Daily Press Briefing
Statements made by
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson
(excerpts)
(Paris, July 17, 2006)
[Please note that only the original French text issued by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be considered official.]
LEBANON
1. Given the situation in Lebanon the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is formally advising against any travel to that country.
Access to the Syrian border has become difficult and dangerous following the air strikes that have forced the closing of the Beirut-Damascus highway.
2. We are asking all French nationals to inform the French Embassy or Consulate General in Beirut of their presence.
A telephone reception unit has been set up at the French Embassy in Beirut staffed by personnel from the Consulate General. This unit can be reached through the Embassy switchboard:
(00 961 1 420 000). A member of the Consulate staff can also be reached round the clock at:
00 961 3 566 388.
3. The Foreign Ministry’s crisis cell has been activated and can be reached at: 0800 174 174 (or from abroad at 33 1 55 92 26 67).
4. The Foreign Ministry has already arranged for the repatriation of French citizens from Lebanon. Nationals wishing to return to France will be assembled at the Lycée français in Beirut.
A ship with space for 1,200 passengers, the Iera Petra, has been chartered to take people between Beirut and the Cypriot port of Larnaca. French nationals will then be transferred to the airport at Larnaca for the return to Paris-Roissy. Foreign Ministry staff will accompany them throughout the journey.
5. The first journey between Beirut and Cyprus will take place on Monday, July 17, and will take the most urgent cases (children, the elderly and the sick). Our compatriots will then be flown from Cyprus to Paris on Tuesday, July 18, (times to be announced).
The ferry was due to take on 800 French citizens, 400 nationals of European countries (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland) and 50 Americans. The French figures include 300 children.
Other journeys will be arranged in the next few days with the same arrangements.
6. Arrangements are being made for the reception of our nationals on their arrival at Roissy.
Q - How is the operation for the repatriation going to work? Has France negotiated an agreement with Israel so the ship can enter the port of Beirut? Have there been direct or indirect contacts with Hezbollah to guarantee the ferry’s security?
I refer you to my statement on the current repatriation operations.
The operation has been organized in close liaison and with the authorization of the Lebanese authorities. The necessary contacts have been made with the Israeli authorities.
Q - If I’ve understood correctly, the Iera Petra will evacuate French citizens and nationals of other European countries. In subsequent journeys how many places will there be for nationals of other European countries? Can you say how many places there are, for example, for the Finns?
As indicated in the statement I’ve just made about the operation, 400 European nationals are due to embark on the ferry. To my knowledge there are six Finns among them.
If other journeys are organized, they will also be open to European nationals. It will depend on needs and situations. There’s obviously no pre-determined quota.
Q - What is the purpose of the prime minister’s trip to Lebanon?
As the Elysée said, the prime minister and the foreign minister are going to Beirut on the decision of the president in order to express France’s support and solidarity with the Lebanese people in their ordeal. That’s the message that Mr. de Villepin and Mr. Douste-Blazy will convey to Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora.
(…)
Q - Is the prime minister going to Lebanon with specific proposals or specific requests to Lebanon?
I don’t wish to prejudge the meetings that the prime minister and foreign minister will have on this trip to Beirut. He’ll be briefing you later on
Q - Is France prepared to volunteer for a stabilization force in Lebanon? If so, at what level beyond the 100 troops with UNIFIL? Are forces currently being deployed to protect the voluntary evacuation?
As you know, the G8 has asked the UN Security Council to examine the possibility of an international security and/or monitoring presence, which President Chirac mentioned during his July 14 speech,
Consultations will be starting in New York on this. I don’t wish to anticipate the results.
At this stage it is premature to discuss France’s eventual participation.
With regard to the repatriation operation, we’re taking the necessary measures to ensure their security in liaison with the local authorities.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is making his first visit to France on July 18 and 19 since taking office in February. During what is a working visit, he will have a luncheon with President Jacques Chirac on July 19. The day before he will visit the site of the Battle of Vimy (Pas de Calais) to pay tribute to the Canadian soldiers who died there in April 1917. That same day he will have talks with Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.
These meetings with Mr. Harper will be an opportunity to take stock of bilateral relations, especially in regard to the economy, energy, research, and in the integration of St Pierre et Miquelon into the regional environment. In the wake of the G8 meeting in St. Petersburg, the main international issues—the current situation in Lebanon and the Middle East as a whole, Afghanistan, Haiti, Africa, development, the environment and Francophonie--will also be on the agenda.
France and Canada take the same view of international relations: commitment to multilateralism, emphasis on international security problems, and the promotion of democracy and good governance.
We work together closely on many issues of common interest such as cultural diversity (UNESCO convention), peacekeeping operations (Afghanistan, Haiti, Africa) and development assistance. In addition our exchanges regarding experiences with public policies and social questions (reform of the state, health, immigration etc.) are particularly numerous and productive.
Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy visited Ottawa and Montreal last March. The prime ministers of five Canadian provinces (including Alberta and Quebec) have recently visited our country.
I’d like to read the statement I made on July 13 about the French-German Forum on integration and equal opportunity.
“Catherine Colonna, Minister Delegate for European Affairs and Secretary-General for French- German Cooperation, and Azouz Begag, Minister Delegate for the Promotion of Equal Opportunity, will co-chair with their respective German counterparts, Gunter Gloser and Maria Bohmer, the French-German forum, “The Future of Europe Through International and Equal Opportunity” in Paris on Tuesday, July 18.
“The meeting is part of the integrative on integration and equal opportunity presented at the sixth French German cabinet meeting in Berlin on March 14, 2006. It will launch an ambitious program of cooperation between France and Germany on integration and anti-discrimination.
“The forum is of particular interest and originality as it will lead to comparative assessments of experiments in France and Germany.
“The four ministers will jointly open the forum at the International Conference Center (5 avenue des Portugais, Paris 16) at 9:45 a.m.
“The forum will mobilize a large number of decision-makers and actors in the field from France and Germany: the French-German Institute in Ludwigsburg (DFI), co-organizer of the event, representatives of associations (active particularly in sports and culture and operating in troubled neighborhoods), members of foundations and institutional organizations (OFAJ, French-German Secretariat for occupational training, HALDE) and representatives of local communities, various French and German ministries involved in the initiative (Ministries for the Interior, National Education, Youth and Sports, Employment, Culture and Public Works).”
Zhou Yongkang, State Councilor, Minister of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China, is visiting France from July 17 to 21, 2006.
He will meet with Minister of State, Minister of the Interior and Regional Development Nicholas Sarkozy, and Pascal Clément, Minister of Justice, on July 18, 2006.
He will also travel around the country to see French action against organized crime and trans-border cooperation.
The subject of discussion at these meetings will be our cooperative action with China to deal with illegal immigration, organized crime and terrorism, particularly in the context of preparations for the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008.
France welcomes the unanimous adoption of Security Council resolution 1695 condemning North Korea’s firing of missiles on July 5.
The demands sent by the Security Council to North Korea are very clear and mandatory: the country must suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program and return to the negotiating table. In addition all states must now prevent missile-related goods, technologies and financial resources being transferred to North Korea’s ballistic missile or WMD programs.
The resolution expresses the unanimous condemnation of North Korea’s actions by the Security Council members. In spite of diplomatic efforts by the international community and in contradiction with the commitments it had made, North Korea is in fact pursuing its nuclear and ballistic missiles programs of a proliferating nature.
In referring to SCR 1540 of April 28, 2004, the Security Council also reaffirmed that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or their carriers is a threat to peace and security.
France will now be working on the application of SCR 1695 in the context of the nonproliferation regimes to which it is a party. Together with its partners in the European Union, it will examine all the measures necessary for implementing SCR 1695 and bringing about a resumption of negotiations.
France also calls on North Korea to resume the six-party negotiations, in application of SCR 1695, and implement the commitments of the Joint Declaration of September 19, 2005.
Alexander Kozulin, leader of the Belarussian Social Democratic party and opposition candidate in the March 19 presidential elections, was handed a severe sentence on July 13, five and a half years in prison, for “aggravated hooliganism and organizing disturbances to public order” after a judicial procedure contrary to international norms which has all the characteristics of a political trial.
Mr. Kozulin’s sentence is contrary to the core principles of democracy, specifically those concerning freedom of expression and respect for the normal rights of the opposition.
These principles are common to all OSCE member states. Belarus’s failure to recognize them risks influencing the relations between that country and the European Union./.
Embassy of France, July 17, 2006