(24 Feb 2005) SHOTLIST
1. Exterior Bratislava Castle in Slovakia
2. U.S President George W Bush and Slovakian President Ivan Gasparovic walking
3. Photo, Bush, Gasparovic and first ladies Laura Bush and Silvia Gasparovic
4. Bush book signing
5. Laura Bush book signing
6. Bush and Gasparovic standing
7. Bush meeting Slovakia''s Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda and his wife Eva Dzurinda
8. Photo being taken of Laura Bush, George W Bush, Mikula Dzurinda and Eva Dzurindac
STORYLINE
U.S. President George W. Bush has met Slovakian President Ivan Gasparovic and Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda in Slovakia''s medieval Bratislava Castle on Thursday.
Flanked by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and first lady Laura Bush, the president signed a guestbook at the palace before his closed-door talks with Gasparovic.
An honour guard wearing feathered caps and holding the U.S. and Slovak flags stood at attention in the ornate palace.
The meeting comes ahead of today''s summit between Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It is expected the leaders will announce new measures to combat nuclear terrorism and protect nuclear arsenals.
U.S officials said Bush and Putin will also agree to restrict commerce in shoulder-fired missiles.
The visit to Slovakia was the final leg of Bush''s five-day tour to heal the trans-Atlantic rift caused by his March 2003 decision to invade Iraq without broad international support.
He visited Belgium and Germany before Slovakia and met nearly all European leaders at NATO and European Union meetings in Brussels.
Slovakia, a former eastern bloc country within the Soviet sphere - as part of Czechoslovakia - which joined both the European Union and NATO last spring, is a strong U.S. ally and has deployed non-combat troops to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The United States turned to Slovakia and other eastern European countries for help in Iraq after long-time allies France and Germany refused to join the U.S.-led coalition.
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