Bush: NATO meeting a 'good start'

Bush, right, is greeted by NATO Secretary General George Robertston

BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- U.S. President George W. Bush said Wednesday's meeting of NATO leaders was a "good start on a broad and important agenda."

Bush appeared at the meeting amid protests over his policies on the environment and nuclear weapons.

The U.S. president is at NATO headquarters in Brussels for a summit with 19 world leaders on the second leg of his five-day European tour.

Bush is trying to win support from U.S. allies, some of whom are skeptical about his nuclear missile defense plan, during his trip.

NATO member nations have been unsure of Bush's proposal to develop and deploy missiles designed to intercept nuclear missiles from so-called "rogue" states.

Russia has said such a system would violate the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty.

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"It's necessary to set aside the ABM Treaty so we can fully explore all options," Bush said Wednesday during a news conference after the NATO meeting.

Bush said there was "broad agreement" at the meeting for a "new approach" to fight threats posed by weapons of mass destruction.

He said the leaders agreed to reach out to Russia to assure it that it has a "future with Europe."

Bush also said the NATO leaders agreed to "face down extremists in Macedonia and elsewhere who seek to use violence to redraw borders or subvert the democratic process."

He said all the NATO leaders also agreed to "prepare for further enlargement of the alliance" by including other European democracies.

"We discussed new security challenges, we outlined the work ahead as we move toward next year's summit in Prague," Bush said. "It was a good start on a broad and important agenda."

About 150 banner-waving demonstrators gathered outside the NATO HQ after hundreds had protested on Tuesday night at the U.S. Embassy in the capital.

There is tight security in Brussels for Bush's visit, though police allowed a small group of Greenpeace activists to protest against the U.S. adminstration's refusal to back the Kyoto Protocal on global warming.

Bush told the meeting it was time "to strengthen ties and to prepare for future threats and to extend the hand of welcome" to potential new NATO members.

He commended the work of NATO in the past and said it should work on building "a whole Europe at peace and with liberty at its core."

The president hailed NATO's work at establishing security in Europe and defusing the ethnic cleansing policy of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

But he said there was still more work to be done in terms of expanding cooperation with countries including Russia and the Ukraine.

On Thursday, Bush will meet European Union leaders in Gothenburg, Sweden.

His European tour began on Tuesday in Madrid, where he met Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.