France, Germany Share Anti-war Approach to Iraqi Crisis

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, January 15, 2003

France, Germany Share Anti-war Approach to Iraqi Crisis

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France and Germany said Tuesday in Paris that the two countries shared the same anti-war approach to the Iraqi crisis.

Both French President Jacques Chirac and visiting German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder expressed their anti-war position.

At a joint press conference following their meeting, Chirac said: "We have witnessed that our approach and our vision were identical and of the same nature."

For his part, Schroeder said Germany has "the most firm hope and the will to have the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 applied by political pressures without military intervention."

"Germany will not participate in military intervention in any case," Schroeder said.

Germany would continue to support UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix who recently said a few more months were needed to complete his mission in Iraq, he added.

"It is the role of our diplomacy to see to it that the time needed is given to him (Blix)," said Schroeder.

The German leader also agreed that a new resolution by the UN Security Council is indispensable if military action is to be launched, echoing France's stance reaffirmed earlier Tuesday.

"A new UN resolution is the best way for every one to explain his position, the best way to debate. It is important that this debate takes place," said French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, who attended the Chirac-Schroeder meeting together with his German counterpart Joschka Fischer.

"At present, the military action is not of actuality. It is nottime for it now," he said.

"All depends on the principle of cooperation, because the key is to know whether we can obtain more (from Iraq) or we are at a deadlock." The French foreign minister said. "Baghdad must present to the international community all the elements allowing (the international community) to judge its disarmament."

When asked whether France will veto an eventual resolution on the use of force, de Villepin said: "France will stick to its own principles."

Earlier on Tuesday, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin told the National Assembly that France remains free in its judgments and will never submit to any pressure.

Schroeder arrived here Tuesday for a working dinner with Chirac.Apart from the Iraq crisis, the two also talked about the preparation for the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty, signed on Jan. 22, 1963, establishing the post-war Franco-German axis in Europe.

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