McCain Praises Era of “American French Friendship”

Nicolas Sarkozy received the future Republican candidate to the White House for nearly an hour on Friday. The occasion was for the senator of Arizona to salute the cooperation between the two countries.

For his second meeting in a year with Nicolas Sarkozy, John McCain set himself up as a figure of French American connection. Nicolas Sarkozy received the senator of Arizona, on tour in Europe and to the Middle East, for nearly an hour on Friday at the Elysée. In front of numerous French journalists and foreigners at the presidential palace, John McCain boasted “the era of friendship and of cooperation” between Paris and Washington that “will not only be beneficial for our two countries but also for the peace in the world”.

Questioned on the personality of Nicolas Sarkozy, the senator said, “to hope” to resemble him. “I believe this is a man that has a lot of energy. His behavior facing a number of problems from climatic change to his assistance in our fight against radical extremism and his suggestions in the matter of economy reformations, his deep preoccupation for the world-wide economy and his determination to face all these issues, I appreciate all of that”, he declared.

After returning from a trip to the Near East, as the head of a defense commission for the Senate, the former veteran of Vietnam evoked the popularity of the French president in New Hampshire, where he passed his last summer vacation. “The American people are ready to welcome him again at any moment”, he said smiling. And to add that the speech pronounced by Nicolas Sarkozy in front of the American Congress in last November had been “extremely well received not only by the members of the Congress but by the American people as a whole”.

Alongside the republican senator of South Carolina, Lindsey Graham, and the independent senator from Connecticut, Joe Lieberman, the veteran candidate to the White House, invited the other senators “to realize on the spot by making the same tour”. A message without a doubt addressed to the two democratic contenders to the White House, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

John McCain has also payed homage to the work of the present French soldiers in Afghanistan, where Paris should soon reinforce its presence, per the wishes of Washington.

“We are very recognizing of their engagement and their sacrifice”, said the fervent defender of the maintenance of American troops in Iraq.

As for the fight against climatic change, John McCain “was involved in responding to this problem by an agreement with the participation of China and India”, and he underlined with Nicolas Sarkozy “the growing importance of nuclear energy”.

Earlier in the afternoon, the Prime Minister, François Fillon, received John McCain for three quarters of hour at Matignon. He had to set off again at the end of the day for London before returning to the United States on Saturday.