Giscard tones down call

Press, 12 July 1980, Page 9

Giscard tones down call

NZPA-Reuter Bonn It |t The French President (Mrc Valery Giscard . d’Estaing), a apparently sensing that his s call for a strongly independent Europe might embarrass t his pro-American hosts inir West Germany, has tonedir down his appeal. js Speaking at a dinner atT the end of his State visit to t West Germany, the . Frenchj leader again took up then theme of restoring Western|< European power and in-h fluence in the world, but said i his message was not confined to France and West I Germany. “For. our entente is not! exclusive. Nor can it ignore!.

the friendships and solidarities which link us with other countries on our continent and elsewhere,” Mr Giscard said. While not directly mentioning the United States, his remarks were taken as deferring to Bonn’s insistence on strong ties with Washington and unconditional loyalty to the Atlantic alliance. The French President urged other Common Market countries to participate in strengthening Europe’s role in world affairs. Taking up an idea which he first explored during a visit to Finland last month, '.President Giscard said France I also wanted support for its

European ideal from what he called “the second circle of Europe,” namely countries that shared European values and traditions although not being Common Market members. The theme of a more assertive Western Europe was at the heart of the French leader’s five-day State visit to West Germany, and he is likely to be questioned closely on his concept of European independence at a joint press conference with Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. But any suggestion that Western Europe could maintain its political independence without continuing to rely heavily on United States military might has been dismissed as unrealistic by West German commentators and Opposition politicians.