President Bush heralded a “new era of transatlantic unity” when he arrived in
France yesterday, with the location of his speech as significant as its
content. By choosing Paris for what White House officials described as “the
centrepiece” of his week-long farewell trip to Europe, Mr Bush sought to put
the seal on a dramatic transformation in relations with France since
President Sarkozy was elected last year.
Britain, which for so long has acted as a sometimes rickety bridge across the
Atlantic, no longer has such strategic diplomatic importance. President Bush
is spending two nights in Paris, but only one in London tomorrow — when he
will have a private dinner with Gordon Brown after seeing the Queen. Much of
his trip to Britain will be devoted to the relatively parochial issue of
Northern Ireland before he heads home.
While the Prime Minister has shied away from being seen as too close to the
American President — the British Embassy in Washington, for instance,
operating under strict orders to maintain a low profile — the French
President has quite deliberately donned the mantle once worn by Tony Blair,
defiantly — even triumphantly — talking up his love for all things American.
Yesterday a US diplomat called Mr Sarkozy the “axis on which our relations
with Europe will turn”, adding that his “penchant for action rather than
reflection” suited Mr Bush’s own temperament.
Laura Bush told reporters on Air Force One yesterday that she appreciated the
warmth that Mr Sarkozy displayed towards her country — “I think all
Americans do”. She then told how the US Ambassador in Paris had slipped into
the back row of a meeting recently and heard Mr Sarkozy say some “very
pro-American things” that were not “for his benefit — he didn’t think
Sarkozy knew he was there”.
At the conference of international donors for Afghanistan on Wednesday,
Britain pledged far more money towards rebuilding the country than France,
but it was Mr Sarkozy, the host of the meeting, who seized the spotlight,
declaring that he would maintain his commitment to Afghanistan until there
was victory, adding: “We cannot give into torturers.”
And, while Britain has been quietly supportive of Mr Bush’s efforts to
strengthen sanctions against Iran for defying the UN over its nuclear
programme, it is Mr Sarkozy who has been making the noise, delighting
Washington by saying the West must choose between “an Iranian bomb and the
bombing of Iran”.
Mr Bush recently told The Times: “It’s going to be hard for any nation to
trump the United Kingdom as our greatest ally.” Mr Sarkozy, however, is
giving it his best shot.
France, which has historically had a love-hate relationship with the US, has
not had such an overtly pro-American leader since the First World War. Mr
Sarkozy is ready to risk hostility from his own public by becoming
Washington’s ally-in-chief, breaking with the Gaullist policy of isolation
that Jacques Chirac pursued not least over the invasion of Iraq. “The frost
is over,” said an Elysée Palace aide. “We want to show the warmth that now
exists between the two countries after the frictions of the recent past.”
Mr Brown has an uneasy relationship with Europe, often missing summits or
turning up late. Mr Sarkozy, meanwhile, is aiming to make the most of his
government’s turn in the six-month presidency of the EU to boost its profile
in Washington still further. “We are ‘Europe’s phone number’ until next
January,” said a Foreign Ministry official.
Unlike Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, who this week was almost
embarrassingly effusive in his praise for Mr Bush, Mr Sarkozy has also been
assiduous in looking beyond the present Administration to build a long-term
alliance with America.
When Barack Obama considered a trip to Europe last summer, Mr Sarkozy offered
him the full Elysée Palace treatment. Mr Brown, wary of upsetting Hillary
Clinton, promised only an informal “drop-by” meeting.
Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Minister, said yesterday that the
election of a new US President would open the chance for a stream of new
transatlantic initiatives, covering energy, climate change and finance.
Indeed, Mr Sarkozy has told Mr Bush bluntly that he must do more to tackle
climate change, as well as being sharply critical of US trade policy and
what he sees as Washington’s deliberate devaluing of the dollar. The bond
between the two leaders is so strong that the White House sees such
instances as challenges rather than a source of division.
In his speech to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in
Paris yesterday, Mr Bush heaped more praise on Mr Sarkozy for committing
additional troops to Afghanistan and talked about America’s historic ties
with France. He added: “When the time comes to welcome the new American
President next January, I will be pleased to report that the relationship
between the United States and Europe is the most vibrant it has ever been.”
He said the new era of co-operation in the pursuit of liberty for the Middle
East had been demonstrated by the leadership of Mr Sarkozy, Mr Berlusconi,
Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, and Mr Brown. It was testament to
America’s changing priorities that, discussing this section of the speech
later, a White House official missed out the name of the British Prime
Minister.
Through thick and thin
France
Highs
1776 France secretly aids the Americans in their War of Independence
1884 The friendship between the two Republics is symbolised by France’s
gift of the Statue of Liberty to America
1944 Americans liberate Paris
Lows
1942 Charles de Gaulle clashes with President Roosevelt
1967 President de Gaulle closes Nato HQ in France and pulls out of the
alliance
2003 President Chirac opposes Iraq invasion
Britain
Lows
1776 America declares independence
1814 British troops raid Washington and burn the “Presidential Mansion”
that later became known for its subsequent paint-job as the “White House”
1956 The US opposes the invasion of Egypt in the Suez crisis
Highs
1946 Sir Winston Churchill coins the phrase “special relationship"
after the alliance between Britain and America helped to defeat Hitler
1980s Thatcher and Reagan form a transatlantic axis
2001 Tony Blair declares he will stand “shoulder-to-shoulder"
with the American people – and its president – after 9/11
