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Europe
Blair and Chirac share frosty summit
2003-03-21
Slightly edted for relevance.
Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac have shared a "cool handshake" at a frosty EU summit dominated by conflict in Iraq. The UK and French leaders met in Brussels for the first time on Thursday evening since the French threatened to veto a UN resolution setting a deadline for Saddam Hussein to disarm. They spent an hour, with the 13 other EU leaders, wrangling over the wording of a joint declaration on Iraq. The prime minister's official spokesman would not confirm whether the two leaders actually spoke to each other at all during the meeting. "The prime minister was in the presence of Mr Chirac — I won't reduce this to personalities," he said. Reporters said the two shared a "cool handshake", with the atmosphere one of minimal courtesy rather than reconciliation. The two leaders were later seated opposite one another at the official dinner.
"Eccchhh! Cooties!"
BBC political editor Andrew Marr, at the summit, said: "Frankly it could not have been worse — it's got off to a very, very bad start indeed. The French have struck out all sorts of aspects of the text that the British hoped to agree, including some fairly bland stuff."
"Disagree with us, will they? Well, we'll show them!"
He said diplomats had told him they could not remember an EU summit which had such a sour atmosphere. In Brussels, France, Germany and Belgium criticised the US-led war, but Britain and five other nations — Spain, Italy, Portugal, Denmark and the Netherlands — supported it. The UK agreed a French move to drop a paragraph from the new EU declaration expressing regret that Iraq had not used UN resolution 1441's opportunity to disarm, "and that a peaceful resolution of the Iraqi crisis was not achieved". But Mr Blair refused when Mr Chirac tried to remove a paragraph reaffirming that the EU's objective remained Iraq's "full and effective" disarmament.
If nations don't agree, they don't agree. Attach addenda to the declaration where those nations who disagree can state their objections. If the French don't want "full and effective disarmament", and no longer even regret that Iraq didn't obey 1441, let them put it in black and white.
Backed by Spain and Austria, Mr Blair insisted the words stay in — although they were moved further down the text.
MAIN POINTS OF THE DECLARATION
  • Hope that the Iraq conflict has minimal loss of life.
  • Iraq's borders must be preserved.
  • Other countries in the region must "refrain from actions that could lead to further instability".
  • Continued importance of the UN.
  • Need for aid for Iraqi people.
  • Trans-Atlantic partnership "remains a strategic priority".
  • No mention of the reconstruction of Iraq .
The final EU declaration left Mr Blair content, said his spokesman, because it stated that the transatlantic partnerships remained a "fundamental strategic priority" for Europe. It said the UN must continue to play a central role during and after the current crisis. And it called on the EU "to explore means by which the EU might help the Iraqi people to achieve the objectives of living in freedom, dignity and prosperity under a representative government".
Weren't you listening? Didn't we tell you? We're doing that already. Sorry you couldn't come.
But France would not discuss the post-war reconstruction of Iraq in case that implied support for the war.
Great! If only the French took more good opportunities to keep quiet...
Paris is angry at UK claims it was to blame for the failure to secure a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
Posted by:Bulldog

#3  Korora---Important to Impotent... How far the mighty bureaucrats of the UN have fallen!
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2003-03-21 17:25:14  

#2  Continued importance of the UN!? The UN has already destroyed its own importance!!
Posted by: Korora   2003-03-21 09:52:59  

#1  "Other countries in the region must "refrain from actions that could lead to further instability"."

Yo, Turkey! You get our drift?
Posted by: Dar Steckelberg   2003-03-21 07:53:54  

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