Today's Date:

France/US/European Defense

Ministerial Meeting of the North Atlantic Council, interview given by Michel Barnier, Minister of Foreign Affairs to "France Inter" - (excerpts).

Brussels, December 9, 2004

(...)

THE MINISTER – Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice are different people and Condi Rice is a woman who's got character, as everyone knows. Moreover, I'll have the opportunity of meeting her soon and getting to know her, beyond a few contacts we had when President Bush came to the Normandy beaches for the commemoration of the D-Day Landings.

I don't believe US policy is going to change with a new Secretary of State. It's President Bush who decides policy and if there are any changes, it will be because he wants them and because of the new circumstances. There is, with the turning of this page, a new chapter, probably also new issues, new challenges, particularly at the heart of our transatlantic relationship. For me, the most important issue today is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. So if we want to do something concrete with this relationship between Americans and Europeans, give it a new boost, a real issue for us is together to get the resumption of the peace process which this region, the children of Palestine, the children of Israel want and need, and have done so for such a long time. At any rate, that's my priority today. (...)./.