By Dave Boyer
President Obama was greeted at the G-20 summit in this seaside resort Thursday with a plea by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to get more involved in resolving Europe’s spiraling debt crisis.
“We need the leadership of Barack Obama,” Mr. Sarkozy said after the two leaders huddled to start the meeting of the world’s industrialized and large developing nations. “We need the solidarity and support of the United States of America.”
The French president, host of the summit, which is threatening to be consumed with the unraveling of a bailout for Greece, met with Mr. Obama within an hour of Air Force One’s landing at the French Riviera.
Mr. Obama steadfastly has maintained that the European Union has the resources to resolve the debt burdens of Greece and other nations without outside help. But EU officials, seeking the cash to boost their bailout fund to $1.4 trillion, are asking for investments from China, Japan and other sources.
At his joint appearance with Mr. Sarkozy, Mr. Obama said the EU “has made some important steps toward a comprehensive solution.”
“We spent most of our conversation focused on strengthening the global economic recovery so we’re creating jobs for our people and stabilizing the financial markets around the world,” Mr. Obama said. “The most important aspect of our task over the next two days is to resolve the financial crisis here in Europe.
“But here at the G-20, we’re going to have to flesh out more of the details about how the plan will be fully implemented,” Mr. Obama said. “We also discussed the situation in Greece and how we can work to help resolve that situation as well. The United States will continue to be a partner with the Europeans to resolve these challenges.”
Just prior to the summit, Mr. Sarkozy held an emergency meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to discourage Greece from holding a referendum on its bailout plan. Mr. Papandreou’s surprise announcement to hold a vote threatens to scuttle the deal and risks the spread of default to nations such as Italy, Spain and Portugal.
Mr. Obama also briefly addressed the growing nuclear threat from Iran, saying he and Mr. Sarkozy agreed “on the need to maintain the unprecedented international pressure on Iran to meet its obligations.”
An international nuclear monitoring body is expected to release a report next week citing Iranian progress in developing nuclear weapons. The U.S. is working behind the scenes with Russia and China to take more punitive action against Iran in the U.N. Security Council.
The two-day summit in this wealthy, glitzy resort city comes as protests in the United States and around the world target the growing imbalance between the wealthy and the poor. Protesters at the G-20 are being kept miles away from the center of Cannes, where the meetings are being held. Mr. Obama’s motorcade did not pass any protesters on its 30-minute drive to Cannes from the airport in Nice.
After leaving Mr. Sarkozy, Mr. Obama met with Mrs. Merkel separately and praised her leadership in the debt crisis.
“Central to our discussions at the G-20 is how we achieve better global work and put people back to work. That means we’re gonna have to resolve the situation here in Europe,” Mr. Obama said. “And without Angela’s leadership, we wouldn’t already have made the progress that we’ve seen.”
President Obama was greeted at the G-20 summit in this seaside resort Thursday with a plea by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to get more involved in resolving Europe’s spiraling debt crisis.
“We need the leadership of Barack Obama,” Mr. Sarkozy said after the two leaders huddled to start the meeting of the world’s industrialized and large developing nations. “We need the solidarity and support of the United States of America.”
The French president, host of the summit, which is threatening to be consumed with the unraveling of a bailout for Greece, met with Mr. Obama within an hour of Air Force One’s landing at the French Riviera.
Mr. Obama steadfastly has maintained that the European Union has the resources to resolve the debt burdens of Greece and other nations without outside help. But EU officials, seeking the cash to boost their bailout fund to $1.4 trillion, are asking for investments from China, Japan and other sources.
At his joint appearance with Mr. Sarkozy, Mr. Obama said the EU “has made some important steps toward a comprehensive solution.”
“We spent most of our conversation focused on strengthening the global economic recovery so we’re creating jobs for our people and stabilizing the financial markets around the world,” Mr. Obama said. “The most important aspect of our task over the next two days is to resolve the financial crisis here in Europe.
“But here at the G-20, we’re going to have to flesh out more of the details about how the plan will be fully implemented,” Mr. Obama said. “We also discussed the situation in Greece and how we can work to help resolve that situation as well. The United States will continue to be a partner with the Europeans to resolve these challenges.”
Just prior to the summit, Mr. Sarkozy held an emergency meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to discourage Greece from holding a referendum on its bailout plan. Mr. Papandreou’s surprise announcement to hold a vote threatens to scuttle the deal and risks the spread of default to nations such as Italy, Spain and Portugal.
Mr. Obama also briefly addressed the growing nuclear threat from Iran, saying he and Mr. Sarkozy agreed “on the need to maintain the unprecedented international pressure on Iran to meet its obligations.”
An international nuclear monitoring body is expected to release a report next week citing Iranian progress in developing nuclear weapons. The U.S. is working behind the scenes with Russia and China to take more punitive action against Iran in the U.N. Security Council.
The two-day summit in this wealthy, glitzy resort city comes as protests in the United States and around the world target the growing imbalance between the wealthy and the poor. Protesters at the G-20 are being kept miles away from the center of Cannes, where the meetings are being held. Mr. Obama’s motorcade did not pass any protesters on its 30-minute drive to Cannes from the airport in Nice.
After leaving Mr. Sarkozy, Mr. Obama met with Mrs. Merkel separately and praised her leadership in the debt crisis.
“Central to our discussions at the G-20 is how we achieve better global work and put people back to work. That means we’re gonna have to resolve the situation here in Europe,” Mr. Obama said. “And without Angela’s leadership, we wouldn’t already have made the progress that we’ve seen.”
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