Schröder Hopes to Mend Ties with Bush
September 23, 2003German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and U.S. President George Bush will have their first one-on-one meeting in 16 months in New York on Wednesday.
Schröder is traveling to New York to address the United Nations General Assembly and celebrate the 30th anniversary of German U.N. membership, but the trip will also offer an important chance to mend relations that have been damaged over the war in Iraq.
One of the most outspoken critics of the U.S.-led war to oust Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Schröder angered Bush by using anti-war rhetoric to boost his reelection campaign last year.
But there have been increasing signs of a thaw in German-American relations in recent weeks and Bush may be willing to put his personal dislike of Schröder aside to to improve ties between the two countries.