Information revealed by Putin’s visit to France
On May 29th, French Prime Minister Fillon (left) attended a press conference with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at the Chancellery in Paris. On the same day, French Prime Minister Fillon held talks with visiting Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at the Prime Minister’s Office in Paris. Xinhua News Agency reporter Song Lidong photo
Xinhuanet Paris May 30 th News analysis: information revealed by Putin’s visit to France
Xinhua News Agency reporter Yan Ming
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ended his two-day visit to France on the 30th. Putin’s visit to France shortly after he took office as prime minister on May 8 was naturally quite eye-catching.
On the afternoon of 29th, Putin held talks with French Prime Minister Fillon for more than an hour, after which the two sides held a joint press conference. That night, French President Nicolas Sarkozy hosted a banquet in honor of Putin at the Elysee Palace, and finally gave it to him personally. Some French media believe that although Putin, a "Russian strongman", has changed his position from president to prime minister, he still enjoys "the treatment of the head of state" in France.
On May 29th, French Prime Minister Fillon (right) said goodbye to visiting Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at the Paris Chancellery. On the same day, French Prime Minister Fillon held talks with visiting Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at the Prime Minister’s Office in Paris. Xinhua News Agency reporter Song Lidong photo
On the 30th, Putin held a "private meeting" with former French President Jacques Chirac at his hotel, and formally invited Jacques Chirac to Moscow next month to attend the grand ceremony of awarding him the Russian Medal of Honor.
Chirac was criticized as "pro-Russia" by the French media. During his term of office, he devoted himself to building a special relationship between France and Russia. The two countries established high-level dialogue mechanisms such as regular meetings between prime ministers and joint attendance of foreign ministers and defense ministers at security meetings. In the further development and evolution of the world pattern, how to develop the French-Russian relationship in Sarkozy’s era is still worthy of attention.
At the joint press conference held by the prime ministers of the two countries on the 29th, French Prime Minister Fillon said that Russia has made remarkable progress in the economic field in recent years and is playing the role of an "important country" again on the international stage. France hopes to establish a "long-term partnership" with a "strong, prosperous and democratic" Russia. He also revealed that France will devote itself to promoting the establishment of a strategic partnership between the EU and Russia during its rotating presidency of the EU in the second half of this year.
Fillon said that the talks between the two sides focused on the cooperation between France and Russia in the fields of energy, automobile manufacturing, aerospace and finance, as well as bilateral cultural exchanges, and the two countries will soon hold cultural year activities with each other.
Putin, on the other hand, said that his visit to France soon after he became prime minister showed that Russia attached importance to developing relations with France and the European Union. He also said that there is no fundamental conflict of interest between Russia and the EU, and the two sides should build mutual trust. Russia welcomes EU countries to invest in its industry and energy, and hopes to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the high-tech field and exchanges in the fields of culture and education.
A French reporter asked that Sarkozy had fiercely criticized Russia on issues such as "Chechnya" and "human rights". Does the French government’s current "enthusiasm" for Russia mean that the policy has changed? In this regard, Fillon explained that Russia plays an important role in the international arena and plays an important role in some major international issues such as the Iranian nuclear issue and peacekeeping in Chad. France’s policy toward Russia has always advocated active dialogue. The history and reality of different countries are different. France "does not teach anyone" on human rights issues, and it should be noted that Russia is constantly "making progress" on the road to modernization.
Putin clearly pointed out that all countries actually have human rights problems, so does France, and the situation of prisoners in its prisons is often criticized. As for some countries’ criticism of Russia on the so-called "human rights" issue, they are actually just trying to put pressure on Russia and are not really concerned about Russian human rights.
It can be seen that Sarkozy’s attitude towards Russia has actually changed somewhat since he took office, from fierce criticism to relaxation and even enthusiasm. The main reason is probably because he realizes the reality of Russia’s growing strength and the importance of Russia to France and the European Union. Moreover, from a geopolitical point of view, maintaining good relations with Russia is in France’s strategic interest.
For Russia, it is of course in Russia’s strategic interest to strengthen France-Russia relations. In addition, Europe is also an important export market for Russian energy, and Russian economic development needs science, technology and investment from Western European countries. In more than a month, France will assume the rotating presidency of the European Union, and Putin’s visit to France should also help France to improve its relations with the EU.
Editor: Zhang Renhe