G8 foreign ministers meeting (Potsdam, May 30, 2007)
Foreign and European Affairs Minister Bernard Kouchner took part in the G8 foreign ministers meeting in Potsdam on May 30 that prepared the political part of the summit that is to be held in Heiligendamm from June 6 - 8.
The G8 foreign ministers’ meetings are traditionally held twice a year, before the annual summit and in September, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Participants considered texts dealing with the fight against terrorism and non-proliferation and also the main foreign policy issues: the situation in Darfur, Lebanon, the Middle East and the Iranian and North Korean nuclear issues and Kosovo.
France welcomes the German presidency’s initiative to invite the Afghan and Pakistani foreign ministers to attend the meeting so that they can discuss with their G8 counterparts the development of the border region between the two countries.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the minister had bilateral meetings with several of his counterparts.
"The first initiative is political, the second concerns humanitarian aid. Political initiative: pressure must go on being exerted on the Khartoum government. It has signed agreements, it signed them with the United Nations, with the United Nations’ agencies, with its neighbours, lastly with Chad through the intermediary of Colonel Gadhafi’s Libya. But none of these are being applied, they’ve all remained dead letters. And during that time, many Sudanese have gone on suffering and dying. In the camps where the situation is a bit better, the humanitarian organizations are working. Outside the camps, no one is helping the isolated populations and they are being attacked by the Janjaweed. So, politically, we must make absolutely sure - and the general public in our countries must put pressure on political leaders - that things keep moving"
Press briefing given by Mr Bernard Kouchner (Potsdam, 30 May 2007)
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