Franco-German tensions rise on twin shocks

Financial Times reports on the latest changes on the relations between France and Germany, after the start of the military operations on Libya, making a comparison with the Franco – German pact on the eurozone crisis.
Alain Juppé may be France’s foreign minister but there was nothing diplomatic in his brusque dismissal of renewed German concerns over military intervention in Libya. “I say what I think and he says what he thinks,” Mr Juppé said after a forceful exchange with Guido Westerwelle, his German counterpart, at a meeting in Brussels on 21 March 2011.

Rubbing in Germany’s abstention in the UN Security Council in last week’s vote to enforce a no-fly zone in Libya, Mr Westerwelle was deeply sceptical about the operation – in stark contrast to Mr Juppé’s assessment. After months of painstaking diplomacy designed to forge a common Franco-German position on the eurozone crisis, the twin shocks of the Japanese nuclear disaster and the Libyan intervention have exposed long-standing faultlines in the relationship between Paris and Berlin.

The German government was first deeply irritated by French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s recognition of the opposition Libyan National Council without consulting European partners.

ESO: Background information: UK and France to spearhead campaign http://www.europeansources.info/record/uk-and-france-to-spearhead-campaign/

ESO: Background information: Eurozone strikes debt deal http://www.europeansources.info/record/eurozone-strikes-debt-deal/

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