Convention Center
Cannes, France
10:38 A.M. CET
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, it is wonderful to be back in France. And I want to thank my excellent friend and colleague, Nicolas Sarkozy, for his hospitality. He and I obviously have worked together on a wide range of issues since I’ve been President, and I always welcome his frank and honest assessment of the situations here.
It’s also nice to be back visiting in France — the last time I was in the south of France — or the first time, rather, was as a college student, and I’ve never forgotten the extraordinary hospitality of the French people and the extraordinary views that are available here.
This morning, President Sarkozy and I reaffirmed our strong and enduring ties, and I’ve said on many occasions that France is not only our oldest ally, but also one of our closest, and I consider Nicolas to be an outstanding and trusted partner on the world stage.
I think it’s no surprise that we spent most of our conversation focused on strengthening the global economic recovery so that we are creating jobs for our people and stabilizing the financial markets around the world. The most important aspect of our task over the next two days is to resolve the financial crisis here in Europe. President Sarkozy has shown extraordinary leadership on this issue. I agree with him that the EU has made some important steps towards a comprehensive solution, and that would not have happened without Nicolas’s leadership. But here at the G20 we’re going to have to flesh out more of the details about how the plan will be fully and decisively implemented.
And we also discussed the situation in Greece and how we can work to help resolve that situation as well. And the United States will continue to be a partner with the Europeans to resolve these challenges.
We had the opportunity to also talk about a range of security issues. One in particular that I want to mention is the continuing threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program. The IAEA is scheduled to release a report on Iran’s nuclear program next week and President Sarkozy and I agreed on the need to maintain the unprecedented international pressure on Iran to meet its obligations.
And finally, I’m looking forward to joining Nicolas and service members from both of our countries tomorrow to celebrate the alliance between our two countries, which spans more than 200 years — from Yorktown to Libya.
And finally, I want to make mention that this is our first meeting since the arrival of the newest Sarkozy, and so I want to congratulate Nicolas and Carla on the birth of Giulia. And I informed Nicolas on the way in that I am confident that Giulia inherited her mother’s looks rather than her father’s — (laughter) — which I think is an excellent thing. And so now we share one of the greatest challenges and blessings of life, and that is being fathers to our daughters.
So again, Nicolas, thank you for your friendship. Thank you for our partnership. And thank you for your gracious hospitality.
PRESIDENT SARKOZY: (As interpreted.) Well, you see Barack Obama’s tremendous influence. For four years now, he’s been explaining to me that to be a father to daughters is a fantastic experience — he who has two daughters. So I have listened to him. As a matter of fact, I followed his example.
I must tell you that we had a heavy agenda because there is no lack of subjects for our concern. We need the leadership of Barack Obama. We need the solidarity and the support of the United States of America. We need joint common analysis as to the way we can put the world back on the path of growth and stability.
Together, President Obama and myself are trying to build the unity of the G20. And I wish to pay tribute to the United States for understanding about all the issues we’ll be discussing over the next 48 hours, and in particular, the issue of the Greek crisis — the difficulty that the euro is facing, the need to be hand-in-glove with the United States on the language of the final communiqué.
Again, I want to thank President Obama for his understanding on all matters, including that of a levy or a tax on financial transactions, where I think we found common ground, at least common analysis, mainly that the world of finance must contribute to solving the crisis that we are all facing today.
I also want to say how delighted I am that President Obama has agreed to stay a few hours after the end of the summit in order to participate in ceremonies to pay tribute to American and French troops who have fought together so many times throughout the course of our joint histories. And I’m delighted to have the opportunity to join President Obama in a television interview, because he is much loved and much liked here in France.
So we have a very heavy agenda ahead of us, and we’ll have many opportunities to see you again and explain to you what decisions we’ve been led to take.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you very much.
END