Chirac warns Blair of dangers of ‘a new colonialism’

FRENCH president Jacques Chirac last night warned British Prime Minister Tony Blair that his drive to spread democracy across the world alongside George W Bush could be confused with a new colonialism.

Mr Chirac’s comments came hours after he stood alongside the Mr Blair at a press conference, where the two leaders stressed their shared goals and declared they would put their differences over Iraq behind them. But Mr Chirac went on, in a speech to the International Institute of Strategic Studies, to set out his own distinctive view of international relations. He drew clear distinctions between his view and that of the US president and Mr Blair, enunciated after their White House talks last week.

Mr Chirac pointedly stressed the importance of dialogue between Europe and “the world’s major poles” - China, India, Brazil, Russia and various trading blocs. And, after Mr Blair and Mr Bush espoused the spread of western democratic values as the best safeguard against terrorism, Mr Chirac warned: “We must avoid any confusion between democratisation and westernisation.

“For although our memory is sometimes short, the peoples submitted to the West’s domination in the past have not forgotten and are quick to see a resurgence of imperialism and colonialism in our actions.”

Earlier, at their joint press conference following talks and a working lunch during Mr Chirac’s visit to mark the centenary of the entente cordiale, the two leaders had stressed the extent of their shared “goals.” Mr Blair told reporters: “On the question of Iraq, I think the differences at the time of the conflict were well known. But both of us are now working under UN resolution 1546, both of us want to see a stable and democratic Iraq, and both of us will do what we can to ensure that that happens.

“It is just worth pointing out that, on the questions of Afghanistan, on the Balkans, on the question of Africa, on the question of climate change we are working very closely together. On the question of European defence, both on the defence level and the industrial level, we are working closely together.”