Ladies and gentlemen,
At this well-organized G-8 summit, all participating countries paid special attention to the situation in the Middle East (I will elaborate on the main points discussed this morning later). We believe that the situation in the Middle East is particularly worrying.
1- About the situation in the Middle East
In fact, in Gaza, Lebanon and Israel, we are faced with a large number of lives being killed and a large number of facilities being destroyed. In addition, the people and the injured in this area need help and rescue in their daily lives, especially medicines.
Everyone knows that France is very worried about this. The situation in the Middle East is beyond our imagination. In addition to a large number of casualties and destruction, we are also worried about the safety of French citizens in this area. There are many French citizens in Lebanon. Because it is the beginning of the tourist season, many French people travel. Many of them hope to return to France as soon as possible because of the chaotic situation. I want to point out that the French government has taken all measures and prepared all means, especially ships, to escort French compatriots from Lebanon to their motherland from tomorrow.
Faced with this situation, we G-8 members have only one concern, that is, to stop the escalation of conflicts and end provocation and violence. In this spirit, we unanimously adopted a very clear statement, and I think all of you here will get it soon (I will send it to you). In the statement, we not only condemned the incident, but also expressed our hope to stop the escalation of the conflict and restore the normal situation, especially to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.
In this spirit, we support the decision of the United Nations and the Secretary-General of the United Nations to send a crisis management team to the Middle East immediately. Last night, I had a long contact with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. I suggest that the Secretary-General urgently send a working group of this nature to the conflict area in order to get in touch with the parties to the conflict and seek common views on the current situation.
Now that this group is in place, its task is to clarify the conditions for restoring the normal situation: Hamas or Hezbollah will release the Israeli soldiers held hostage; Stop launching rockets from Lebanon or Gaza into Israeli territory; At least protect the infrastructure that has not been destroyed. It is worrying to think that people in conflict areas will have to bear the consequences of massive destruction of infrastructure within months or even years. These facilities include roads, highways, bridges, power stations and other essential equipment in daily life.
With regard to Gaza, we clearly reiterate the need to restart the dialogue with the Palestinian President, Mr. Abbas. This dialogue seems to have begun. A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Abbas and Mr. Ehud Olmert. I think things can be solved through consultation channels and strengthening the peace process. In order to return to the principles of the peace process, it is necessary to establish such relations with the Palestinian leadership.
With regard to Lebanon, we strongly reiterated the importance of implementing resolution 1559 in the statement unanimously adopted today. Of course, other resolutions are also important, but resolution 1559 is particularly important. It is totally unacceptable that a government cannot exercise full power over all its territory. Of course, we fully support the Lebanese government led by Fuad Siniora. All acts that question the Lebanese government's full exercise of territorial power are in fact unstable and unsafe factors, denying the Lebanese people and Lebanese national sovereignty. Therefore, we demand that the conclusions and recommendations of United Nations resolution 1559 be implemented immediately in the shortest possible time.
This is the topic we are discussing today. I should tell you that we are very sad and Lebanon should not be treated like this. How many male and female tragedies are caused by the measures taken by some irresponsible people? They have suffered too much and deserve respect, attention, friendship and peace. In any case, they should not be divided as we see today. In all this, there seems to be some internal and external collusion, depriving the Lebanese people of the minimum hope, life, stability, independence and national sovereignty they are entitled to.
2- About energy security
Of course, our topic this morning is not just Lebanon, although the situation in Lebanon is our biggest concern at present. According to the schedule, we discussed energy security this morning, which is the most important issue in Europe: as you know, the EU summit in March this year formulated the European energy policy. Our energy security obviously depends on good relations with all energy suppliers, especially Russia.
We respect Russia's national choice in the energy field, but we also need stable and clear rules of the game. This is the focus of our talks, especially to control oil and gas consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The current situation is likely to get out of control and bring suffering to people all over the world.
Today, we have determined three policies on energy issues: energy conservation; Energy diversification, including renewable energy and safe, high-quality nuclear energy; Abide by the Kyoto Protocol and the implementation standards after the expiration of 20 12. The above is the energy problem we discussed.
3- About Infectious Diseases and Air Ticket Tax
We have been discussing infectious diseases for a long time, which is also an agenda of the G-8 Summit. As we all know, France is in a leading position in preventing bird flu, and has used all domestic and foreign forces and means to prevent the spread of the disease.
I have repeatedly stressed the need for innovative financing channels, especially in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. As far as the funds donated by some big countries are concerned, I think if we don't seek new financing channels, we will not have enough ability to fight these worldwide infectious diseases. This is what we call innovative financing channels. It is in this spirit that we successfully persuaded 40 to 50 countries to try to open up a new financing channel, that is, to levy a mutual tax on international air tickets to establish an organization, which is what we call the International Drug Purchase Mechanism (UNITAID, English) to fight these major global infectious diseases.
We also emphasize and adopt the principle of establishing medical insurance in poor countries. I also reiterated that the death rate and average income in Europe a hundred years ago were similar to those in some developing countries now, but this did not prevent us from establishing a medical insurance system at that time, which was once a very remarkable social and humanitarian progress.
We all agree with the principle that the OECD is responsible for drafting a report to start the medical insurance system in all poor countries, especially in southern countries and African countries.
In a word, I unconditionally agree with the joint proposal of Britain and Italy on the future drug procurement guarantee mechanism.
4- About Africa
After that, we also discussed the African issue, and I won't repeat it: I also stressed that if we don't have new sources of funds, we will not be able to meet the development and political needs of an Africa with a rapidly growing population. New sources of funds cannot be supplemented by donations from some countries, but there should be new financing channels. This new financing channel is more common, which makes all countries' wealth growth and international trade growth participate in the development of Africa, which is a priority problem to be solved in the future world.
5- Other
Besides, I met with the President of the United States today and held talks with the Prime Minister of Finland to discuss the next EU summit in Finland. In addition, he also met with President Putin and warmly congratulated him on the excellent organization and reception of the G8 Summit.
6- Answer the reporter's questions
Q: When people see that Iran and Syria support Hezbollah and indirectly support Hamas, can we still believe in peace? Syria has always hoped or said it would destroy Israel or wipe it off the map. When these factors exist in this region, have the seeds of war been sown?
A: First of all, we should always believe that there will be peace. Nothing is more dangerous than accepting or allowing spiritual questioning of peace. Secondly, we should serve this belief. I mean, we should use international pressure and necessary means. This is what we did at the G8 Summit. I believe there will be peace. I firmly believe that peace will eventually be restored in the region, first in Lebanon, and I hope that peace will also be achieved between Palestine and Israel.
Q: The G8 Summit called for the implementation of UN resolution 1559. Today, Lebanon has been destroyed and bombed, and the Lebanese government is weak and unable to implement United Nations resolution 1559. Will the G8 allow Israel to bomb Lebanon? As the President of France and a friend of Lebanon, do you ask the President of the United States to let Israel stop bombing Lebanon, because this is what Lebanese expect of France?
A: First of all, we, of course, not only France, but all G-8 countries have the greatest reservations about Israel's overreaction. Secondly, we call for an end to the bombing. In fact, the purpose of bombing has nothing to do with the prospect of peace. As a result, besides causing casualties and victims, it also destroys daily life.
One thing is certain, that is, there is provocative behavior in the whole incident, and as we all know, this is what people call the old vicious circle in 1958: "provocation-repression". I think that under special circumstances, this is a trap for Palestinians or Lebanese in Gaza, and no one will be unaware of it. Whoever opens this trap will bear a heavy responsibility, especially for the victims. This is why we believe that international pressure must be exerted to promote the implementation of United Nations resolution 1559. That is to say, disarm all militias in the shortest possible time and restore the Lebanese democratic government to exercise full power over all Lebanese territory.
There is no other solution, and all other suggestions and solutions will inevitably lead to continuous crisis, pain and killing. Lebanese should understand that no government, especially a democratic government, can survive if a government cannot exercise full power over all its territory, if a government allows armed personnel to obey unknown people and places and suddenly causes the situation we see today.
Lebanese should understand that they have chosen the road of reconstruction, especially democracy, stability and national sovereignty under the leadership of the former government. They should strongly condemn all those who are influenced by external factors and question today's achievements, which are the stability and tranquility that Lebanese deserve.
Q: Mr. President, the United Nations unanimously adopted a resolution on North Korea's missile test, but North Korea immediately said it would not accept it. What should I do in the face of this situation? What can French cooperation with China and Japan do?
A: We discussed the situation in the Middle East and Lebanon. In this regard, France has some indisputable right to speak, which is undeniable. People also saw it in the discussion this afternoon.
On the North Korean issue, France expressed its support for the resolution, but made no major suggestions. We support the resolution proposed by Japan and supported by the United Nations. In this regard, we unconditionally support the proposals put forward by the United States, Japan, China and the Russian Federation.
Q: Mr. President, I also want to go back to Lebanon: the day before yesterday (probably) you proposed to achieve a permanent ceasefire. Why didn't the G8 Summit continue to work in the direction you proposed?
A: But this summit has made efforts in this direction! I don't have the latest text at hand because I just got off the phone with Mr. Putin. But this is very clear. I can assure you that all members of the G8 have called for a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza. There is no doubt that we have talked about everything.
Q: Many citizens living in the former Soviet Union hope that the G8 summit will discuss "freezing conflicts", especially in Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. What is France's position on this issue, especially on the conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia?
This question is on tomorrow's agenda. Thank you all