French Republic
Minister of Foreign Affairs M. Dominique de Villepin
The French Republic is one of the founding members of the European Union. Along with the Republic of Germany, it has been one of the leading opponents of setting a firm date to begin enlargement negotiations with Turkey. M. Dominique de Villepin was named Minister of Foreign Affairs in May 2002. For the seven previous years, he served as Secretary-General of the Presidency of the Republic. The following is excerpted from a November 12, 2002, speech by Minister de Villepin before the French Senate in Paris.Barely three weeks ago, the Brussels European Council launched the final phase of the accession…
