And in terms of the EU side, this new government -- the Iraqi government certainly faces its challenges, but, of course, it has an enormous advantage: It is now elected by the Iraqi people in a very -- in an election which over 8 million showed up. So the new Iraqi government has an enormous opportunity. And I think the question on the U.S. and the EU side is how to help the Iraqi government take advantage of that opportunity to really bring democracy, freedom and stability to the country.
Q: Are we likely to see a course of action emerge on Syria, on how to increase pressure on Syria from all the meetings the President has?
MR. HADLEY: Well, I think events in Syria have brought it to the fore. As you remember, in September there was U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 that focused on the issue of Lebanon -- the continued Syrian occupation of Lebanon -- a call for those forces to leave and for the international community to support free and fair elections in Lebanon. So that's an issue that has gotten some attention.
Obviously, the activity Syria has been engaged in, in supporting some of the former regime elements that have been contributing to the violence in Iraq, is something else that's gotten international attention. The Iraqi interim government has focused on that problem. And now, all the countries in the region clearly have an interest in seeing an Iraq emerge that is stable and at peace with its neighbors. So that will, clearly, be a subject.
And, of course, the assassination of former Prime Minister Hariri is a troubling event, and you've had a President's resolution out of the U.N. Security Council calling for an investigation of that event.
So I think there are a lot of things that will put Syria on the agenda. And what Syria needs to do is pretty clear. They need to stop letting their territory be used to support terrorists, not only in Iraq, but also in the Middle East. They need to facilitate a free and fair election in Lebanon. They need to take seriously the requirements of 1559 and restore sovereignty to Lebanon.
So the things Syria needs to do are clear. And I think one of the things the United States and Europe need to do is to send a clear message to Syria that the winds of change are blowing in the Middle East in the direction of fighting terror and greater freedom. And Syria is a -- is, in some sense, an outlier, and it's time for Syria to take the right decisions and get in step with the positive trends that are happening in the region.
Q: Could you detail a little bit the President's agenda with -- in his meeting with Yuschenko? And also, the President has announced more money for the Palestinians. What do you hope the Europeans will commit to during this visit in terms of furthering Middle East peace?
MR. HADLEY: Well, the -- in terms of meeting with Mr. Yuschenko, it will be a fairly brief meeting. It's in advance of this -- you know, there is an established NATO Ukraine Council, and this -- the NATO heads of government -- state and government being in Brussels, we're using that as an opportunity for a meeting of that council.
So I think the conversations that the President will have with President Yuschenko will be fairly brief, and the focus will be on that meeting. And, obviously, the message the United States and Europe want to send to the Ukrainian people is a celebration for the election that they have conducted and a support for the movement towards democracy that we've seen going on there.
The second part of your question?
Q: Just that the President has announced -- or has asked for more money for the Palestinians.
MR. HADLEY: Yes.
Q: What sort of concrete commitments are you looking for, for the Europeans to promote Middle East peace?
MR. HADLEY: Well, we have a real opportunity going on -- presented to us in the meeting in London on March 1, where various representatives of the international community will meet with representatives of the Palestinian Authority. And it's a real opportunity for the Palestinian Authority to lay out their agenda for building democratic institutions for reconstruction in the Palestinian Territories, for getting economic activity back in those areas, and beginning to build the institutions of a Palestinian state.
The President has made clear by the money he included in the supplemental that we are prepared to make a financial contribution to that process. And he will call on the Europeans and, indeed, the international community more generally to make a similar contribution because he believes we really have an enormous opportunity to help the Palestinian people start building the institutions for a democratic state, which as you know, he believes is a key towards final resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli issue. So it's a real opportunity.
