English subtitles for clip: File:President Obama's Bilateral Meeting with Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt of Denmark.webm

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President Obama:
Well, I want to welcome Prime
Minister Thorning-Schmidt to the

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White House and
to the Oval Office.

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This is the first time that
we've had a chance to meet,

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but obviously we've been very
impressed with the first five

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months of her prime
ministership.

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I shared with her how much
Michelle and I appreciated the

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extraordinary hospitality that
was shown to Michelle and I when

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I visited Copenhagen
in the past.

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And I also wanted to just say
how much we appreciate the great

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alliance and partnership that we
have with the Danish people on a

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whole range of
international issues.

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Obviously, most recently, the
operations in Libya could not

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have been as effective had it
not been for the precision and

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the excellence of the Danish
armed forces and their pilots.

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But that's fairly typical of
the way that Danes have punched

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above their weight in
international affairs.

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In Afghanistan, I thanked
the Prime Minister for the

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extraordinary contributions
of Danish troops in the

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Helmand area.

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They operate without caveat,
have taken significant

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casualties, for which obviously
all of us extend our condolences

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to the families that
have been affected.

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But because of the outstanding
work that's been done by Danish

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soldiers in Afghanistan, we're
seeing great progress in the

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areas where they operate.

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We had a chance to
talk about the economy.

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As we were exchanging
notes, it turns out that,

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like folks here in
the United States,

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everybody in Denmark wants to
talk about the economy all the

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time, and jobs and growth.

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And we agreed that there has
been some progress in resolving

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the sovereign debt issues, that
there has been some progress

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with respect to the agreements
between the EU and the IMF and

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Greece, the new
government in Italy,

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new governments in Spain
and Portugal are all making

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significant progress, but that
there's a lot more work to do.

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And we will be consulting
closely with Denmark.

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And we exchanged ideas on how
we can ensure not only economic

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stability in Europe but
also growth in Europe,

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because if Europe is growing
then that benefits the U.S.

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economy as well.

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And we emphasized other
additional ways that we can

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encourage trade and reduce
economic frictions between the

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two sides of the
transatlantic relationship.

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In preparation for our
meeting in Chicago, at NATO,

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in my hometown, we talked about
the transition that was already

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agreed to in Lisbon, when it
comes to putting Afghans in the

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lead in security over
the next several years.

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And we are going to be
consulting with not only Denmark

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but our other allies in making
sure that that is a smooth

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transition and one
that is sustained,

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where we continue to help the
Afghan government to support its

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own sovereignty and effectively
control its borders.

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We also discussed the
extraordinary counterterrorism

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cooperation that's taking place
between our two countries.

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And I thanked the Prime Minister
for the excellent work that her

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intelligence team has done.

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We are in constant communication
on a whole host of issues.

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The Danes are very much one of
the leaders when it comes to

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counterterrorism, and are
obviously familiar with the

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significant threats that
are posed by terrorism.

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So we appreciate that very much.

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And we had a chance to
talk about a wide range of

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international issues, including
the situation in Syria.

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And I have to say that all of us
who've been seeing the terrible

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pictures coming out of Syria and
Homs recently recognize it is

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absolutely imperative for the
international community to

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rally, and send a clear message
to President Assad that it is

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time for a transition, it is
time for that regime to move on,

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and it is time to stop the
killing of Syrian citizens by

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their own government.

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And I'm encouraged by the
international unity that we are

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developing -- the meetings that
took place in Tunisia that

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Secretary Clinton had attended.

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And we are going to continue
to keep the pressure up,

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and look for every tool
available to prevent the

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slaughter of innocents in Syria.

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And this is an area where I
think the Prime Minister and I

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deeply agree -- it's important
that we not be bystanders during

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these extraordinary events.

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At the same time, there are
other threats in the region,

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including the situation in Iran.

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And I thanked the Prime Minister
and the Danish government for

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their leadership role in
applying the toughest sanctions

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we've ever seen
coming out of the EU.

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Difficult sanctions to apply,
but we both agree that we're

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making progress and they are
working in sending a message

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to Iran that it needs to take
a different path if it wants

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to rejoin the
international community,

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and that there is a expectation
on the part of the world that

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they abide by their
international obligations

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when it comes to
their nuclear program.

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So the final thing we talked
about was the fact that we both

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have two daughters; they're
roughly the same ages.

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(laughter)

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We traded notes.

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The Prime Minister's daughters
are slightly older than Malia

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and Sasha.

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She assures me that they
continue to behave themselves,

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even well into
their teenage years.

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So I'm encouraged by the report.

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Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt:
Good.

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(laughter)

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President Obama:
And I thank you very much.

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I hope that you have a wonderful
stay while you're here,

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and we look forward to
working with you again

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in the near future.

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Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt:
Thank you, Mr. President.

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And thank you so much
for your kind words.

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And the Danish people have a
very strong sense of closeness

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to the United States, and we
always have had that sense.

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We have close economic,
political ties with each other.

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But not only that, we
exchange tourism, students,

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ideas, and culture.

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But perhaps most
important of all,

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we have -- we share
common values.

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And I think in a turbulent time,
this is very, very important.

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So basically, the friendship
and the alliance between our

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two countries is in very
good shape right now.

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And I thank you for that.

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As you said, we discussed
the current situation.

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Denmark holds the presidency
of the EU right now,

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and we talk about the
debt situation most of

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the time, in Europe.

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I conveyed the message to the
President that I am convinced

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that we will see ourselves
through this crisis.

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We have now put some very
important measures in place.

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We have fiscal conservation,
we have reforms,

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and we have focus on
growth and jobs right now.

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In doing that, in this endeavor,
I think a closer transatlantic

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relationship will be important.

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We are dependent on each other
and we should have closer trade

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with each other, and I think
that would be part of creating

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sustainable growth
in our own countries.

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As you were saying,
Mr. President,

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we also have close ties
in terms of security.

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It is clear -- it has been
for a long time -- that Danish

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soldiers are serving alongside
American soldiers in

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Afghanistan, and I used the
opportunity today to thank

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you and the American people
for the great effort you have

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put in Afghanistan.

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It is greatly
appreciated worldwide.

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And I know that the Danish
people really appreciate the

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global leadership that you
and your people have taken

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also in that context.

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I look forward, of course,
to coming back to the States,

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to your hometown, Chicago, to
participate in the NATO summit.

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And what we will be discussing
there is Afghanistan, of course.

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One of the major issues there is
transition to the next phase in

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Afghanistan, and where -- what
we want to see is the Afghans

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taking responsibility
for their own security.

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And we are, in Europe, with
all the Danish leadership,

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trying to gather donors in this
-- in securing that the Afghans

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are capable of taking
over their own security.

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We have some great
samples of our alliance.

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We have worked together,
again, in Libya,

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where we made sure that Libya
came out on a path of democracy.

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And I think, again, the
Americans showed leadership

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in that context.

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Another area that we discussed,
as you've said, was Syria,

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which is quite the
opposite situation.

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It is horrendous what we
see in Syria right now.

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But I think it is also very,
very true that we have worked

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together in that area.

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We must continue that endeavor,
and just today we have seen

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that, of the leadership of
the League of Arab States,

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there has been a step forward in
trying to put pressure on Syria,

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which is very, very important.

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The same, of course,
goes for Iran.

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Another area in security where
we work together is in terms of

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piracy, and I used the
opportunity of thanking

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sincerely the President for the
courageous operation that led to

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the freeing of two aid workers
that worked for the Danish

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Refugee Council.

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They are now safe
because of the Americans.

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Thank you for that.

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So basically our security -- our
cooperation in terms of security

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are very great indeed.

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I will finish here just by
saying that I think our meeting

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here today has confirmed the
friendship and the alliance

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between our two countries.

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There's a lot we can do that --
you're always welcome to come to

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Denmark -- and I
think it is very,

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very important that we have
these kind of meetings to

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renew the friendship, and this
is what you've done today.

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Thank you.

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President Obama:
Thank you very much, everybody.