Today's Date:

Contrary to what some people thought, the fall of the Berlin wall hasn’t opened an era of lasting peace. The world remains dangerous. The 11 September terrorist attacks in the United States, those in Karachi, Bali, and again this week in Mombasa are a tragic illustration of this. For the French government, responsible for the country’s security, a resolute defence policy is an urgent necessity. The billions devoted to defence will serve to restore the operational readiness – in sharp decline between 1997 and 2002 – of our forces’ equipment, modernize our armed forces and consolidate the effort to give France fully career armed forces. France must be capable of shouldering her responsibilities in Europe and the world. My responsibility will be to ensure that every single euro of the allocated funds is properly spent.

AIRCRAFT CARRIER

Yes. We’ll need an aircraft carrier available when the “Charles-de-Gaulle” undergoes long-term maintenance. The final decisions on it, whether it is to be nuclear or conventionally powered, will be taken next year. France is keen for there to be cooperation on it, particularly with Britain. Financially, this second aircraft carrier accounts for only a small part of the programmes in this military estimates act.

TERRORISM

A developed nation open to trade, France is one of the countries threatened by terrorism. She’s already been a victim of it in the past and has, for many years, been resolutely and relentlessly fighting it. We shall never waver in our battle against terrorism. The estimates act takes this imperative on board and presents programmes designed to respond to it in the areas of intelligence, our capacity to act and our strike capability, the surveillance of sensitive facilities throughout the country and strengthening of protection measures.

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IRAQ

The priority is the mission the United Nations inspectors are currently carrying out in Iraq, under Messrs Blix and ElBaradei’s authority, pursuant to UNSCR 1441. This is what will enable us to find out whether Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction. Iraq has pledged to cooperate so that these inspections take place under the conditions which have been laid down and within the stipulated period of time. If Iraq doesn’t fulfil her obligations, it will be up to the Security Council to consider all the requisite measures. None are ruled out a priori. Whatever happens, there will be no armed action without a Security Council decision.

France has the capabilities to deal with any situation requiring land, naval or air operations. As a permanent member of the Security Council, she will shoulder her responsibilities. As President Chirac reminded us, war can be only the last resort. On this point, our position is very clear.

During my visit to the United States, I noted a large variety of opinions on the issue. Some senior officials consider that war would be the worst solution because it would destabilize the regimes of all Iraq’s neighbours. Moreover, if it seemed to be a unilateral United States decision, people would view a war in Iraq as an attack by the Western world against the Arab world and this would fuel a new wave of terrorism. We have absolutely no wish to run that risk. France’s position is to ensure respect for international law. Passed unanimously, UNSCR 1441 is our point of reference. Everyone, subsequently, will face up to their responsibilities...

FRANCE/GERMANY

Very many milestones have been passed since Helsinki in 1999. France and Germany have proposed establishing enhanced cooperation projects in the defence sphere to promote the development of a real European armaments policy. As President Chirac said, when France and Germany see eye to eye, Europe forges ahead. (...)./.