|
BACK-SLAPPING CAMARADERIE: (From left) Mr Bush, Mr Sarkozy and former president George H.W. Bush enjoying one another's company. -- PHOTO: AP
|
KENNEBUNKPORT (MAINE) - US PRESIDENT George W. Bush, using all the trappings of his family's oceanfront estate, worked on a cosier relationship with France and its new President.
There was no fishing trip like the one Russian President Vladimir Putin enjoyed last month.
But for the newly inaugurated French President Nicolas Sarkozy, being welcomed at the Bush compound for a private lunch - with none of the usual diplomatic formalities - on Saturday marked a new era in US-French relations.
The White House described the seaside session as a 'casual family lunch' and not a formal summit with one of America's oldest allies.
But the signs of change seemed as clear as the French tricolour flag that flapped in the breeze near the US flag under a sparkling sky at the Bush estate.
'We're going to give him a hamburger or a hot dog, his choice,' Mr Bush said as he waited for Mr Sarkozy to arrive.
'Do you think he's bringing cheese?' Mr Bush was asked.
'I think he's bringing goodwill,' he replied.
The vacationing Mr Sarkozy, visiting Mr Bush for the first time as France's President, came with plenty of his own warm words.
He focused on more than two centuries of united history between the countries, thanking the US for sacrificing lives to help defend France in times of war.
'That is a lot more important than Mr Sarkozy or Mr Bush,' he said. 'Because after Mr Bush, and after Mr Sarkozy, we'll continue to be friends of the Americans.'
Mr Bush, famously chilly towards the French in the past, practically beamed as he ushered Mr Sarkozy into his parents' home.
Mr Bush, who places a high premium on personal relations, made little secret of his distaste for Mr Sarkozy's predecessor Jacques Chirac, especially over the French refusal to back the war in Iraq.
Disagreements over trade and climate change exacerbated the rift, although the two governments cooperated closely on problems in Iran, Sudan and Lebanon.
Mr Sarkozy, in contrast, is unabashedly pro-American, a man with a passion for Ernest Hemingway, Steve McQueen and Sylvester Stallone. During his campaign, he claimed he was proud to be called 'Sarkozy the American'.
Like Mr Bush, he shuns alcohol and is an avid bicycle rider.
For his summer vacation, he chose Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire.
'I came to visit the United States on holiday, on vacation, like 900,000 French people do every year. It's a great country,' Mr Sarkozy said.
The last time the two presidents met, at a summit meeting of leaders of industrialised nations in June, Mr Bush was ill with a stomach bug.
In a bit of a reversal, Mr Sarkozy's wife Cecilia and two of their children backed out of the lunch on Saturday; Mr Sarkozy said they had sore throats.
Still, Mr Sarkozy got the full Bush experience. He and the current President joined former president George H.W. Bush on a boat trip out into the Atlantic.
The threesome also sat down for a few minutes of diplomatic talk before lunch and discussed matters of the 'complicated world', including Iran, Darfur and Lebanon, White House officials said.
When Mr Bush and Mr Sarkozy met, the body language of their back-slapping camaraderie was a far cry from Mr Bush's meeting last month with Mr Gordon Brown, the new British Prime Minister, at the Camp David presidential retreat near Washington.
Formal and businesslike in a suit, Mr Brown seemed determined to delineate differences between himself and the Bush administration.
Mr Sarkozy may have been welcome in part because of the political parallel he represents: His victory in France indicated that an unpopular conservative could be succeeded by another conservative, even with a female opponent running in the campaign. (sounds familiar?)
Mr Sarkozy's triumph over Ms Segolene Royal heartened Republicans in the US, who said it suggested that a Republican might be able to win next year after all.
When asked if he would accept an invitation from Mr Sarkozy to go to France, Mr Bush said: 'Absolutely.'
But when asked if he would at least speak a few words of French, as a gesture towards the new US-French thaw, he said: 'I can't. I can barely speak English.'
NEW YORK TIMES, ASSOCIATED PRESS, LOS ANGELES TIMES
|
