London
Britain and France should begin a new era of cooperation, French
President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
said Wednesday as Sarkozy arrived in Britain on a two-day official
state visit, the first by a French head of state in 12 years.
Sarkozy and his wife Carla - who was subjected to ironic scrutiny by
a tabloid paper publishing an old picture of her posing naked in her
modelling days - were welcomed at London's Heathrow airport by
Prince Charles and wife Camilla.
The group headed off to Windsor Castle for official welcoming
ceremonies with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
The French leader has called on Britain and France to work "hand in
glove" on issues like illegal immigration and terrorism, and to
forge "a new Franco-British brotherhood".
Ahead of the visit, Sarkozy called for closer Franco-British ties,
telling British broadcaster BBC that both countries should perhaps
"move from being cordial to being friendly".
"It has been long enough now that we have not been at war, that we
are not wrangling," Sarkozy said.
Sarkozy said the friendship between Britain and France "shouldn't
simply be a matter of principle", but one that is "fleshed out by
concrete projects on the economy, immigration, security, defence".
Prime Minister Brown said in an interview published Wednesday in the
French daily Le Monde that Britain and France will work "hand in
hand" to reform international institutions such as the United
Nations.
Brown said that he and Sarkozy had worked together for years, when
they were both finance ministers, "and we have the same vision of a
globalised world".
Brown went on to say: "France and Britain can therefore work hand in
hand with common interests and shared values. This is the case, and
you will see it in the coming weeks, of the reform of international
institutions created in 1945: the UN, the World Bank, the
International Monetary Fund."
These organizations, Brown said, "no longer correspond to the
challenges of 2008."
A meeting between Sarkozy and Brown at Downing Street is scheduled
for Thursday.
The talks are expected to range from the issue of the turbulence in
financial markets and energy security to the engagement in
Afghanistan.
Sarkozy has said France is willing to send more troops to
Afghanistan.
French-British ties under Sarkozy and Brown's predecessors, Jacques
Chirac and Tony Blair, were fraught as a result of the Iraq war.
Sarkozy was to deliver a speech before both houses of parliament in
London on Wednesday afternoon before setting out for a state banquet
at Windsor.
Meanwhile a British tabloid, the Daily Mirror, printed Wednesday a
1993 photograph of a naked Carla under the headline "Welcome to
Great Britain, Madame Sarkozy".
A day earlier, the auction house Christie's had announced plans to
auction the photograph made when Carla was a fashion model.
A rival tabloid, the Sun, said the model was "outraged" that the
photo was being published on the same day that she and her husband
were being received by the British queen.
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