US:The long years of animosity between the US and France formally ended just after 11am yesterday when French president Nicolas Sarkozy entered the US House of Representatives to applause and yelps of approval.
Congressmen gave him a standing ovation and queued to shake his hand. The chamber was packed for a rare joint meeting of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. This was in contrast with 1996 when members boycotted an address by the then president, Jacques Chirac, over nuclear testing in the Pacific.
Mr Sarkozy, on his first official visit to Washington, told the congressmen: "The state of our friendship and alliance is strong."
Acknowledging the rift between the two countries in 2003 over France's opposition to the Iraq war, he said: "Friends may have differences. They may have disagreements. They may have disputes. But in times of difficulty, in times of hardship, friends stand together, side by side."
He spoke of the historical links between France and the US dating back to the revolutionary war, and his love of US literature, music and film.
"My generation shared all the American dreams," he said. "Our imaginations were fuelled by the winning of the West and Hollywood. By Elvis Presley, Duke Ellington, Hemingway, by John Wayne, Charlton Heston, Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth, and by Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins, fulfilling mankind's oldest dream."
With Tony Blair retired and his successor Gordon Brown having cooled relations with US president George Bush, Mr Sarkozy is the Bush administration's favourite European. "I also came to say that one can be a friend of America, and yet win elections in France," he joked at a White House dinner on Tuesday.
After his address to Congress, Mr Sarkozy went to Mount Vernon, Virginia, for talks with Mr Bush.
In Congress, Mr Sarkozy spoke of a need for closer co-operation on a host of issues. He said the weak dollar was not a matter just for the US but for the world. "If we're not careful, monetary disarray could morph into economic war. We would all be its victims."
Mr Sarkozy, who marked six months in power this week, has been accused of playing up his image as a hero of international diplomacy to bury problems at home.
Transport and utility workers were last night deciding whether to join open-ended strike action next week over plans to end the favourable pensions deals enjoyed by certain workers.
Mr Sarkozy is already facing down rebellions from magistrates, teachers, prison officers and civil servants, who will strike this month. Students, who briefly stormed the Sorbonne this week, are blockading several faculties around France.
Mr Sarkozy conceded on arrival in Washington that he faced a difficult month. "There will be strikes, there will be protests, but I will hold firm, not because I'm stubborn, but because it's in France's interest."