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Daily Press Briefing Statements made by [Please note that only the original French text issued by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be considered official.]
EUROPEAN UNION/COMMISSIONER FOR FISHERIES AND MARITIME AFFAIRS
European Affairs Secretary Jean-Pierre Jouyet met on Tuesday, March 12, with European Commissioner Joe Borg who is responsible for fisheries and maritime affairs. Also present was Xavier de la Gorce, secretary-general for maritime affairs.
Mr. Jouyet told Commissioner Borg that France will give strong support to European maritime policy and put the emphasis on maritime surveillance, European maritime governance, research and marine science, and maritime transport.
The secretary of state for European affairs said he intended to put maritime policy on the agenda at the informal meeting of European affairs ministers which he will chair.
European Affairs Secretary Jean-Pierre Jouyet met Tuesday, March 12, with Emma Bonino, Italian state secretary for European policies and international trade, who was in Paris to take part in the French-Italian seminar on economic reform held at the Institut de Sciences Politiques de Paris and the University of Bocconi of Milan.
Mr. Jouyet and Ms Bonino discussed the proposal for a Mediterranean Union and took stock of the current negotiations on implementation of the energy-climate package proposed by the European Commission.
Q - Israeli military operations last night, which killed at least four Palestinians in Bethlehem and elsewhere, put an end to a relative truce of four days between the parties and jeopardize Egyptian mediation efforts. What’s your reaction to the resumption of Israeli assassinations? And will you raise this with President Peres who’s in Paris?
France calls on all the parties to exercise the utmost restraint. There is no military solution to the current crisis for which the settlement requires first of all the establishment of a complete cease-fire. France condemns the continued rocket fire on Israel and demands that it stop completely.
We also call on Israel, especially in our political contacts with the Israeli authorities, to end the illegal practice of extra-judicial executions.
Q - South African President Thabo Mbeki said yesterday he was opposed to armed intervention on the island of Anjouan in the Comoros. According to him, the leader of the rebel island, Mohamed Bacar, is ready to hold a free and impartial election. Do you approve of this position? Can you say whether African Union soldiers have already been taken to the Comoros by the French military?
Colonel Bacar refused to meet with the latest African Union mediation mission on February 27. If he’s ready today to hold elections, as he says, he must demonstrate it by authorizing the peaceful deployment in the port and at the airport on Anjouan of international troops whose mission is to restore legality.
In reply to your last question, the French military have not transported African Union soldiers to the Comoros.
Q - According to the latest reports, a new column of tanks has entered eastern Chad from Sudan. Can you confirm these reports and what steps do you plan to take if they turn out to be true?
We’re checking the information.
Q - Could this attack represent a threat to foreigners living in Chad? Is an evacuation plan being prepared? Will France be content to apply the “technical agreement” linking it to Chad?
I refer you to my previous answer.
Q - Is there a danger this new incursion will represent risks for the European force deployed in the east?
I refer you to my previous answers.
Q - According to RSF [Reporters Without Borders], UNESCO withdrew its sponsorship of a free speech day on the Internet under pressure from countries that have been criticized in this area. What’s your position? Did you contact UNESCO to ask it not to withdraw its sponsorship of the day?
In this matter on which we were not consulted, we regret that UNESCO decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Online Free Expression Day organized by Reporters Without Borders./.
Embassy of France, March 13, 2008
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