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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.] MIDDLE EAST
We took note yesterday evening of the Israeli prime minister’s speech. You know our position. Dialogue and negotiation are the way to a final settlement of the conflict based on international law, in particular the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.
France also renews its calls to the two parties to quickly implement the road-map.
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The Iranian representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency yesterday signed on behalf of his country the additional protocol to its safeguards agreement with the AIEA.
France welcomes the signature. Iran signed in the context of implementing the October 21 Teheran declaration and the AIEA governors’ resolutions of September 12 and November 26. It meets the requests that had been made for several years by France in its bilateral relations with Iran, in liaison with its European Union partners, and in international forums (AIEA, G8).
Iran’s signature of the additional protocol will lead to greater transparency in the nuclear activities in which the Iranian authorities are engaged. It constitutes a first step towards greater confidence between Iran and the international community.
France also notes with satisfaction that inspections have already begun under the provisional implementation of this protocol.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized the first Franco-Israeli Youth Forum in Paris on December 18, 2003 in the context of the High-Level Franco-Israeli Group and the relaunching of cooperation between France and Israel on youth exchanges.
The forum was prepared by a group of experts co-chaired on the French side by Corine Lepage, former environment minister, and on the Israeli side by Freddy Malik, chairman of the Youth Exchanges Public Council.
About 40 representatives of youth associations, youth councils and local authorities responded to the Ministry’s invitation.
Among the lines of action discussed, it was agreed priority should go to:
- the reception in Israel then in France of leaders of associations in order to promote better understanding of the partner country and develop joint projects;
- establishing a ‘Youth Space’ at the Franco-Israeli Forum for Local Authorities which meets for the second time in Jerusalem in June; each of the mayors attending will be accompanied by an elected young person from the town or a member of the town’s youth council;
- organization of exchanges for young people active in youth media and high-school papers;
- pairing up of young French and Israelis to work on technical cooperation projects in third countries.
These initial proposals by the preparatory group will be implemented in the course of 2004. They will be supplemented by various proposals to be presented by the participants: for example, reception of troubled young people by the Inter-NGO Jeunes de la Rue; meeting of young entrepreneurs and designers, relaunching of sports exchanges in the context of academic sport; organization of French-speaking vacation centers in Israel by French coordinators, etc.
The forum confirmed the wish of French and Israeli leaders of institutions and associations to revitalize exchanges through new partnerships, thereby meeting the expectations of young people in both countries.
Q - What are the areas for technical cooperation?
You’ve seen that there are details regarding the sphere of cooperation. A number of examples were given: the reception of young people in difficulty, meetings of young entrepreneurs and designers, renewed sports exchanges, vacation centers. Those are specific examples of the cooperation being planned.
Noëlle Lenoir, Minister Delegate for European Affairs, had talks on December 18, 2003 with Ilinka Mitreva, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, who was in Paris to attend the Francophony ministerial conference.
Ms Mitreva said the Macedonian authorities wished to submit Skopje’s candidacy to the European Union at the end of February 2004. Ms Lenoir recalled France’s position in principle in favor of Macedonia’s European prospects, confirmed at the Thessalonika summit.
Ms Mitreva welcomed the French contribution to the Concordia military operation to stabilize the situation in Macedonia. Ms Lenoir confirmed the participation of a French unit in the Proxima police mission which replaced Concordia on December 15.
The two ministers expressed satisfaction at the signing of an internal security agreement in Skopje on December 18 which will further strengthen the existing police cooperation between Paris and Skopje.
Q - About US concern regarding measures on the wearing of Islamic scarves. The US seems to be extremely troubled. It says it’s a fundamental right which should be protected and it hopes that freedom of religion would not be negotiable. What does France plan to do to reassure the Americans?
I’m not going to comment on what the State Department official said. I think the Embassy in Washington will make a point of replying to questions that come to it from the public and from Americans just as all embassies endeavor to respond to questions that come to it regarding France.
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Q - A court in San Francisco has talked of getting an attorney for the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. That goes much further than what had been proposed by the US government so far. Does it affect the case of the French detainees there?
The announcement goes in the right direction. We’ve asked all along for the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay to have the benefit of the guarantees of international law. The announcement goes in that direction./.
Embassy of France, December 22, 2003
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