Today's Date:

Press briefing given by M. Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the Republic

BURMA

THE PRESIDENT - (…) I'm following the situation in Burma with huge concern and would like to issue an appeal for there to be under no circumstances any crackdown by force on the spontaneous, peaceful demonstrations which are expressing fair political and social demands. Tomorrow, at the Elysée, I'll be meeting a delegation from Burma's exiled opposition party and will signal France's support to them. We won't tolerate any crackdown by force.

THE PRESIDENT - (…) Look, I said that there won't be any peace in the world if we don't defend these universal values which are the right of peoples to self-determination and human rights. And so anything demonstrating a firm belief in expressing support for a democratic movement, and anything in the way of sanctions to move towards this will have France's support. (…)

MIDDLE EAST/LEBANON

THE PRESIDENT - (…) If we had to make a prognosis, Bernard Kouchner and I think it's precisely because everything is going badly that there's a chance for success. And that's not a semantic paradox. If you look at the situation as it is, it's in the Palestinian Authority President's interest to take initiatives to unify the Palestinian people. It's in Prime Minister Olmert's interest to take initiatives to strengthen his legitimacy and standing in Israel. It's in the President of the United States of America's interest to push for an agreement because he's at the end of his second mandate and, whatever happens, the Constitution being as it is, he won't stand again. And so there's really, it seems to me, a conjunction of interests, each being convinced he can take risks and particularly the risk of succeeding. (…)

LEBANON

On Lebanon, of course, we've seen that the election has been put off for a month. Bernard Kouchner, who has moreover done the maximum possible for Lebanon, and I are saying that we are at Lebanon's side on this. Things must be clear: we are for Lebanon being independent and sovereign. So we want to stand alongside all the components of Lebanese society. It isn't for us to choose between them. We're saying that an independent, sovereign Lebanon living in security is a Lebanon where all the communities talk to each other, find compromises, and a Lebanon where there are no more assassinations.

COLOMBIA

THE PRESIDENT - M. Kouchner and I had a long meeting with Mr Uribe. He's a man I have time for, who holds part of the key to the release of the hostages, particularly Mme Betancourt. We have to work together, not necessarily in a very public way, but to create the conditions of confidence. Moreover, France has chosen to have confidence in Hugo Chávez whom I've had several times on the phone and who, as I told you yesterday, Bernard Kouchner and I have invited to France in November, all of which may facilitate the dialogue between Hugo Chávez, Mr Uribe and Mr Marulanda. I can't afford not to use every possibility to get the release of Ingrid Betancourt who's spent five and a half years in the tragic situation we know about.

(…)

KOSOVO

THE PRESIDENT - I can tell you three things. First of all, I think Kosovo's independence is inevitable. Moreover, I can't see anyone at all being able to say the contrary. The second thing is that Europe absolutely must stay united - and I speak under the control of Bernard Kouchner who's marvellously well informed on this - because we are faced with an inextricable legal situation at international level and it's a European issue. Our American and Russian friends have to understand this and Europe has to be united. Thirdly, no one of course wants to humiliate Russia and Serbia. And M. Kouchner and I will have the chance to talk to Mr Putin about it during our visit in a few weeks' time.

(…)

RWANDA

M. KOUCHNER - Contacts have been resumed, problems remain on both sides. We intend, very peacefully, but insistently, to try and smooth things out, and relations will, we hope, take a favourable turn. But we're not there yet.

(…)

DARFUR

THE PRESIDENT - Listen, the deployment is starting in October. And then if there are two people you can't criticize, they are M. Kouchner and me, who've been fighting for the hybrid force, which has even been discussed with Gordon Brown and been the subject of a joint British and French initiative, since the British minister and Bernard Kouchner are themselves defending the draft resolution at the United Nations. It wasn't that simple. I might add that the African Union had to be persuaded. But today, that's done, there will be a hybrid force. There will be a hybrid force on the Sudanese side and a European force on the Chadian side. No one disputes that France has played a massive role here. Of course we'd have preferred things to go faster. I remind you that the new French administration has been in office for only four months.

(…)

THE PRESIDENT - I don't know. If you think my speech was traditional, that's a harsh judgement on the speech, but generous as regards the tradition. Frankly, it isn't that easy to draft a speech which tries to get policies changed in the inevitably constrained framework of a United Nations General Assembly, it isn't easy, not that simple. You draw the conclusion that M. Kouchner and I have reverted to the traditional French foreign policy line, that's harsh, but since I know that you mean well, I take it as an appeal to do better. I've tried to put the case for our ideas, to give France her rightful place in the world. France has to contribute new ideas, she has get policies to change, she has to talk to everyone, that's the idea M. Kouchner and I are keeping on and on about. France is loyal to her allies, to her values, but France wants to talk to everyone. Yes, France is inviting Hugo Chávez to France. She's talking to everyone precisely because she is true to her values and friendships, and she doesn't have to apologise for that. I want at the same time to be the one who won't budge on Iranian military nuclear power and the one who takes civilian nuclear power to countries which need the energy of the future. That was one of the topics in the discussions we had yesterday at Mr Ban Ki-moon's dinner. (…)./.