Mar 26, 2008, 20:15 GMT
London - French president Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown declared a new era of cooperation between their countries Wednesday as Sarkozy began a two-day state visit.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Mme Sarkozy depart from Westminster Abbey in London, Britain, 26 March 2008. The French president arrived for his first state visit to Britain as auctioneers prepare to sell a nude picture of his glamorous new wife, Carla Bruni. Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni were greeted by Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh ahead of talks with Prime Minister Gordon Brown. EPA/ANDY RAIN
Addressing both houses of the British parliament, Sarkozy said the two nations should strive jointly to give their considerable influence maximum impact on world affairs, in a way similar to French and German friendship remaining a European Union 'locomotive'.
Sarkozy also called for closer cooperation between Britain and France in the nuclear technology and military fields, including Afghanistan, where France intended to increase its support.
Declaring that 'we cannot afford to lose Afghanistan, that the Taliban and al-Qaeda return to Kabul,' Sarkozy said France would announce at the forthcoming NATO summit in Bucharest its intention to increase its troop strength.
Although he gave no figure, diplomatic sources said the French troop contingent in Afghanistan was expected to be increased to more than 1,000.
Brown for his part told parliament that Paris and London were pursuing a 'joint agenda for the future'. His talks with Sarkozy scheduled for Thursday would include increased cooperation in the energy, security, environmental protection and economic sectors.
Replying to questions from the lower house, Brown also stressed that while France a key ally, the United States remained 'Britain's closest ally' and 'most important partner'.
Sarkozy and his wife Carla - who was subjected to ironic scrutiny by a tabloid paper publishing an old picture of her posing naked in her modelling days - were earlier given a royal welcome.
At London's Heathrow airport they were met by Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, and then taken to nearby Windsor Castle for official welcoming ceremonies with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. A state banquet was being held later Wednesday at Windsor.
The French leader - on what is the first by a French head of state in 12 years - had already called for Britain and France to work 'hand in glove' on issues like illegal immigration and terrorism, and to forge 'a new Franco-British brotherhood.'
Ahead of the visit, Sarkozy called for closer Franco-British ties, telling British broadcaster BBC that both countries should perhaps 'move from being cordial to being friendly.'
'It has been long enough now that we have not been at war, that we are not wrangling,' Sarkozy said.
Sarkozy said the friendship between Britain and France 'shouldn't simply be a matter of principle,' but one that is 'fleshed out by concrete projects on the economy, immigration, security, defence.'
Prime Minister Brown said in an interview published Wednesday in the French daily Le Monde that Britain and France will work 'hand in hand' to reform international institutions such as the United Nations.
Brown said that he and Sarkozy had worked together for years, when they were both finance ministers, 'and we have the same vision of a globalized world.'
Brown went on to say: 'France and Britain can therefore work hand in hand with common interests and shared values. This is the case, and you will see it in the coming weeks, of the reform of international institutions created in 1945: the UN, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund.'
These organizations, Brown said, 'no longer correspond to the challenges of 2008.'
A meeting between Sarkozy and Brown scheduled for Thursday was expected to treat issues ranging from the turbulence in financial markets and energy security to the engagement in Afghanistan.
French-British ties under Sarkozy and Brown's predecessors, Jacques Chirac and Tony Blair, were fraught as a result of the Iraq war.
Meanwhile a British tabloid, the Daily Mirror, printed Wednesday a 1993 photograph of a naked Carla under the headline 'Welcome to Great Britain, Madame Sarkozy.'
A day earlier, the auction house Christie's had announced plans to auction the photograph made when Carla was a fashion model.
A rival tabloid, the Sun, said the model was 'outraged' that the photo was being published on the same day that she and her husband were being received by the British queen.
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