Secretary Rice Europe and the Middle East

Rice, Straw

Between February 3rd and February 10th, Secretary Rice is visiting eight European countries, as well as Israel and the West Bank. The trip comes in advance of the President's visit to Europe between February 22nd and 25, so she'll take this opportunity to advance the President's agenda and the United States agenda in cooperation with our European friends and allies.

She will visit the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Turkey, Israel, Italy, France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

During the course of her visit, she intends to promote President Bush's vision of democracy and freedom as the keys to peace and prosperity. She will work to identify a common agenda for 2005 with our European partners and our partners in the Middle East -- an agenda of fighting terrorism, proliferation, disease and poverty, as we support democracy in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere. She will coordinate with European partners and institutions to support reform in the broader Middle East and North Africa. She looks forward to working with European allies to advance the Middle East peace process, and she expects to support development of European institutions while in Europe. [photos]