- Title: JAPAN: French Foreign Minister says France and Germany will stand by Greece
- Date: 19th March 2010
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (MARCH 18, 2010) (REUTERS) FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER BERNARD KOUCHNER SEATED AT A NEWS CONFERENCE AT THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS CLUB IN JAPAN REPORTERS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER BERNARD KOUCHNER SAYING: "If the market and some particular people are attacking one or another country member of the European Union and main member of the euro zone, we must defend this country and we'll do it." KOUCHNER SITTING DOWN (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER BERNARD KOUCHNER SAYING: "It's better for the time being. So we don't have to give money to deliver money for the time being, but politically we said together, Madame Merkel and Monsieur Sarkozy that we'll defend the euro zone and it was enough. I hope it will be enough I don't know. But the market didn't stop but reduced the attacks...we'll see." REPORTERS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER BERNARD KOUCHNER SAYING: "Opening and opening to discussion, talking with the Iranians and at the same time preparing a resolution with sanction. We're already at three; this is not a surprise. And we had three including with the vote of the Chinese and the Russian delegations. We had three...we had four and five in a way resolution coming out of the Security Council and three with sanctions. We are working on the fourth one." REPORTERS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER BERNARD KOUCHNER SAYING: "It is not so easy because in New York, it's easier to talk in between capitals than in between ambassadors at the level of the Security Council. And for the Chinese, for the time being, they refused. I'm speaking very frankly to you. So it is not done, but we'll get a result one of these day." AUDIENCE CLAPPING AND KOUCHNER STANDING UP
- Embargoed: 3rd April 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan
- Country: Japan
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA7XJBH5DQEGZKGWWGXD8RQSVD0
- Story Text: France, Germany and euro zone countries will help Greece overcome its financial problems, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Thursday (March 18) in Tokyo.
"If the market and some particular people are attacking one or another country member of the European Union and main member of the euro zone, we must defend this country and we'll do it," Kouchner told a news conference held at the Foreign Correspondents Club in the Japanese capital.
His comments underlined plans announced by European Union (EU) finance ministers on Tuesday (March 16) and by countries in the euro area to to help debt-stricken Greece financially if it becomes the first state in 11 years of monetary union to seek such aid.
Ministers from the 16-country euro zone said they had agreed the "technical modalities" that would permit aid to be rapidly rolled out but gave no figures and few details of a plan likely to involve bilateral loans.
Earlier this month, French President Nicolas Sarkozy also promised Greece that France would help and vowed a European crackdown on financial speculators Athens blames for its woes.
However, the president ruled out immediate financial backing, stressing that his economy minister was drawing up aid scenarios.
Germany, Europe's biggest economy and the country that would be the linchpin of any support, is also reluctant to bail out Greece and above all to rush into anything before Athens shows it is willing to take the painful steps needed to fix its finances.
"It's better for the time being. So we don't have to give money to deliver money for the time being, but politically we said together, Madame Merkel and Monsieur Sarkozy that we'll defend the euro zone and it was enough. I hope it will be enough I don't know. But the market didn't stop but reduced the attacks...we'll see," he added.
Initial financial market reaction was muted, with no drastic change in the euro exchange rate or bond yields, both of which have been buffeted by fears for Greece's ability to honor its debts and what this would mean for the wider monetary union.
Media reports in Germany and France have suggested governments in the 16-country euro zone might offer aid worth 20 to 25 billion euros to Greece, but officials have declined to comment on the size of any aid plan.
Greece, which is preparing to tap the euro debt market with its second bond issue this year, has said its funding needs are met until mid-March, and it will need to refinance about 20 billion euros of debt maturing in April and May.
Kouchner also spoke about Iran.
"Opening and opening to discussion, talking with the Iranians and at the same time preparing a resolution with sanction. We're already at three; this is not a surprise. And we had three including with the vote of the Chinese and the Russian delegations. We had three, we had four and five in a way resolution coming out of the Security Council and three with sanctions. We are working on the fourth one," said Kouchner.
The U.N. Security Council is working on drafting economic sanctions to restrict Iranian banks abroad and insurance of shipments to and from Iran but has not reached agreement yet.
EU countries such as Britain, France and Germany agree on the need for a fourth round of sanctions to restrict Iran's nuclear program, but some smaller EU states have reservations and the details of any sanctions package have yet to be finalized.
Russia, one of the permanent members of the Security Council said earlier this month that it would back new sanctions against Iran as long as they do not create a humanitarian crisis.
Russia, and even more so China, have been reluctant in the past to endorse any broader sanctions against Iran, which denies seeking nuclear weapons.
Koucher also said he expected world powers to agree fresh sanctions against Iran soon but indicated that China was still against sanctions.
"It is not so easy because in New York, it's easier to talk in between capitals than in between ambassadors at the level of the Security Council. And for the Chinese, for the time being, they refused. I'm speaking very frankly to you. So it is not done, but we'll get a result one of these day," he said.
China has urged Iran to accept a nuclear fuel swap proposal to ease demands for new sanctions on Tehran, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Wednesday (March 17), adding that Beijing wants "every avenue" tried before considering sanctions.
China faces mounting demands from Western powers to approve a proposed United Nations resolution imposing new sanctions on Tehran, which they say wants the means to make nuclear weapons and has broken non-proliferation safeguards.
Beijing has held off giving a firm response to those demands, with its Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi saying that it does not view sanctions as the "fundamental solution" to the dispute with Iran, a big supplier of oil to China.
The International Atomic Energy Agency -- the U.N. agency overseeing international nuclear safeguards -- has proposed swapping Iran's low-enriched uranium for higher-grade nuclear fuel for a Tehran reactor producing medical isotopes.
The plan would be a step toward strengthening international oversight of Iran's nuclear activities, which Western powers say are directed at giving Tehran the means to make nuclear weapons.
Iran says its uranium enrichment activities are to make fuel for planned nuclear power plants.
A draft Western proposal for a fresh U.N. Security Council resolution calls for restricting more Iranian banks abroad, but does not press for sanctions against Iran's oil and gas industries.
China has backed past resolutions on Iran, after working to cut measures that could threaten flows of oil and Chinese investments.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT, is the key agreement seeking to restrict the spread of nuclear weapons. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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