Daily Press Briefing
Statements made by
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson
(excerpts)
(Paris, June 26, 2006)
[Please note that only the original French text issued by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be considered official.]
BENIN/FRANCE
President Thomas Boni Yayi of the Republic of Benin will make his first official visit to France from June 28 to 30, 2006 at the invitation of the president of the Republic. He will be received on Wednesday June 26 at 4:30 p.m. by President Jacques Chirac at the Elysée Palace. Minister Delegate for Cooperation, Development and Francophony Brigitte Girardin will host a dinner in his honor that day. President Yayi will also have talks with National Assembly Speaker Jean-Louis Debré at the Hôtel de Lassay.
On June 29 the president of the Republic of Benin will meet with French business executives at a MEDEF-International breakfast. He will also receive the director general of the French Development Agency, Jean-Michel Severino, and have talks with UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura.
On Friday, June 30, President Yayi will have a meeting with Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë and then go on to Lyons where he will meet with local actors in decentralized cooperation. He will hold a press conference at the Foreign Press Center at 6:30 p.m.
Elected on March 23 after a presidential election which the entire international community hailed for taking place in democratic conditions, Thomas Boni Yayi has made good governance and sustainable development the theme of his term in office.
The visit, which is the new president of Benin’s first to a western country, will enable him to talk with President Chirac about Benin’s political and economic situation and also to discuss the situation in West Africa , Benin being a member of the African Union Peace and Security Council.
France is one of the leading donors of official development assistance to Benin--disbursements amounted to 50.6 million euros in 2004, of which 17.46 million euros were debt cancellation and 22.7 million technical cooperation--and it support Benin in its dialogue with the international financial institutions, the World Bank/IMF and European Union.
This official visit will also be the occasion for signing several bilateral cooperation and financial assistance conventions.
Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy will have talks today with Vice President Adel Abdelmehdi of the Republic of Iraq who is passing through France.
The meeting will afford an opportunity to discuss the situation in Iraq after the formation on May 20 of the Iraqi government led by Nouri Maliki, and bilateral relations between our two countries.
France supports the new government’s action to promote national reconciliation and the return of stability and security. It hopes to see the re-establishment of full Iraqi sovereignty.
France is sparing no effort to help Iraq and the Iraqi people. It is active through aid in a multilateral and European context, and through bilateral aid.
There will be a press briefing after the meeting.
Q - If I’m not mistaken, the visit by Iraqi Vice President Abdelmehdi wasn’t on the minister’s agenda that you announced Friday. Is it an impromptu visit and if so why? Is Mr. Adbelmehdi due to see other French officials?
There’s nothing impromptu about the visit. We didn’t announce it Friday because Mr. Abdelmehdi’s agenda wasn’t definite then.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who is taking part in the second France-Oceania summit on June 26, will have a meeting this afternoon with Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy. The two ministers will discuss bilateral relations and questions relating to current international issues.
New Zealand has great appeal for the young people of our country: over 15;000 young people go there every year in the context of the work/holiday program.
Mr. Peters will be in France again on June 29 for a meeting with Cooperation, Development and Francophony Minister Delegate Brigitte Girardin.
France is pleased that President Macapagal-Arroyo has signed the law abolishing the death penalty in the Philippines. It hopes that this decision, a sign of real progress towards human rights, will encourage other countries to follow the Philippines’ example.
France and the European Union are mobilized for the universal abolishment of the death penalty and call on states that practice it to institute moratoriums on its application with a view to its abolition in all circumstances.
DEVELOPMENT ASSISSTANCE/OECD/WORLD BANK
Representatives of the Foreign Ministry will attend the third meeting of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and World Bank, which will be held in Paris on June 27. The meeting will be devoted to scaling up official development assistance (ODA). It is part of the ongoing debates co-organized by the DAC and World Bank on scaling up ODA announced at the Gleneagles G8 summit, with an estimated increase in assistance of $50 million between now and 2010 compared with 2003.
The meeting will focus on three points:
1-The predictability of assistance: the OECD is endeavoring to build up its data base on volumes of ODA by collecting three-year projections from donors to recipient countries. France is supporting this exercise by providing the OECD with the available data contained in the framework partnership documents that have been signed, which give an indication for the next five years.
2-Increased coordination, in line with the Paris Declaration, by updating roundtables and modernizing consultative group. France is in favor of this and will back it. The aid harmonization and coordination mechanisms recommended by the Paris Declaration involve a process of consultation among the various aid actors, in particular through the implementation of arrangements for coordination.
3-The third question deals with the channels for delivering ODA flows to the recipient countries. France will ensure that attention is not focused entirely on the best-performing countries.
Q - Can you add to your statements this morning about the French-Israeli soldier who’s been kidnapped? Have there been any claims and contacts with his kidnappers? Are you coordinating your action with other diplomatic initiatives (Egypt)?
We confirm that Shalit Guilad, the Israeli soldier kidnapped Sunday morning near the Gaza Strip, was born in Israel to a French father and is registered at our Consulate in Haifa. So he has French nationality.
Our Embassy in Tel Aviv, our consular services and the Quai d’Orsay are mobilized.
We are in contact with the parties concerned to obtain Shalit Guilad’s release.
Q - What means does Paris have to obtain the release of the French-Israeli solider? Is it possible to bring pressure to bear, especially financial pressure?
I refer you to what I’ve just said. I’ve no further comment.
Q - Why is France involved in Guilad Shalit’s kidnapping? Isn’t there a risk in interfering in an Israeli-Palestinian matter?
I would remind you that every time there’s a resurgence of violence in this conflict, France, likes its partners in the international community, is bound to intervene to reduce tensions.
Q - Organizations for freedom of expression have been protesting a series of arrests of journalists and human rights defenders in Turkmenistan… What is France doing to help them?
We remain very attentive to the fate of the journalists and human rights defenders you mention.
The Austrian presidency of the EU issued a statement in Vienna Thursday, in the context of the OSCE meeting, to draw the attention of the Turkmen authorities to their fate.
We’re also studying actions that might be taken in a European or multilateral framework.
Q - The FARC aren’t ruling our negotiations with the Uribe government on a humanitarian exchange. Do you have any comment?
We have taken note of the position as it was expressed. We would remind you of the proposals that France, Switzerland and Spain made to facilitate a humanitarian agreement./.
Embassy of France, June 26, 2006