Daily press briefing by Ministry Spokesperson

Statements made by the Ministry of Foreign and European Spokesperson

(Paris, 19 September 2008)

[Please note that only the original French text issued by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be considered official. (http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr )]

SUDAN

We have read the statements by the Sudanese authorities asserting that the delays in the deployment of UNAMID are due to the United Nations. In our view most of the problems concerning the delay in deploying UNAMID are linked to the various difficulties for which the Sudanese authorities are responsible. Let’s not reverse the responsibilities.

Also, I would like to recall France’s position regarding the International Criminal Court and Sudan.

(…)

France wishes the ICC proceedings to be respected. With regard to Sudan, two decisions have already been taken by the ICC: the international arrest warrants for Mr Haroun and Mr Kushayb.

We ask Sudan to comply with her international obligations with regard to the ICC. As for the current proceedings against Sudan’s President, on which no decision has been made, there are no negotiations being conducted by France.

Q. - So there won’t be any?

There are no negotiations conducted by France. There is a second additional issue having no link to Sudan’s compliance with ICC proceedings, which doesn’t interfere with the first, which is what France, like the international community, is asking of the Sudanese authorities in order to resolve the conflict in Darfur and which consists of five aspects:

 the full and complete ceasefire, and in this regard we are extremely concerned about the Sudanese authorities’ recent land and air operations in Darfur;

 involvement in an inclusive political dialogue;

 normalization of relations between Sudan and Chad and end to tensions;

 full and complete cooperation with the UN and African Union regarding the deployment of UNAMID;

 respect for the decisions already taken by the ICC.

There is a French position with respect to the ICC and there is what is expected of the Sudanese authorities for resolving the crisis in Darfur. As there may have been some confusion, I wanted to recall the French position.

Q. - So what exactly does the French government expect of the government in Khartoum?

I repeat: France is asking for the proceedings of the ICC to be respected.

With regard to the two decisions already taken, we ask that Sudan comply with her international obligations by arresting the two people sought and by transferring them to The Hague.

We consider the proceedings that are under way should continue their course.

(…)

GEORGIA

I want to tell you about the progress in Brussels on the question of Georgia, particularly the EU observer mission. We think the timeframes can be maintained. We have every reason to think so at this stage. The number of monitors we anticipated will also be met. The number of European countries wanting to take part is about 20 Member States which are offering personnel - that’s a sign of real mobilization. So we are very optimistic about respecting the commitments of 8 September for the implementation of the 12 August accord. So we think the European mission will be in place and therefore operational on 1 October.

ISRAEL

Bernard Kouchner spoke by phone with Ms Livni this morning. The Minister congratulated her warmly on her election to the Kadima party leadership.

Ms Livni said that she was very keen for France, on behalf of the EU presidency, to take her place in and be closely involved in the peace process, and Bernard Kouchner said he was ready to go to the region as soon as possible.

(…)

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENCY OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION ON THE ATTACKS IN MEXICO

The Presidency of the Council of the European Union strongly condemns the deadly attacks carried out in Morelia on the night of 15 to 16 September during celebrations of Mexico’s national day.

It conveys its deepest condolences to the victims’ families and loved-ones as well as to the Mexican authorities. It expresses its support to the Mexican government in its determined fight against organized crime.

(…)

NORTH KOREA

As you may know, a North Korean official announced today the reactivation of nuclear installations with the start-up again of Yongbyon. This is a matter of extreme concern to us. Commitments were made by North Korea in the context of the Six-party talks in October 2007. These commitments provide in particular for the immediate dismantling of the nuclear instillations at Yongbyon. We demand that the North Korean authorities respect their commitments.

63rd SESSION OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

I come now to the UN General Assembly which will be a major international event next week. The Minister will be taking part as of Tuesday morning since he will be taking part in the debate on Afghanistan in the National Assembly and Senate. The three Ministers of State will be also going (…). Let me remind you that President Sarkozy will be taking part in this General Assembly at which some 40 heads of State and government will be present. There is real mobilization by the highest authorities and UN members for this General Assembly.

May I remind you that the President, M. Kouchner and the Ministers of State will be attending by virtue of France’s capacity as president of the EU. This confers a responsibility on us, a special role for the entire general assembly.

As president of the EU, we wanted there to be time for exchanging ideas about the partnership between the EU and the UN on everything having to do with crisis management and peacekeeping operations, of which the EUFOR/Chad/CAR operation is an example.

(…)

From our point of view, the UN must continue to play a central role in the management of international crises. The European Union must be able to make a more substantial contribution to conflict resolution, especially through the European security and defence policy.

At France’s initiative the biggest external European military operation ever deployed, the EUFOR-Chad-CAR mission, which has become a European operation under the ESDP.

There’s also Georgia, with the deployment of an independent ESDP mission - civilian this time, set up in a very short space of time. The formal decision was taken barely a week ago, and we will be able to deploy it on schedule, that is extremely quickly.

There’s a European strategy to address maritime piracy with the establishment of a coordination unit, at the initiative of France and Spain.

And there there’s a deployment - complex but under way - of the biggest EULEX civilian mission in Kosovo.

The value of the ESDP is that it provides a raft of tools which range from specific civilian missions, including monitoring, as in Georgia, to police missions, for example in the Balkans and Afghanistan, and military missions as for example in eastern Chad and the northeast of the Central African Republic.

There is no doubt at all that there is - and specifically at France’s initiative but not just France - a dynamic for implementing the ESDP through concrete actions.

All these European initiatives are closely coordinated with the UN. (…)./.