Korea and weapons of mass destruction|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]] and contributed troops to the [[Coalition of the willing]].

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]], [[Serbia]] etc.) were invited. [http://www.gmfus.org/apps/gmf/gmfwebfinal.nsf/$UNIDviewAll/46D3BB354DBDB5E685256FA90057F945?opendocument&K2D3C7AA7] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070912032239/http://www.gmfus.org/apps/gmf/gmfwebfinal.nsf/$UNIDviewAll/46D3BB354DBDB5E685256FA90057F945?opendocument&K2D3C7AA7 |date=12 September 2007 }}

Both first ladies visited the famous [[Primate's Palace, Bratislava|Primate's Palace]]. 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 (document)|visa]] for the citizens of Slovakia and those countries.

==Approximate program==
*23 February
** 7.40&nbsp;pm – Bush's landing at [[M. R. Štefánik Airport]]
*24 February
** c. 9.00&nbsp;am – Bush, [[Grassalkovich Palace|President's palace]]
** 9.50&nbsp;am – Bush, The [[Summer Archbishop's Palace|Slovak Republic Government Office]]
** 11.45&nbsp;am – Bush's speech, [[Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav|Hviezdoslav]] Square, in front of the [[Slovak National Theatre]]
** afternoon – Vladimir Putin's landing at M. R. Štefánik Airport
** c. 3.30&nbsp;pm – Putin and Bush, [[Bratislava Castle]], press conference at c. 6.00&nbsp;pm  
** c. 7.30&nbsp;pm – Bush's take off from M. R. Štefánik Airport
*25 February
** c. 9.30&nbsp;am – Putin, [[Slavín]] Memorial, meeting with Slovak and Russian World War II veterans
** c. 10.00&nbsp;am – Putin, [[National Council of the Slovak Republic]]
** c. 11.15&nbsp;am – Putin, The Slovak Republic Government Office
** c. 12.40&nbsp;pm – Putin, President's palace
** c. 4.00&nbsp;pm – Putin's take off from M. R. Štefánik Airport

==Security==
Safety was the pinnacle of concerns for all participants. The [[Military of Slovakia|Slovak Army]] 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]] – ''an [[anti-aircraft]] missile system on alert'' 
*chemical laboratory – ''standing by in case of a [[Chemical warfare|chemical attack]]''
*permanent air surveillance by [[Mig-29]]s over Bratislava
*the Slovak government prepared a law under which the minister of defense can approve shootings down of a civilian aircraft ([http://www.sme.sk/c/1937029/Vzdusny-priestor-budu-zabezpecovat-stihacky.html])

===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)

==See also==
* [[Russia–United States relations]]
* [[List of Soviet Union–United States summits]]
* [[List of Russia–United States summits]]
* [[Slovenia Summit 2001]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Presidency of George W. Bush}}
{{Vladimir Putin}}
{{Russia–United States relations}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:2005 conferences]]
[[Category:2005 in international relations]]
[[Category:2005 in American politics]]
[[Category:2000s in Russian politics]]
[[Category:2005 in Slovakia]]
[[Category:21st-century diplomatic conferences]]
[[Category:Diplomatic conferences in Slovakia]]
[[Category:Russia–United States relations]]
[[Category:Slovakia–United States relations]]
[[Category:Russia–Slovakia relations]]
[[Category:Foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration]]
[[Category:Vladimir Putin]]
[[Category:2000s in Bratislava]]
[[Category:Events in Bratislava]]
[[Category:February 2005 in Europe]]