 |
| sarkozy-obama |
AFP - U.S. President Barack Obama Friday highly praised his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy and exalted "the long-standing friendship" between Washington and Paris, in an interview published crossover novel to prime time, newspapers the nightly TV TF1 and France 2. The two presidents were installed for the occasion in the municipality of Cannes, a city which hosted Thursday and Friday as a festival hall the G20 meeting, the annual forum of the twenty largest economies, this year phagocytosed by the debt crisis in the euro area including Greece. MM. Sarkozy and Obama attended the G20.
"Given the fact that we worked together, Nicolas and I have excellent relations, we have always had. This follows from the fact that we share responsibilities, we are fighting the same in a very difficult time," Obama said. He said: "Nicolas has always been an open partner, who works a lot with a lot of energy. Whether on economic issues, issues related to safety, it was an absolutely essential partner". The U.S. president also assured that "we could not have succeeded in Libya without the leadership of Nicolas and NATO, we would not be in a position so strong in Afghanistan without the leadership of Nicolas Sarkozy as well as other partners in our coalition. "
"Nicolas Sarkozy" is someone who has lots of energy, and someone who does not like losing, so it will give that power to any campaign possible, "he thought Obama about his counterpart which, in all probability should be a candidate to succeed himself in 2012. He did not, however, mentioned that he was himself a candidate for re-election, to one year in the U.S. presidential election of 2012 . The relationship between France and the United States goes "beyond the relationship between the two leaders" and "Americans have a huge respect for the longstanding friendship between our two countries," Obama said .
President Sarkozy is also full of praise to his U.S. counterpart, "a man can be convinced" and "a brave man." "The friendship between France and the United States is crucial but friendship is not only the good times," said Sarkozy. Mr Sarkozy has been particularly welcomed the fact that Obama is, he says, "the first president of the United States to take a step towards a taxation of financial players. I am grateful," he said.
