Daily Press Briefing
Statements made by
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson
(excerpts)
(Paris, September 11, 2006)
[Please note that only the original French text issued by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be considered official.]
TURKEY/FRANCE
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul of the Turkish Republic will be visiting France on September 13 and 14.
At President Chirac’s invitation, Mr. Gul will attend the official opening of the Europe-Mediterranean-Gulf cultural workshop on the dialogue of peoples and cultures on September 13.
He will then have a meeting at the Quai d’Orsay with Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy and European Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna followed by press briefing at 4:30 p.m. He will have dinner with the foreign minister later. International issues, including the situation in Lebanon and the Middle East in general, and EU-Turkish relations will be discussed at these meetings.
Brigitte Girardin, Minister Delegate for Cooperation, Development and Francophony, and Deputy Finance Minister Jabulani Moleketi of the Republic of South Africa signed a framework partnership document (DCP) in Paris this morning covering the period from 2006-2010.
The DCP lists the action of all public actors providing French development assistance and the instruments which they use (a reminder, the cumulated commitments of the French Development Agency have totaled 541 million euros since 1994 and have increased rapidly since 2002, with 120 million euros in 2005). It takes into account the priorities defined by the South African government. Disbursements will be concentrated in the three following sectors chosen by mutual agreement:
1 – The development of essential services and basic infrastructure: water, electricity, affordable housing, for the historically poorest population;
2 – Development of the productive sector and the creation of jobs, specifically by small and medium-size businesses;
3 – The environment and action to address climate change through the promotion of energy efficiency.
The focus on these three priority sectors does not preclude assistance to health and education on a less regular basis.
French cooperation action is also designed to strengthen links between South Africa and French-speaking Africa, promote cultural diversity, good governance and strengthen institutional capacities, science and technology. The signing of the document reflects the importance of our commitment to stand side by side with South Africa which ahs become not only an essential partner in resolving crises in Africa but also a major player in Africa’s development.
(…)
Touteleurope.fr, the French-language reference site for European issues, is launching a public forum on September 12 till October 10 on the growth and employment strategy for Europe, also known as the Lisbon strategy.
Adopted in 2000 and then revised in 2005 the Lisbon strategy aims to boost growth and employment in Europe by coordinating economic, social and environmental policies.
The forum coincides with the presentation mid-October of the first review of the French national program of reforms one year after it was adopted. Every EU member state adopted a national program of reforms listing the reforms that would be taken over the next three years in the context of the Lisbon strategy.
European Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna has said: “Growth, jobs, purchasing power, the European social model are all areas where Europe has a key role to play. We will succeed all the better with the reforms required for meeting these challenges if we take them all together in Europe. These issues concern each of us; it’s the right time to find out about and debate these ideas.”
To launch the debate, touteleuopre.fr has published a complete, informative brochure on the Lisbon strategy along with contributions from several political and economic figures. (…)
Web users will be able to give their opinion on six major themes, with generous space left for free contributions.
On October 16 a summary of contributions will appear on the main points of consensus and disagreement among the participants.
Launched May 9, 2006, touteleurope.fr is the site of the Centre d’Information sur l’Europe, a European economic interest grouping founded by the French government and European Commission in 1992 to provide information to French citizens and solicit their views on the European Union, its policies and achievements.
(…)
France welcomes the adoption in New York Friday of the United Nations global counter-terrorism strategy. With this document, which heads of state and government pledged to adopt at the 60th session of the UN General Assembly, it will be possible to group and coordinate the existing counter-terrorism mechanisms within the United Nations. The strategy also opens up new areas for building international cooperation in this area, specifically regarding extradition and suppressing incentives to terrorism.
We would like to commend the UN secretary-general for his excellent preparatory work. This strategy results in large part from proposals made by the secretary-general in May.
Since global terrorism knows no borders, the United Nations has a central role to play as it is in a position to present a universal framework for mobilizing all states on the political level and establishing legally binding norms.
France also attaches much importance to the work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee tasked with monitoring states’ implementation of their commitments under resolution 1373 adopted after the attacks on September 11, 2001.
CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND THE MEDIA
The Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) is organizing a conference, “Asia-Pacific-Europe Media Dialogue,” at UNESCO in Paris from September 11 to 13, 2006.
The contribution of the media to cultural diversity, their credibility, the role they can play in making information accessible to all, and being a journalist in wartime are some of the questions to be addressed by high-level political officials and media professionals during the three days.
UNESCO, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and French operators RFI, CFI, TV5, France Télévisions and INA are cooperating on the event. Several Asian information ministers and 330 participants, including many high-level professionals in the field, heads of TV channels and radio stations of the two continents will be present.
France, which is present in the Asia-Pacific region through its overseas territories, is a member of the AIBD. This regional intergovernmental structure, under UN auspices and based in Malaysia, groups the principal media in the region. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be represented at the meeting by the Department for External Audiovisual Activities, and will present France’s position on these themes, especially the importance of cultural diversity, to the participants in the Asia Pacific region.
Q - The Italian prime minister reportedly offered Europe’s assistance to Syrian President al-Assad in training Syrian forces to monitor the Syrian-Lebanese border. What’s your reaction to this proposal? Might France participate in training Syrian forces?
We are committed to the implementation of resolution 1701 in all its aspects, including compliance with the arms embargo.
As you know, resolution 1701 asks, in paragraph 14, the Lebanese government to secure its borders and other entry points so as, quite rightly, to prevent arms or related material from entering Lebanon without its consent.
In order to do this the Lebanese authorities can request international assistance.
To my knowledge certain European countries have already offered to contribute to this on a bilateral basis./.
Embassy of France, September 12, 2006