U.S. President George W. Bush is set to host Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland at the White House next month, the White House announced. Bush will welcome Tusk on March 10, 2008 to reiterate the partnership between the United States and Poland. “Poland is a close partner of the United States in pursuing our common strategic objectives of advancing global freedom and security,” the White House press office said in a statement. The White House praised Poland for being “a leader within Europe for promoting the development of strong democracies in Europe's East,” and for “helping to consolidate democratic gains in Ukraine and Georgia and to strengthen the democratic opposition to the regime in Belarus, Europe's last dictatorship.” In the statement, the White House also thanked Poland for being a “leading contributor for five years in the effort to secure freedom in Iraq, and is helping to meet the need for further contributions to the security and development of Afghanistan.” In its partnership with the global “war on terror,” the United States said that Poland is also “a valuable partner in responding to emerging threats, and has expressed interest in contributing to a missile defense system,” the statement said. The March trip to the White House will be the first for Tusk since he took office in November of 2007.
