Sarkozy meets Dalai Lama amid Chinese backlash (Roundup)

Dec 6, 2008, 15:30 GMT

Gdansk, Poland - French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in Poland Saturday amid criticism from Beijing that raised tensions between the European Union and China.

The two leaders met in the northern Polish city of Gdansk during celebrations that marked the 25th anniversary of former Solidarity leader Lech Walesa receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

China had warned Sarkozy that relations between the two countries would suffer if the meeting went ahead. China had already cancelled a summit with the EU because of the meeting, and said political and economic ties would be harmed between Paris and Beijing.

Before his meeting with Sarkozy, the Dalai Lama called for a 'century of dialogue,' disarmament and cooperation.

He lauded Walesa's Solidarity movement, which in the 1980s lead strikes in the Baltic shipyards that helped peacefully topple the communist regime in Poland.

But the spiritual leader said 'external disarmament' must begin with 'inner peace' and letting go of fear and suspicion.

Sarkozy praised Walesa's Solidarity movement for breaking down Europe's old barriers and helping to topple the Iron Curtain.

'You gave a new hope to the continent,' Sarkozy said. 'Lech Walesa, you're a great symbol of Poland, Europe and the entire world that believes in freedom and rejects all forms of dictatorship.'

The anniversary celebrations also included Nobel Peace Prize laureates like South Africa's FW de Klerk and Israel's Shimon Peres, along with European presidents, prime ministers and EU leaders.

The Dalai Lama had refrained from meeting the French president in France during an earlier conference with Tibetan exiles.

Sarkozy at first planned to stay away from the opening ceremony of the Olympics earlier this year, but later changed his mind and attended.