Foreign minister: France allied not aligned with US
Under new President Nicolas Sarkozy, France no longer has a policy of “permanent anti-Americanism” – but does not take orders from Washington either, the French foreign minister said today.
Bernard Kouchner, who was leaving today on a three-day trip to Washington, said France has moved on from the 12-year term of President Jacques Chirac, who was a top critic of the US-led war in Iraq.
France is “allied, yes. Aligned, no. We don’t take our orders from Washington even if we have a policy other than one founded on permanent anti-Americanism,” he said on France-Inter radio.
Such perceived anti-Americanism was “a tradition that we are working to overcome,” Kouchner added in an apparent reference to the Chirac era.
Under Sarkozy, who has embraced the label “Sarko the American” affixed by critics, Kouchner last month became the first French foreign minister to travel to Iraq since the war began. More recently,
France has taken a tougher line against Iran over its nuclear programme.
But Kouchner cautioned that disagreements remained – and that France would express them openly when necessary.
