FRANCE-HOLLANDE/SPEECH UPDATE Hollande discusses world conflicts with French ambassadors

Record ID: 838139

  • Title: FRANCE-HOLLANDE/SPEECH UPDATE Hollande discusses world conflicts with French ambassadors
  • Date: 28th August 2014
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (AUGUST 28, 2014) (AGENCY POOL) FRENCH PRESIDENT FRANCOIS HOLLANDE GIVING SPEECH AT CONFERENCE OF FRENCH DIPLOMATS (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT FRANCOIS HOLLANDE SAYING: "I regret that international mobilisation to sort out the situation in Syria is until now not enough and especially at the Security Council and today we are facing all the consequences of that. Bashar's regime is pursuing its policy of repression without holding back, the refugees are increasing every day in neighbouring countries and terrorist groups are winning new positions, that's the result." JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT FRANCOIS HOLLANDE SAYING: "France has decided to take its responsibilities. It has provided aid to help refugees, including to Iraqi Kurdistan. It has also furnished weapons to the front-line forces engaged against Islamic State. Since then, thankfully, other European countries have joined us. But we can't stop at that. Our support must be increased to support unity in Iraq." MEMBER OF AUDIENCE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT FRANCOIS HOLLANDE SAYING: "That is why I have launched an initiative. It aims to improve coordination, when I say improve, I mean organise the coordination of international action against Islamic State at a humanitarian, security and military level. This is the aim of the international conference that France offers to convene here in Paris as soon as the Iraqi government is formed." JOURNALIST TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT FRANCOIS HOLLANDE SAYING: "A large alliance is needed, but let's be clear. Bashar al-Assad can not be a partner in the struggle against terrorism. He is an objective ally of the jihadists and there is no possible choice to be made between two barbarisms because they keep each other going mutually." JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT FRANCOIS HOLLANDE SAYING: "In southern Libya terrorist groups are forming, ready to intervene. If we do nothing -- I mean nothing serious, nothing political, nothing international -- then terrorism will spread in the entire region. So France is asking the United Nations, because that's who must take the responsibility, to organise exceptional support for the Libyan authorities to restore their state." CHANDELIERS (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT FRANCOIS HOLLANDE SAYING: "Russia must respect the sovereignty of Ukraine, stop supporting the separatists, and convince them to accept a bilateral ceasefire. Russia must indeed control its border and cease the transfer of arms and equipment and, of course, if it is proved that Russian soldiers are present in Ukrainian territory, that would be intolerable and unacceptable." GOLDEN MOULDING (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT FRANCOIS HOLLANDE SAYING: "Russia cannot simultaneously want to be a recognized power of the 21st century and not respect the rules that go with it. Right now it suffers from an increasing isolation and the consequences of a slow down of its growth are proven, because of the sanctions. It is obviously up to the Russian president to solve this contradiction." FRENCH DIPLOMATS STANDING AND APPLAUDING
  • Embargoed: 12th September 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • City:
  • Country: France
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVACSJ45X4NL290PHPR1EEMH84GI
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  • Story Text: French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday (August 28) opposition forces fighting Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq should receive more Western support, but he ruled out Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as an ally against the jihadists.
    "I regret that international mobilisation to sort out the situation in Syria is until now not enough and especially at the Security Council and today we are facing all the consequences of that. Bashar's regime is pursuing its policy of repression without holding back, the refugees are increasing every day in neighbouring countries and terrorist groups are winning new positions, that's the result," Hollande said.
    Hollande, who said France would also increase its support for Iraq where so far it has only provided weapons to Iraqi Kurds in the north of the country, reiterated his plans for an international conference to help coordinate humanitarian and military action against Islamic State in the region.
    Syrian rebel forces have been fighting Assad for more than three years with political backing from the West in a war that has cost 190,000 lives. But hardline Islamist groups have increasingly dominated the anti-Assad struggle, posing a dilemma for Western countries.
    "A large alliance is needed, but let's be clear. Bashar al-Assad can not be a partner in the struggle against terrorism. He is an objective ally of the jihadists and there is no possible choice to be made between two barbarisms because they keep each other going mutually," Hollande said in a speech to an annual conference of French ambassadors.
    At the same conference, Hollande called on the United Nations to organise "exceptional" support for Libyan authorities to restore order there because there was a risk the country could fall into chaos.
    "In southern Libya terrorist groups are forming, ready to intervene. If we do nothing -- I mean nothing serious, nothing political, nothing international -- then terrorism will spread in the entire region. So France is asking the United Nations, because that's who must take the responsibility, to organise exceptional support for the Libyan authorities to restore their state," he said.
    As Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Thursday that Russian forces had entered his country and the military conflict was worsening after Russian-backed separatists swept into a key town in the east, Hollande said that it would be "intolerable and unacceptable" if it was proved true that Russian troops had entered Ukrainian territory.
    Russia says it has no involvement in the conflict between pro-Moscow rebels and the Ukrainian military, in which more than 2,200 people have been killed since April.
    The crisis has prompted Western governments to impose sanctions on Moscow, which has responded in kind, and fanned tensions with NATO to levels not seen since the Cold War.
    "Russia cannot simultaneously want to be a recognized power of the 21st century and not respect the rules that go with it. Right now it suffers from an increasing isolation and the consequences of a slow down of its growth are proven, because of the sanctions. It is obviously up to the Russian president to solve this contradiction," Hollande said.
    Fighting in the east erupted in April, a month after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in response to the toppling of a pro-Moscow president in Kiev.
    A United Nations report this week said more than 2,200 people have been killed, not including the 298 who died when a Malaysian airliner was shot down over rebel-held territory in July.
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