ELITSA VUCHEVA
US president Barack Obama’s visit to France on Saturday (6 June) to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy saw a convergence of opinion with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy on several international policy issues, except Turkey’s EU aspirations.
Following a private talk on the margins of the ceremony, both politicians said they agreed on opening a dialogue with Iran, but were strongly critical of Tehran’s refusal to suspend its nuclear programme. They also judged North Korea’s recent tests in that respect “extraordinarily provocative.”
They expressed similar sentiment on the Middle East as well, saying that a two-state solution was needed in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
“Perhaps never in the history of our countries have the United States and France been that close on the big dossiers and on the big topics,” Mr Sarkozy said at a joint press conference after the meeting.
But when it comes to Turkey’s EU membership bid, Washington and Paris remained poles apart. While Mr Obama believes Ankara should join the EU, Mr Sarkozy remains firmly against the idea.
“I’ve said publicly that I think Turkish membership of the EU would be important,” Mr Obama said.
“What the US wants to do is just to encourage talks and discussions where Turkey can feel confident that it has a friendship with France, with the United States, with all of Europe and to the extent that it defines itself that it has an opportunity to be a part of that,” he added.
For his part, Mr Sarkozy said he agreed on the general principle of having strong and friendly relations with Turkey, as well as of having the country as “a bridge between East and West.” But he reiterated his opposition to letting Ankara enter the EU as a full member.
“I told President Obama that it’s very important for Europe to have borders. For me Europe is a stabilising element in the world that I cannot allow to be destroyed,” the French president said.
EU candidate Turkey opened membership talks with the bloc four years ago, but they have been progressing only slowly, with just 10 of the 35 chapters of its negotiations package having been opened so far.
‘A tight schedule’
While Mr Sarkozy has been preparing for the meeting for months, French media pointed out that it turned out to be much shorter than he hoped, with Mr Obama preferring to spend time in Paris with his family and at the American ambassador’s residence, rather than accepting an invitation for a meeting with Mr Sarkozy at the Elysee presidential palace.
“Can one stay in the capital of an allied country without saying hello to your neighbour?” daily Le Figaro asked Saturday, referring to the fact that the American ambassador’s residence is just metres away from the Elysee.
Mr Obama, who was visiting the Notre-Dame Cathedral with his wife and two daughters on Saturday evening, did “the minimum service” with regards to meeting Mr Sarkozy, writes Le Parisien.
The paper adds that on top of that, Mr Obama’s team had tried to arrange a meeting with Jacques Chirac, Mr Sarkozy’s predecessor. Mr Sarkozy and Mr Chirac’ dislike for one other is well-known.
Asked at Saturday’s press conference why he had made his visit that short, Mr Obama said he had only allocated four hours to Mr Sarkozy because he had “a tight schedule.”
“I think it’s important to understand that good friends don’t worry about the symbols and the conventions and the protocols,” he said.
“I would love nothing more than to have a leisurely week in Paris, stroll down the Seine, take my wife out to a nice meal, have a picnic. Those days are over, for the moment,” he added.
For his part, Mr Sarkozy denied being frustrated by the affair.
“We’re not here, watch in hand, saying, ‘How much time did you spend with so-and-so?’ ” he said at the press conference.
“I understand that you should put the question, but frankly, do you think people are just waiting to see us hand-in-hand sitting here looking into one another’s eyes? Of course not.”
Mr Obama will leave France on Sunday, but his wife Michelle and his daughters, who will be staying a day longer, will have lunch with Mr Sarkozy and his wife Carla in the Elysee palace.
Source: https://euobserver.com/eu-political/28255
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