GERMANY: Germany and France have dismissed remarks by the US Defence ¨Secretary, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, that the two countries are "problems" in the current Iraq crisis.
Mr Joschka Fischer, the German Foreign Minister, said Germany would support a second report from UN weapons inspectors and not immediate war with Iraq when it takes over the chair of the Security Council from France next month.
"Our position is not a problem, rather a constructive contribution," said Mr Fischer yesterday, and when asked about Mr Rumsfeld's remarks added: "The only answer is: cool down."
A leading Social Democrat foreign policy adviser said the comments were "not very clever and not particularly diplomatic".
French politicians were more forthright in their response to the comments that France and Germany were "problems" and "old Europe". Ms Roselyne Bachelot, the French Environment Minister, told an interviewer: "If you only knew what I felt like telling Mr Rumsfeld ...", but stopped herself mid-sentence, saying the word she was thinking of was too offensive. Mr Francis Mer, the Finance Minister, said he was "profoundly troubled" by the remarks.
The widening gap over the Atlantic became even more pronounced yesterday as the German and French leaders marked 40 years of modern Franco-German relations in Berlin.
Indeed Mr Rumsfeld's comments about "old Europe" may have done more to unite the French and Germans than two days of sometimes pompous official ceremonies.
"We are both of the opinion that one can never accept when it is said: war is unavoidable," said Chancellor Schröder in Berlin yesterday. "That is common foreign policy," added Mr Chirac.
Despite talk of common positions and much public hand-holding, the French President has not followed the Chancellor's lead and ruled out voting in favour of a war with Iraq.
The two leaders' comments drew loud cheers and whistles from hundreds of French and German schoolchildren who gathered in the Chancellery yesterday to hear them speak. But the two leaders appear to be winning over more than just star-struck children yesterday.
China has said that its position is "extremely close to that of France", and has called for continued weapons inspections with the aim of disarming Iraq peacefully.
After Russia, China is the second of the permanent, veto-wielding members of the Security Council to fall in behind France, itself a permanent member.
Elsewhere in the world, there has been a mixed response to the Franco-German position. The Norwegian prime minister, Mr Kjell Bondevik, said his government would "probably do the same as Germany". However Mr Göran Persson, the Swedish Prime Minister, said the Franco-German position was "hard to grasp".
Yesterday, German politicians of all political hues were nailing their colours to the Franco-German mast. The revitalised relationship has given Germany the moral support it needs to hold its anti-war nerve. Chancellor Schröder was re-elected last September on a strong anti-war platform but he softened his position in recent months, to the annoyance of voters, in order to repair diplomatic relations with Washington.
After weeks of hedging his position, Mr Schröder declared this week that Germany would "not approve a UN resolution legitimising war". Berlin has begun to unveil its strategy to "throw stones in the way" of the US road to war, said one spokesman in the German Foreign Ministry yesterday.
One plan is to invite Dr Hans Blix and Mr Mohamed alBaradei, the UN's chief weapons inspectors, for talks in Berlin next month to give them a chance to express their wish to continue their inspections. "If the inspectors should continue working, they will do that on behalf of the Security Council," Mr Fisher said.
The German Foreign Minister flew to Turkey yesterday to discuss the Iraq crisis with Middle East foreign ministers who are meeting in Istanbul.
