thedrifter
06-26-06, 03:36 AM
June 25, 2006
Reporter's Notebook
In Europe, Bush Hears a Tale of 2 Prisons
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
BUDAPEST, June 22 — President Bush got an earful about closing the detainee center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, when he met European Union leaders in Vienna on Wednesday. But when Mr. Bush ascended the red-carpeted steps of the Parliament building here to see the Hungarian prime minister on Thursday, a different prison was on the agenda.
The prison — actually a former prison — is Hungary's version of the Bastille. Hungarians call it the Tancsics Prison, named after a luminary of the 1848 revolution, Mihaly Tancsics, who was accused of sedition and held captive by the Hapsburgs, but set free when partisans stormed the place.
Americans know it by another name: Marine House.
Hungary gave the Baroque building to the United States after World War II, and it has been used ever since for ceremonies and as a barracks for the marines who guard the American Embassy in Budapest.
But the Hungarians want it back.
So with negotiations over the prison continuing, the Hungarian prime minister, Ferenc Gyurcsany, used all his diplomatic skills to corner Mr. Bush during their brief appearance before the Hungarian and American news media.
"Within a couple of months," the prime minister announced, the Tancsics prison will finally return to Hungarian ownership. "Let me tell you quite frankly," he added, "that the president showed much more understanding for the importance and the meaning of this issue. And just within this circle I can say that he promised, and if he did that, it will happen."
Mr. Bush's face reddened, and he shook his head, looked down and laughed, a laugh that made some wonder just what promise had been made.
The Bush Family Envoy
Close students of American politics — and even those not so close — may have noticed something familiar about the name of the United States ambassador to Hungary: George Herbert Walker III.
A quick scan of the ambassador's official biography, which recounts his extensive career in business (chairman emeritus of Stifel Financial Corporation, former member of the board of the Chicago Stock Exchange) yielded a clue: "He also served on the vestry of St. Ann's Church in Kennebunkport, Maine."
Ambassador Walker, who goes by the nickname Bert, is a first cousin of George Herbert Walker Bush, more commonly referred to in Washington as the first President Bush, or 41. The ambassador's father and the former president's mother were brother and sister.
So while President Bush officially came to Budapest for the 50th anniversary of the unsuccessful 1956 revolt against Hungary's Communist government, the trip was also a bit of a family reunion — albeit a seemingly stealthy one.
Hungarians say they are fond of their American ambassador, who has held the job since September 2003; they especially appreciate his travels through the United States trying to drum up investment interest in Hungary.
Mr. Walker, naturally, was on hand from beginning to end of the president's visit. He greeted Mr. Bush when Air Force One touched down, sat by the president's side when Mr. Bush joined Prime Minister Gyurcsany and could be spotted mingling about during an elegant social lunch at Parliament in Mr. Bush's honor.
The president and the officials exchanged toasts there, and later, Mr. Bush traveled to Gellert Hill, the highest point in the city. Against a backdrop of the Danube River and a sweeping view of the city below, he delivered a 13-minute speech that offered thanks all around, including to the Hungarian people "for their gracious reception."
In all that talking about ties between nations, family ties never came up.
Thorns and Roses
President Bush took a bit of a beating from the European press on Wednesday in Vienna, as foreign reporters grilled him about whether his policies in Iraq had made the world a more dangerous place.
But Mr. Bush took his own swipe at the press earlier that day, during a photo opportunity with President Heinz Fischer of Austria.
Mr. Fischer greeted the president at Hofburg Palace, in an ornate room surrounded by red silken walls and a ceiling of gold stucco. Then they invited Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Austrian foreign minister, Ursula Plassnik, to join them; the two men stood in the middle, the women at their sides.
"This is called thorns between two roses," Mr. Bush said.
An Austrian radio reporter asked Mr. Bush for his impression of Vienna.
"Beautiful city," the president replied.
At that, the Austrian president signaled the end of the photo op.
"Satisfied?" Mr. Fischer asked the photographers.
"That's a funny thing to ask the press," Mr. Bush said. "They are never satisfied."
Ellie
Reporter's Notebook
In Europe, Bush Hears a Tale of 2 Prisons
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
BUDAPEST, June 22 — President Bush got an earful about closing the detainee center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, when he met European Union leaders in Vienna on Wednesday. But when Mr. Bush ascended the red-carpeted steps of the Parliament building here to see the Hungarian prime minister on Thursday, a different prison was on the agenda.
The prison — actually a former prison — is Hungary's version of the Bastille. Hungarians call it the Tancsics Prison, named after a luminary of the 1848 revolution, Mihaly Tancsics, who was accused of sedition and held captive by the Hapsburgs, but set free when partisans stormed the place.
Americans know it by another name: Marine House.
Hungary gave the Baroque building to the United States after World War II, and it has been used ever since for ceremonies and as a barracks for the marines who guard the American Embassy in Budapest.
But the Hungarians want it back.
So with negotiations over the prison continuing, the Hungarian prime minister, Ferenc Gyurcsany, used all his diplomatic skills to corner Mr. Bush during their brief appearance before the Hungarian and American news media.
"Within a couple of months," the prime minister announced, the Tancsics prison will finally return to Hungarian ownership. "Let me tell you quite frankly," he added, "that the president showed much more understanding for the importance and the meaning of this issue. And just within this circle I can say that he promised, and if he did that, it will happen."
Mr. Bush's face reddened, and he shook his head, looked down and laughed, a laugh that made some wonder just what promise had been made.
The Bush Family Envoy
Close students of American politics — and even those not so close — may have noticed something familiar about the name of the United States ambassador to Hungary: George Herbert Walker III.
A quick scan of the ambassador's official biography, which recounts his extensive career in business (chairman emeritus of Stifel Financial Corporation, former member of the board of the Chicago Stock Exchange) yielded a clue: "He also served on the vestry of St. Ann's Church in Kennebunkport, Maine."
Ambassador Walker, who goes by the nickname Bert, is a first cousin of George Herbert Walker Bush, more commonly referred to in Washington as the first President Bush, or 41. The ambassador's father and the former president's mother were brother and sister.
So while President Bush officially came to Budapest for the 50th anniversary of the unsuccessful 1956 revolt against Hungary's Communist government, the trip was also a bit of a family reunion — albeit a seemingly stealthy one.
Hungarians say they are fond of their American ambassador, who has held the job since September 2003; they especially appreciate his travels through the United States trying to drum up investment interest in Hungary.
Mr. Walker, naturally, was on hand from beginning to end of the president's visit. He greeted Mr. Bush when Air Force One touched down, sat by the president's side when Mr. Bush joined Prime Minister Gyurcsany and could be spotted mingling about during an elegant social lunch at Parliament in Mr. Bush's honor.
The president and the officials exchanged toasts there, and later, Mr. Bush traveled to Gellert Hill, the highest point in the city. Against a backdrop of the Danube River and a sweeping view of the city below, he delivered a 13-minute speech that offered thanks all around, including to the Hungarian people "for their gracious reception."
In all that talking about ties between nations, family ties never came up.
Thorns and Roses
President Bush took a bit of a beating from the European press on Wednesday in Vienna, as foreign reporters grilled him about whether his policies in Iraq had made the world a more dangerous place.
But Mr. Bush took his own swipe at the press earlier that day, during a photo opportunity with President Heinz Fischer of Austria.
Mr. Fischer greeted the president at Hofburg Palace, in an ornate room surrounded by red silken walls and a ceiling of gold stucco. Then they invited Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Austrian foreign minister, Ursula Plassnik, to join them; the two men stood in the middle, the women at their sides.
"This is called thorns between two roses," Mr. Bush said.
An Austrian radio reporter asked Mr. Bush for his impression of Vienna.
"Beautiful city," the president replied.
At that, the Austrian president signaled the end of the photo op.
"Satisfied?" Mr. Fischer asked the photographers.
"That's a funny thing to ask the press," Mr. Bush said. "They are never satisfied."
Ellie