NEWS: Chirac Insults British Before G8 Summit

Diplomacy between France and the United Kingdom may have hit a new low after it was reported that French President Jacques Chirac was overheard insulting British farming and cuisine while meeting with other G8 leaders. According to the French newspaper Liberation, Chicac stated that "the only thing [the British] have ever given European farming is mad cow." Chirac was chatting with Russian President Vladmir Putin and German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in a Russian cafe when the offending comments were overheard by a French journalist.



Ahhh, the French. What a grand way to advance Anglo-French relations.

I don't know about anyone else, but I get a kick out of seeing French, German, and Russian leaders sitting around a table in Russia insulting the British. I think the word is irony.

Kind of puts some of the idiotic things Bush has been known to say in perspective, imo.

If nothing else, perhaps Chirac will learn that someone is always listening.

[edit on 5-7-2005 by John bull 1]

[edit on 6-7-2005 by John bull 1]

Chirac is emerging as a complete nincompoop and I have heard that the French people, the one's who don't live in Paris, anyway, are beginning to tire of his lack of diplomacy.

[edit on 2005/7/4 by GradyPhilpott]

I don't know if this makes me dislike Chirac more then I already do or not. I kinda want to give him a pass on this one. Sounds like he was just making a joke. I don't particularly like this man so it's hard to say that, I'm just trying to be fair. Although he is who he is and you kinda have to expect that at any second he's going to peer down his nose and make a wise crack at someone else's expense.

I suppose that Chirac's confidence rating will continue to slide downward.
Chirac confidence rating plunges to new low: poll

Of those asked 77 percent said they did not have confidence in the president, 21 percent said they did have confidence, and another two percent had no opinion.

Pretty rough claim he makes when he states:

..."the only thing [the British] have ever given European farming is mad cow."

Whew! Talk about a satin glove slap across the face.....





seekerof

Why is this in ATSNN? Everyone knows the French are a-holes, this is not news...

hehe, the man certainly has a sense of humor

its not like he was lying anyway

lol

I have to admit, that was funny what Chirac said.
It is not uncommon for EU politicians to make such jokes about others of their kind. The absolute king of those jokes is the italian prime minister Berlusconi who has probably offended every EU country by now.
Some of his best berlusconisms:
news.bbc.co.uk...

This however is a sign of a deeper problem: Britain not being a team-player.
They want to be EU when it comes to benefits and choosing presidents and such. But when it comes to joint decisions and a few sacrifices to make it work, they turn their backs on EU and do their own thing. A lot of EU countries are not very fond of such politics towards the EU.
Considering that we are a VERY young Union (the latest 10 new members joined only a year ago), we are doing good so far. As long as there is no civil war and secession attempts we are good

When it comes to small countries in Europe, well we are all FURIOUS about this obvious nationalistic bickering between Britain and France.
The people in east europe would love to see the Great Germania form instead of EU
Germany rules the place, they are the most popular of all the big countries.

The good thing is, europeans are not fatalistic people and we do not deal in absolutes. An end of a politician's career or a political party is just that, an end of something very fleeting. It is not the end of big things, and most certainly not the end of EU. We will just pick new people for the job and all is good.

I think it was funny as well. But what the hell does this have to do with "Anglo-French relations"? This just goes to show how after centuries and centuries of so-called "modern politics", we still are a pathetic bunch of petty losers, when one buffoon making a wise-crack can determine the relations between nations of millions of people. And the silly thing is, throughout history the French and English have been warring with each other, but they've also intermixed with each other to such an extent that the only relevant difference between them is language, and even that only by a small margin.

Originally posted by djohnsto77
Why is this in ATSNN? Everyone knows the French are a-holes, this is not news...

I disagree. Whenever Bush picks his nose, its front page in most countries, so if Chirac wants to put his foot in his mouth and chew on it, its fair game as well.

Although it could've been said at a more appropriate time, that was pretty good.

Man i havent laughed so hard at something a head of state said since the last time i listened to Bush talk... ... but seriously... it was pretty damned funny... I dont like Chirac... but i dont like Blair either... I do like the UK though... and even if their food is a little, how should i put this, boring... the Brits have helped save France from Germany twice in the last 100 years, who needs cooking skills anyways... that why you hire french cooks

Originally posted by paperclip

The good thing is, europeans are not fatalistic people and we do not deal in absolutes.

Yeah i guess people got tired of fighting each other over the centuries and numerous wars....which is a good thing!

a little humor never hurt anyone, i bet most brits know that

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
Chirac is emerging as a complete nincompoop and I have heard that the French people, the one's who don't live in Paris, anyway, are beginning to tire of his lack of diplomacy.

I think a lot of French people have been tiring of him for quite a while. From anecdotal evidence, I gather that they were quite suprised that the idiot Chirac was re-elected; certanily, all the French people that I know (quite a few) have a complete disregard for the man. Its a pity that they have presedential elections only every 7 years.

I think you are forgetting the Brits are famous for having a sense of humor about themselves and that was pretty funny

Ah great, the decidely cliche ranting of a lame duck French President will now be thrown around to bolster Mr.Blair's hardline stance over the British rebate.

Who really gives a damn what jokes Chirac says? I dont and im British. I didnt find it funny but I dont feel like ripping up the entente cordiale over it either.

Next...

Finnish food rocks. And now after Berlusconi made a crack about it everyone thinks that it's bad. I guess with the hairy french arms and annoying laugh, british snobness and germany's aggressiveness we're now known for food that sucks

Originally posted by djohnsto77
Why is this in ATSNN? Everyone knows the French are a-holes, this is not news...

I have a lot of respect for your contributions here at ATS, but I believe this warrants a retraction. I'm certain if your country was lumped and tagged in this manner, you would be offended.
On British cuisine...Black Jacques Chirac just may be right...but our equivalent of 'bad food' here in Canada would be poutine...truly disgusting and at a par with beaver tails.

(mmm...can't wait for my blood pudding and head cheese sandwich)

[edit on 5-7-2005 by masqua]

I thought just opening his mouth in french was an insult to the british [ /

Originally posted by subz
Who really gives a damn what jokes Chirac says? I dont and im British. I didnt find it funny but I dont feel like ripping up the entente cordiale over it either.

You nor I, nor anyone with a level headed approach would take offence...

What we've seen today though is a media sensationalisation of it, particularly in the tabloids and radio news; drumming up talk of a row, and a low point in Anglo-French relations. Unfortunately a lot of people are going to react in an anti-France manner; I've heard it at work today, you've read it in this very thread. Its very sad to see from my point of view - not Chirac's Comments, but the media hype and incitement of anti-French sentiment following them.

The funniest joke I thought was that he told Putin and Shroeder that the French problems with NATO originated from when Lord Robertson former NATO secretary general had made him taste haggis.

But the irony of all this is that Blair has just got him re-elected with a clear majority in the House for a record (for Labour) third time, while Shroeder has just had a vote of no confidence against him and has been forced to call an early election which he will lose and Chirac's popularity rating is at an all time low after his leadership ability was called into question after the French people voted 'non' in the EU constitution referendum and his impotent posturing in the Budget talks that followed.

Not only is Blair re-elected, Britain has the presidencies of the G8 and soon the EU. If we get the Olympics then expect an exstremely petty and acrimonious G8 summit.