On the first day of a closely watched European trip to Germany, Poland and Estonia, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on Tuesday made a pitch in Berlin for strong U.S.-European ties to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin, while keeping the door open for Russia to one day rejoin the family of European nations.
Mr. Bush is making the trip just days before his scheduled announcement about presidential campaign plans and provides an opportunity to demonstrate his foreign policy acumen while shoring up support with key NATO allies immediately after the Group of Seven summit in Germany.
“Russia must respect the sovereignty of all of its neighbors,” Mr. Bush said. “And who can doubt that Russia will do what it pleases if aggression goes unanswered? Our alliance, our solidarity and our actions are essential if we want to preserve the fundamental principles of our international order — an order that free nations have sacrificed so much to build.”
While critical of President Obama’s Russia policy, Mr. Bush told reporters in Berlin in a question-and-answer period that he supports giving the president the negotiating authority to swing major trade deals with Asia and the European Union. Many of Mr. Obama’s fellow Democrats oppose those deals.
Mr. Bush touched on the Islamic State in his speech at the Economic Council of the Christian Democratic Union’s annual conference, a day after Mr. Obama, in Germany for the G-7 summit in Bavaria, said the U.S. and its allies were still working out a plan to combat the terrorist group, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
The former governor also addressed Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“None of these threats will go away on their own,” Mr. Bush said. “To resolve security challenges before they completely unravel, it will take a serious and united effort of the nations in our alliance. If events can be turned in the direction of peace, ladies and gentlemen, then who else but us? The great democracies of the West will do the turning.”
As he lays the groundwork for his potential White House run, Mr. Bush has been a sharp critic of Mr. Obama’s foreign policy but also has faced questions about the legacy of his brother, former President George W. Bush. The trip was a particularly sensitive decision for Jeb Bush because his brother and the Iraq War remain deeply unpopular in Germany.
After some confusion sparked by the candidate himself, Mr. Bush ultimately said that, in hindsight, he would not have authorized the 2003 invasion of Iraq. But he has defended the post-9/11 Patriot Act and the National Security Agency’s bulk data-collection program, two key parts of his brother’s national security legacy that also are not well-liked in Germany.
On Russia, Mr. Bush said there needs to be a “clear understanding” of U.S. support for the Russian people. He described Mr. Putin as a “ruthless pragmatist” who “will push until someone pushes back, and I believe that NATO’s responsibility is to do just that.”
“We should never do it in a way that pushes Russia away for a generation of time. … Ultimately, Russia needs to be a European nation,” he said. “Everything we do ought to be to isolate its corrupt leadership from its people.”
He said one of the obligations of the next president is to rebuild the U.S. military and stop defense cuts that he said send “a pretty chilling signal to our friends that are counting on the United States to lead in this regard.”
Mr. Bush applauded German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s position on sanctions against Russia but said he doesn’t think the West should allow Mr. Putin to have the initiative in crises such as the standoff over Ukraine.
“Always reacting, and giving the sense that we’re reacting in a tepid fashion, only enables the bad behavior of Putin, so I think there’s lots to do, and we’re beginning to realize that the reset button didn’t turn out so hot,” he said in reference to the red “reset” button given to Russia by Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2009 as secretary of state in an attempt to improve U.S. relations with Moscow.
Mrs. Clinton now is the front-runner for the Democratic presidential election.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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