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Barack Obama : Stopover in Paris, after Berlin and before London
US-European relations, Iran and Afghanistan were the main topics addressed by Barack Obama during a joint press conference with President Nicolas Sarkozy during his visit to Paris on July 25. Obama’s stop in Paris was part of a tour abroad aimed at reinforcing his international stature.
US-European relations
During the joint press conference following an hour-long private meeting with Nicolas Sarkozy, Barack Obama expressed regret at the "caricatures" still prevalent among Europeans and Americans.
He noted that Europeans perceive Americans as being "unilateral and militaristic", sometimes forgetting "the great sacrifices that American soldiers and taxpayers made to help rebuild Europe.”
“On the other side," he continued, "in the United States, there is a tendency to say that Europeans don’t want to get involved or get their hands dirty" with these very difficult, thorny security issues. "It’s time to get beyond the caricatures on both sides of the Atlantic.”
In his view, American voters are well aware that the problems of climate change, the problems of energy and terrorism cannot be solved by one country alone.
With regard to relations between the United States and France, the Democratic presidential hopeful – who once again insisted he was speaking as candidate, not as president – congratulated Nicolas Sarkozy for “shattering those stereotypes, those caricatures.” He assured his audience that “the average American has enormous affection for the French people.”