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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.]
AIDS Thirteen heads of state, 11 heads of government and more than 80 ministers will be taking part next week in the U.N. General Assembly's special session on HIV/AIDS which will be held in New York from June 25 to 27 in order to adopt a "declaration of commitment." The debates will be structured around a plenary session and four round tables (on the subjects of prevention and access to care, HIV/AIDS and human rights, the social and economic impact of the pandemic, and international financing and cooperation). France will be represented by Charles Josselin, Minister Delegate for Cooperation and Francophony, and Bernard Kouchner, Minister Delegate for Health. Mr. Josselin will deliver the speech for France at the plenary session. Mr. Kouchner will take part in the round table on prevention and access to care (problematic of complementarity between prevention and access to care, differentiated prices for retroviral treatments, and use of generic medicines). The two ministers will recall France's priorities on this question: consideration of the problematic of access to care and General Assembly support for organizing, in collaboration with Senegal and France, the Dakar Conference (November 30 - December 1, 2001) on this subject. The European Council at Göteborg recently agreed that an integrated, comprehensive approach was necessary to combat HIV/AIDS, especially in Africa. It also stressed the need to facilitate the broadest possible access to medicines under affordable and medically effective conditions. The draft declaration should also take a position in favor of the urgent establishment of a world fund for health and AIDS. France supports this project for which the prime minister has already announced a French contribution of 150 million euros during his trip to South Africa (May 2001).
FRANCE/GERMANY Foreign Minister Védrine went to Berlin yesterday evening for a working dinner with his German counterpart, Mr. Fischer. The two ministers discussed the results of the European Council at Göteborg and the lessons learned from President Bush's visit to Europe. They began preparations for the next important dates, in first place the Belgian presidency of the European Union which will begin on July 1. They also discussed the situation in Macedonia with a view to the GAC on June 25 which will appoint the European Union representative that the European Council at Göteborg decided to send to Skopje, who will report to Mr. Solana. The two ministers also reviewed specifically Franco-German work. They considered that the process begun by the president, the prime minister and the chancellor at Blaesheim last January had already produced positive results as shown by the convergence of France's and Germany's positions at the last two European councils in Stockholm and Göteborg. The process will be continued after the summer. The two ministers agreed to hold an in-depth working meeting in Paris on August 39 and 30.
GENERAL AFFAIRS COUNCIL IN LUXEMBOURG The General Affairs Council will meet in Luxembourg on June 25 and 26. At the Council, ministers will examine the European Union 's external relations, in particular the situation in the western Balkans, especially in Macedonia, and will appoint a resident representative of the European Union in Skopje who will report to Mr. Solana. There will be a meeting with Mr. Trajkovsky, accompanied by the Macedonian prime minister, on June 25 at 9:00 a.m. Afterwards ministers will discuss the situation in west Africa in light of the recent mission by the Swedish secretary of state, and in Zimbabwe. At the luncheon ministers will consider the Near and Middle East. After the luncheon, ministers will meet with Mary Robinson and discuss with her the upcoming U.N conference on racism. That same day the Council will work on the follow-up to the European summit in Göteborg. I would remind you that the Council asked the Commission to begin preparations for the European Union and its 15 member states to subscribe to the Kyoto Protocol. Preparations for the next G8 summit which will take place in Genoa are also due to be discussed, specifically from the standpoint of security. On the sidelines of the Council, the association agreement with Egypt will be signed at 4:15 p.m.--this is an important date. Then there will be a dinner for European Union ministers and the Egyptian delegation at 7:30 p.m. On Tuesday, June 26, several meetings are planned between the European Union and a number of other countries--either candidates for EU membership such as Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey, or with other countries such as Ukraine, Albania, Chili and the Mercosur countries.
EUROPEAN UNION/EGYPT The signing, June 25, of the association agreement between the European Union and Egypt will mark an important stage in building the Euro-Mediterranean partnership. This is the fifth such agreement, the others are already in force or have been signed with Tunisia, Morocco, Israel and Jordan. These agreements help towards establishing a free trade zone for the entire Euro-Mediterranean region and, given the importance of Egypt in political, economic and human terms, the Euro-Mediterranean partnership is going to acquire a really credible critical mass with the signing of this agreement. The association agreement will establish a vast framework for cooperation that should strengthen the movement for regional integration between Egypt and its neighbors and with the European Union countries. So there is a double stimulus that should contribute to increased trade and better access to the community market for Egyptian goods. These perspectives are also likely to improve Egypt's ability to attract foreign investment and help it to advance economically.
MACEDONIA At a time when the European Union is working to get the parties to commit to a genuine dialogue for a political settlement to the crisis, we deplore the resumption of hostilities and military operations in Aracinovo. We ask the parties to respect the cease-fire and really enter into political dialogue which is the only way to find a lasting settlement to the crisis. (Regarding Macedonia, does France still support François Léotard's candidacy and what did the Germans reply? Did you go round the other European partners to have their views?) We confirm Mr. Léotard's candidacy as resident representative of the European Union in Skopje, under Mr. Solana's authority. The European Council at Göteborg stipulated that the GAC on June 25 should make the appointment. It made the decision, and we believe it to be important. We are putting up a very good candidate, and the matter has been discussed in various contacts that the French authorities have had in the past few days with some of their counterparts among the Fifteen.
EUROPEAN UNION/NICE TREATY (About Ireland. Romano Prodi sowed unrest when he said that whether the Irish had voted "yes" or "no" didn't matter and that the candidate countries would join the Union regardless of the rejection by the Irish.) The remarks which were reported in the Irish Times are rather surprising. In fact, the conclusions of the European Council in Göteborg are clear. Point four of these conclusions stipulates that the process of ratification of the Nice Treaty is going to continue so that the Union is in a position to welcome new members starting at the end of 2002. That's the same line that the Irish prime minister himself took in explaining the outcome of the referendum in his country. The president of the European Commission is a de facto member of the European Council and that means he is bound by the conclusions of the said Council.
RUSSIA/NOGA (At the Paris air show today French judicial authorities seized Russian aircraft at the request of the Swiss company Noga. Can you explain this move by the French judicial authorities coming the same day as the visit to Russia of French planes for the Normandie-Niémen commemoration and one week before the French president's visit to Russia?) We were informed that a bailiff, acting at the request of Noga under a warrant from the Paris Court of Appeal on March 22, 2001, presented himself this morning at Le Bourget airport in order to impound the Russian planes there for the air and space show. This is a judicial procedure in a commercial dispute between a private Swiss company and the Russian state. France is not party to the dispute. The anniversary of the Normandie-Niémen squadron, which is one of the high points in the history of our two countries, and the proximity of an official visit, seem to me completely unrelated to the judicial move in question. (Are the French authorities or France not part of the dispute? Why does Noga always find support in France and not in other European countries?) Your question requires me to review the entire background to the case. There was a settlement by the Arbitration Court in Stockholm in February 1997 requiring Russia to pay $23 million to Noga on the basis of two successive contracts with that company. In these contracts the Russian government agreed--I'm citing the French translation, it's not an official translation, it's a free translation of the arbitration award by the commercial court in Stockholm "to waive all right to immunity regarding the award." I'm giving you the basic facts. The awards in Sweden were confirmed in March 1999 by the Court of Appeal of Svea. So the conflict didn't arise in France at the beginning. It was in Sweden, in the context of a dispute between a Swiss company and the Russian state. Secondly, it is true that afterwards Noga requested what are called " exequaturs" which allow the Stockholm court's decision to be applicable in foreign countries. On March 22, 2001 the Paris Court of Appeal confirmed the decision of the lower court on March 15, 2000 and therefore the exequatur, which means that the Swedish decision remains applicable in its principle in France.
LIBYA (Do you have any comments on the meeting this morning between Libya's vice foreign minister and Mr. Josselin?) I talked about the visit yesterday. Naturally, the two men discussed Franco-Libyan bilateral relations, the political dialogue between our two countries, economic relations and cooperation between the two countries. What I can say, what we have consistently reaffirmed since the U.N. suspended sanctions on April 5, 1999, is that we've entered a phase of resuming bilateral relations. Mr. Mujber's visit bears witness to this resumption after the meeting that Foreign Minister Védrine had in Lisbon on January 25 with his counterpart, Mr. Chalgham, at the time of the ministerial meeting of the 5+5 dialogue.
IRAQ (Yesterday there was a meeting in New York about compensation. Is there something new?) The compensation commission is continuing its work in Geneva. It is continuing to examine requests being submitted for compensation for war damages. The work is continuing normally at this time and I've not been told of special problems, as may have been the case a few months ago. In addition, in New York talks are still going on in the Security Council about the question of formulating a new approach towards Iraq. The meetings are continuing and in that context one of the items under discussion is the question of the percentage to be deducted from Iraqi revenue which is to be used for war-damages compensation. France, as you know, is hoping that the percentage will be set between 20 and 25% whereas others think the percentage could be higher. The Council is continuing discussions on this point.
FRANCE/PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Wu Bangguo, Vice Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China, will visit France from June 25 to 26. The visit is one of the many high-level visits made by Chinese officials to France and French officials to China, and part of the comprehensive partnership integrating all the areas of dialogue and cooperation, signed in May 1997 in Beijing by President Chirac and Jiang Zemin, President of the People's Republic of China. Mr. Wu will have a meeting on June 25 with Mr. Fabius, Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry, then he will attend a luncheon given by Mr. Gayssot, Minister for Public Works, Housing and Transportation. He will be received by the president on Tuesday, June 26. The visit will be dominated by economic issues for which Mr. Wu is responsible, reporting to Prime Minister Zhu Rongji. Questions relating to energy, the environment, transport (rail and air) telecommunications and financial services will also be addressed. Many meetings have been scheduled with companies.
TV5 We are pleased with the outcome of the negotiations that have been going on for months to continue the modernization of TV5 and reorganize it. Our objective is to simplify TV5's structures and procedures and expand it internationally, especially in the American zone. The fact that signals go from Paris to Latin America and the U.S. will be a major advance which should make it possible to enhance significantly the coherence and ambition of our external audiovisual tool. Let me add that the agreement signed by TV5's five partners is a key element in the reform of external audiovisual policy decided on by the government. The objective of the Foreign Ministry, of Mr. Védrine and Mr. Josselin, who has been very much involved in this, is to make the modernized TV5 an audiovisual showcase in a multilateral Francophone context. TV5 is on the way to becoming "TV5-world," is going to simplify its technical procedures and programming and thereby consolidate the gains it has made over the past three years under the leadership of Jean Stock. Starting August 1 it will be offering, instead of the present five, seven signals from Paris destined for various continents. Two new signals will reinforce the French presence and Francophony in the United States and Latin America./. Embassy of France, June 22, 2001
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