…NATO summit
Speech by M. Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the Republic
Bucharest , April 3, 2008
Secretary-General, dear colleagues,
I should first like to thank my friend Traian Basescu for his hospitality. He knows that Romania has a special place in the hearts of the French people. Holding this summit in Bucharest is a symbol of the new face of our European continent, freed from former divisions.
This is the first time I have the honour of speaking before the North Atlantic Council. I know that France's relations with the Atlantic Council haven't always been calm. Many used to say that France advocated for others what she didn't do herself. I should like to clarify this and face up to my responsibilities. France's defence effort won't be reduced regardless of budget difficulties. In today's world, reducing our effort would be irresponsible.
The Atlantic Alliance is our alliance: France is one of its founder members and main contributors.
I should like to thank President Bush for what he has said. We need NATO and a European Defence. We need the United States and the United States needs strong allies. For France this opens the door for a transformation of her relations with NATO. I'm not saying this here before saying it at home. I faced up to the debates at home in order to come and say this here.
We've got the same values; we are friends.
On Afghanistan, it's essential for us to win. But there's a communication deficit in all our countries. We shouldn't be losing the communication battle when we are fighting the Taliban and al-Qaida. Afghanistan will be rebuilt and at peace only if there's a long-term military effort. This is why France has taken the decision to send an additional battalion to eastern Afghanistan. And France will also take command of the central region from this summer.
We have to win. We are committed for a long time until victory. There's no other solution.
It's in this spirit that, in agreement with my friend Angela Merkel, I propose that in 2009 the 60 th anniversary summit be held in Kehl and Strasbourg, two cities located on the Franco-German border. It will be the symbol of Franco-German friendship, European reconciliation and the transatlantic partnership. It would conclude the process of transforming France's relationship with NATO.
Dear colleagues,
It is with pleasure that France today welcomes Croatia and Albania into the Alliance. We all hope that a solution can be found for FYROM but we stand by our Greek allies. When you want to join NATO, you have to make a minimum of effort.
On Georgia and Ukraine, we don't accept any veto by anyone. These two countries are destined to join NATO. But there must be agreement at least to discuss the date and terms and conditions. I greatly appreciated Jean-Claude Juncker's speech yesterday evening when he said: "we're not afraid of Putin, as we showed when welcoming in the other East European countries". But we want to check that they are ready politically. It's a question of the date, the timetable. Let's not make it a political problem. These countries are destined to join NATO.
Just as in Afghanistan, the Alliance and European Union are engaged together in Kosovo. Kosovo is a success for NATO and Europe. This isn't said enough. It was worth waiting four months. Let us also extend our hand to Serbia. We need her to stabilize the region.
Dear colleagues,
Tomorrow, Vladimir Putin is coming to join us here. Let's talk to him frankly. He does so when he has problems including when he's talking about his country's interests. We must do the same thing. But his offer to cooperate in order to facilitate overland transit for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) through Russian territory is a sign of goodwill.
I should like to raise the issue of anti-missile defence. It's a fact that when it comes to ballistic proliferation the threat is growing. Some of us are preparing to address this threat with anti-missile defence capabilities. For France, such capabilities can provide useful additional resources in the event of a limited strike, but they will never be able to be enough to protect our vital interests. The ultimate guarantee of our security lies in nuclear deterrence. We have discussed this with the United Kingdom. We recognize that the initiative taken by the US and others is useful. France will participate in it and adopt a pragmatic approach. Let's see how it's going to evolve.
Dear colleagues,
This summit is extremely important. It is providing an opportunity to bolster the Alliance and strengthen Defence Europe. I'd like once again to thank President Bush for what he said. It is unprecedented. It's better to have strong friends. France will respond to this overture.
Thank you./.
…OCDE
Press briefing given by Foreign Ministry spokesperson – April 4, 2008
Q: Do you have any comment on the OECD report that was released this morning? It notes a decline in foreign aid by the industrialized countries, and especially France where a significant drop is noted between 2006 and 2007.
There is, as you’ve said, a slight drop in global aid which went from $104.4 billion to $103.7 billion. The drop can be explained by the decline in debt relief aid to the developing countries which had been especially important in 2005 and 2006.
France isn’t exempt from this trend. Its aid slipped from 0.47% of gross national product to 0.39% by virtue of the decline in the share of debt relief. In fact several countries to which France had planned to offer debt cancellation in 2007 did not succeed in achieving the necessary conditions for this to happen, and that explains why our forecasts were different.
However, if one excludes debt relief, French aid expressed in current dollars increased by 4.3% between 2006 and 2007, i.e. more than the average of the member states of the development assistance committee and the EU countries.
There are several ways of calculating it, but such is the trend. May I also remind you that France is the third leading donor globally, providing $9,940 million in net aid and that it is the leader in the G8 in terms of aid in relation to gross national product.
Q: With that said, France is committed, according to the former president and the new president, to increasing or at least maintaining official development assistance. You’re telling us that because these countries are less indebted you’re giving them less. Does one then have to be more heavily indebted to obtain more assistance?
No, that’s not what I said. Debt relief is factored into development assistance, and that explains this development; and as I said, in 2007 we didn’t cancel all the debt we’d planned to.To conclude, you’re correct to mention our commitment, which the president has reiterated: France has pledged to achieve an aid target of 0.7% of GNP by 2015.
Q: When you talk about global assistance or French assistance to third countries, do you include the conferences you host, which have become so fashionable, and the donations like those at the Paris III conference?
We include everything that France decides and which corresponds to official development assistance. So of course it includes what we decide in the context of donor conferences.
Q: Does that mean that what you offered during the conference on the Palestinians will be included in the figures for 2008?
Yes. We include in our foreign aid figures everything given in the context of this aid, however it is channeled.
…Colombia/hostages
Press briefing given by Foreign Ministry spokesperson – April 4, 2008
Q: The minister spoke about the Betancourt affair on the radio this morning. I’d like to know whether there’ve been any new developments since or any further information?
I’ve no new information and so I refer you to what the minister said.
Q: I’d like to know how France interpreted Rodrigo Granda’s message which was published by the Bolivarian Press Agency. According to a report from Monde.fr this morning, the message was dated March 19. So it would clearly be prior to the announcement of the humanitarian mission .
Yes, indeed. Our goal is to obtain the release of the hostages, beginning with the weakest among them, especially Ms Ingrid Betancourt. That’s the purpose of the mission. Everything that can help secure their release is being done, but we have to observe the utmost discretion. The minister expressed this morning France’s hopes and determination and also the need sometimes to take risks. In answer to a question he was asked about the chance of the humanitarian mission succeeding, he replied: “I hope from the bottom of my heart and with all my strength that it succeeds. For now, we’re trying, trying, trying—there’s no other solution. I hope the mission succeeds. If you don’t take chances, you risk not succeeding. If you do take a risk, there’s a chance of succeeding.” The hostages’ release, beginning with Ingrid Betancourt, is an absolute humanitarian emergency, a question of life or death.
…Syria/Lebanon
Press briefing given by Foreign Ministry spokesperson – March 31, 2008
Q: The French ambassador to Syria was there for the opening and closing of the Arab summit in Damascus. What’s your assessment of the results?
The summit was held on March 29 and 30, and we saw it ended with support for the Arab initiative to resolve the crisis in Lebanon, recall of the Arab peace plan for the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian question and support for Yemen’s initiative for reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas. The heads of state also expressed their concern at the rise in Islamophobia.
Q : More specifically, did you see in the Damascus declaration signs of optimism with regard to a possible positive development in Lebanon? What share of responsibility now lies in the hands of the Lebanese to resolve their problems themselves?
The communiqué adopted in Damascus expresses renewed support for the Arab League initiative for the election of a president in Lebanon. As we’ve said repeatedly, we support the efforts of Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and we call on all the actors concerned to take steps to resolve the crisis.
Q: Mr. Jumblat was critical yesterday of French efforts to resolve the crisis in Lebanon. He’s wondering where the pressure is, and economic sanctions from France and Europe against Syria.? What’s your response?
France has made every effort to find a solution to the crisis alongside the legitimate government in Lebanon.
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