FRANCE: Dominique de Villepin, France's dashing foreign minister, comes to Dublin tomorrow. He spoke to Lara Marlowe in Paris about Ireland, Europe, George Bush and the war in Iraq.
Ireland is absolutely right in wanting to complete the European constitution during its six-month presidency, says Mr Dominique de Villepin, the French Foreign Minister, who will visit Dublin tomorrow.
The constitution has been blocked on one major point: Spain and Poland refuse to abandon the voting system agreed at Nice in 2000, which is advantageous to them. Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has made it a matter of national pride, and, with Spain about to hold a general election in March, most French observers thought the chance of a compromise was nil.
Not Mr de Villepin. "We have to count on the Europeans' consciousness of the extraordinary importance of what is at stake with the constitution," he said.
"The Irish presidency is demanding, motivated and has every chance of succeeding. We would be wrong if we did not seize the opportunity it's offering. There's experience, a strong vision of Europe and, already, hard work behind this presidency."
Mr de Villepin said the holding of European parliamentary elections in June should not work against completing the constitution.
"Having a constitution before (the European elections) would be a great advantage," he said. "The governments need to reflect, meditate, convince themselves that it's worthwhile agreeing on a constitution under the Irish presidency. It would be a magnificent gift to the people of Europe."
The French Foreign Minister said Irish fears of a "two-speed Europe" were based on "a true misunderstanding". The new Europe of 25 member-states must succeed, he said.
"But . . . we take account of the necessity of going forward, and so, within this Europe of 25, initiatives and a certain flexibility are possible, in the spirit of the treaties, in the spirit of enhanced co-operation."
Agreements involving only some of Europe's members - such as monetary union, the lifting of border controls or defence co-operation - in no way challenged Europe's spirit of community, Mr de Villepin said. "On the contrary, their goal is to stimulate and constantly bring new dynamism to European integration."
Mr de Villepin praised Irish attempts to give impetus to economic reform across the Union, and he said France supports Ireland's goal of improving trans-Atlantic relations.
There are still hard feelings in the US over France's opposition to the invasion of Iraq. The queen of England and the German Chancellor have already accepted President Jacques Chirac's invitation to attend the commemoration of the second World War landing on the beaches of Normandy in June, but President Bush has not yet replied.
With Messers Bush and Chirac to meet at least three times at the Europe-US, G-8 and NATO summits in June, France is eager to smooth relations. Mr de Villepin stresses the positive: co-operation in fighting terrorism, and his scheduled meeting with the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, in New York next week.
Though he says Franco-American relations are based on mutual confidence, he admits that "obviously both sides have their convictions". Both "know of France's commitment and vision in favour of multi-lateralism, collective solidarity and the central role of the United Nations."
Did France feel vindicated last weekend, when the US chief weapons inspector, Mr David Kay, resigned, saying he believed the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction did not exist? Mr de Villepin broached the question carefully, noting that it was out of concern over WMDs - not to support "regime change" - that the UN Security Council voted unanimously to send inspectors back to Iraq in the autumn of 2002.
Mr Kay's experience, he said, "shows that one should have stuck to the inspectors' work, let it continue to completion, so they could have come to the same conclusion that there were no weapons of mass destruction, and thus that military intervention in the context of Resolution 1441 was not justified".
Ten months after the invasion, Washington and Paris both seem to believe they had the rest of the world on their side. "There is a difference . . . between leading a coalition of many nations, and submitting to the objections of a few," Mr Bush said in his State of the Union address.
"During all this period, France truly had at heart to express the principles and the convictions to which she is deeply attached," Mr de Villepin said. "At the same time, she expressed what a very large part of the international community felt."
Was Mr Bush right in saying that "thanks to the will and determination of America", the world was becoming a better place?
"It's a difficult question to assess the reality of things today," Mr de Villepin said. "Everyone sees that, in Iraq, violence and terrorism are still there in spite of Saddam Hussein's arrest."
But France wants to be constructive. Mr de Villepin is proposing a summit following the formation of an Iraqi government on June 30th. "An international conference would help reintegrate Iraq in its regional environment and in the international community," he says.
Messers Chirac and de Villepin became heroes of the Arab world, and won the admiration of France's large Muslim minority, for their stand in the Iraq war. That goodwill has been lost because of what Mr de Villepin calls "misunderstanding" and "incomprehension" of the government's law on secularism, which will ban the wearing of Islamic headscarves in French schools.
"At no time did France show mistrust towards any religion," he told The Irish Times. "On the contrary, it's a question of being faithful to a principle that is strong in France, the principle of secularism, which is about neutrality and tolerance."
Mr de Villepin agrees with his Irish counterpart, Mr Brian Cowen, that Europe has a duty to take initiatives in solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Paris proposes combining the "road map" agreed upon last year by the "quartet" of the US, Russia, UN and EU with the Geneva accords, a virtual peace agreement signed by former Israeli and Palestinian ministers in November.
"We have the road map, which enjoys the support of the international community and the parties," Mr de Villepin said. "And we have the reflections that matured in Geneva. These accords received broad support in the international community ... these two exercises are not antagonistic but complementary."
On the domestic front, Mr de Villepin is one of the two most-popular ministers - the legacy of his rousing anti-war speech at the UN in February 2003. He and the Interior Minister, Mr Nicolas Sarkozy, consistently receive opinion poll ratings in the high 60 per cent range.
Though Mr de Villepin is said to have presidential ambitions, his strategy is the exact opposite of Mr Sarkozy's.
The Interior Minister is physically short, verbally brash and in open rebellion against Mr Chirac. Mr de Villepin is tall, speaks in sentences of Proustian length and is loyal to Mr Chirac, who reportedly considers him an adoptive son.
Does he intend to use his popularity for political advancement? "I have one political ambition in France," Mr de Villepin said. "That is, in view of the honour bestowed upon me, to represent French diplomacy, to defend everywhere the principles and convictions of our diplomacy . . . This is a task that leaves no room for any other sort of ambition."
In addition to meeting Mr Cowen, the French Foreign Minister will make a speech, in English, at Dublin City Hall about France, Ireland and Europe.
"Much of it will be devoted to the exceptional relations between France and Ireland," he said.
"We are among the rare countries in Europe who are extraordinarily close, who have never made war on each other . . . As a Gaullist, I never forget that General de Gaulle had Irish ancestry, that he went to Ireland when he left power."