US President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande listen to the national anthems during an arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC yesterday.
AFP/Washington
President Barack Obama yesterday praised France as a model ally in a world that must do more to meet common threats, laying on the full flourish of a state visit for President Francois Hollande.
Obama hailed France, an increasingly key partner in the fight against extremism in Africa, nuclear proliferation and climate change, as he welcomed Hollande on the White House lawn.
The presidents stood side-by-side framed by the red, white and blue of the Stars and Stripes and the French tricolor as a 21-gun salute split the air and ranks of troops in dress uniform stood to attention.
“Like generations before us, we now have the task not simply to preserve our enduring alliance but to make it anew for our time,” Obama said.
“No one nation can meet today’s challenges alone or seize its opportunities.
“More nations must step up and meet the responsibilities of leadership, and that is what the US and France are doing together.”
While disengaging from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Washington has pressed its European allies to do more to protect their own security in operations like the Libya war - albeit with military and logistical support that the only the US superpower can provide.
Hollande paid tribute to the sacrifice of US soldiers in World War II and said the two old allies stand for bedrock principles of universal rights.
“Today France and the US still stand side by side to make these values prevail,” Hollande said.
“We stand together with the US to address the threats of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and chemical weapons, together to solve the crises faced by the Middle East, together to support Africa’s development, and together to fight global warming and climate change.”
Earlier, a senior US official praised France for helping quell unrest and extremist violence in parts of Africa.
“The French role has been key to achieving success in Mali and the French role in trying to bring about security and peace in CAR are very, very important,” the US top diplomat for Africa, Linda Thomas-Greenfield said.
Hollande will be without a date at the state dinner later Tuesday in a huge marquee sumptuously decorated with French touches, after turmoil in his love life made global headlines.
Before then, Obama and Hollande will hold a press conference and the French president will have lunch with America’s French speaking Secretary of State John Kerry.
The authenticity of the Franco-US alliance, often tumultuous, lies in its resilience: ties are now tightening a decade after they ruptured over Iraq.
Washington has welcomed and provided logistical support for France’s interventions to quell the spread of Islamic militants in Africa’s Sahel region.
The allies are also key players in the group of world powers negotiating with Iran over its nuclear programme, and blame President Bashar al-Assad for gross atrocities in Syria.
Hollande opened his three-day visit to the US with a rare flight for a foreign leader aboard Air Force One on Monday.
The presidents then toured the Virginia homestead of Thomas Jefferson, seeking to forge a personal bond in richly symbolic surroundings.
