Sarkozy in Washington III: Foreign Affairs Minister Kouchner “rescues” the President
PARIS — In front of the French National Assembly, answering MP’s (essentially from the socialist ranks) criticism about President Sarkozy’s visit to the United States, French Foreign Affairs Minister Bernard Kouchner attempted to clarify France’s position. “We are not aligned on U.S. policies, let me be strong on this (…) Multilateralism is still our mantra (…) The clearest sign of this was given when we made clear that the precondition for NATO’s reorganization should be a stronger European defense pillar (…) Addressing the U.S. Congress, President Sarkozy has also been very clear on climate change, all Democrats stood up, many Republicans remained seated (…) He clearly said: friends, yes, aligned, no”.