CANNES (MNI) – The following are White House transcripts of
welcoming remarks as President Obama was greeted by French President
Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel as he arrived
Thursday for the G20 meeting:

10:38 A.M. CET

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, it is wonderful to be back in France. And
I want to thank my excellent friend and colleague, Nicolas Sarkozy, for
his hospitality. He and I obviously have worked together on a wide
range of issues since I’ve been President, and I always welcome his
frank and honest assessment of the situations here.

It’s also nice to be back visiting in France — the last time I was
in the south of France — or the first time, rather, was as a college
student, and I’ve never forgotten the extraordinary hospitality of the
French people and the extraordinary views that are available here.

This morning, President Sarkozy and I reaffirmed our strong and
enduring ties, and I’ve said on many occasions that France is not only
our oldest ally, but also one of our closest, and I consider Nicolas to
be an outstanding and trusted partner on the world stage. I think it’s
no surprise that we spent most of our conversation focused on
strengthening the global economic recovery so that we are creating jobs
for our people and stabilizing the financial markets around the world.
The most important aspect of our task over the next two days is to
resolve the financial crisis here in Europe. President Sarkozy has
shown extraordinary leadership on this issue. I agree with him that the
EU has made some important steps towards a comprehensive solution, and
that would not have happened without Nicolas’s leadership. But here at
the G20 we’re going to have to flesh out more of the details about how
the plan will be fully and decisively implemented.

And we also discussed the situation in Greece and how we can work
to help resolve that situation as well. And the United States will
continue to be a partner with the Europeans to resolve these challenges.

We had the opportunity to also talk about a range of security
issues. One in particular that I want to mention is the continuing
threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program. The IAEA is scheduled to
release a report on Iran’s nuclear program next week and President
Sarkozy and I agreed on the need to maintain the unprecedented
international pressure on Iran to meet its obligations.

And finally, I’m looking forward to joining Nicolas and service
members from both of our countries tomorrow to celebrate the alliance
between our two countries, which spans more than 200 years — from
Yorktown to Libya.

And finally, I want to make mention that this is our first meeting
since the arrival of the newest Sarkozy, and so I want to congratulate
Nicolas and Carla on the birth of Giulia. And I informed Nicolas on the
way in that I am confident that Giulia inherited her mother’s looks
rather than her father’s — (laughter) — which I think is an excellent
thing. And so now we share one of the greatest challenges and blessings
of life, and that is being fathers to our daughters.

So again, Nicolas, thank you for your friendship. Thank you for
our partnership. And thank you for your gracious hospitality.

PRESIDENT SARKOZY: (As interpreted.) Well, you see Barack Obama’s
tremendous influence. For four years now, he’s been explaining to me
that to be a father to daughters is a fantastic experience — he who has
two daughters. So I have listened to him. As a matter of fact, I
followed his example.

I must tell you that we had a heavy agenda because there is no lack
of subjects for our concern. We need the leadership of Barack Obama.
We need the solidarity and the support of the United States of America.
We need joint common analysis as to the way we can put the world back on
the path of growth and stability.

Together, President Obama and myself are trying to build the unity
of the G20. And I wish to pay tribute to the United States for
understanding about all the issues we’ll be discussing over the next 48
hours, and in particular, the issue of the Greek crisis — the
difficulty that the euro is facing, the need to be hand-in-glove with
the United States on the language of the final communiqu.

Again, I want to thank President Obama for his understanding on all
matters, including that of a levy or a tax on financial transactions,
where I think we found common ground, at least common analysis, mainly
that the world of finance must contribute to solving the crisis that we
are all facing today.

I also want to say how delighted I am that President Obama has
agreed to stay a few hours after the end of the summit in order to
participate in ceremonies to pay tribute to American and French troops
who have fought together so many times throughout the course of our
joint histories. And I’m delighted to have the opportunity to join
President Obama in a television interview, because he is much loved and
much liked here in France.

So we have a very heavy agenda ahead of us, and we’ll have many
opportunities to see you again and explain to you what decisions we’ve
been led to take.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you very much.

—

11:05 A.M. CET

PRESIDENT OBAMA: It’s wonderful to be back together with my good
friend, Angela Merkel. I think that the last time we were in
Washington, D.C. together we presented her with the Medal of Freedom,
and that indicated the high esteem that not only I, but the United
States, hold her and her leadership.

This is going to be a very busy two days. Central to our
discussions at the G20 is how do we achieve greater global growth and
put people back to work. That means we’re going to have to resolve the
situation here in Europe. And without Angela’s leadership we would not
have already made the progress that we’ve seen at the EU meeting on
October 27th.

We are now, having seen some progress, looking forward to working
together to figure out how we can implement this in an effective way to
make sure that not only is the eurozone stable, but the world financial
system is stable as well. And hopefully during our bilateral meeting
we’ll also have the ability to discuss a wide range of other issues,
including security issues that are so important to both our countries.

But I just want to say, once again, how much I enjoy working with
Angela. She exhibits the kind of practical common sense that I think
has made her a leader not only in Germany but around the world.

So thank you very much.

Hold on, hold on, hold on — translation. (Laughter.) All the
Americans reporters speak German, but just in case. (Laughter.)

CHANCELLOR MERKEL: (As interpreted.) Thank you very much, and let
me say that I’m delighted that we have the opportunity for this meeting
here. And mainly, the G20 will afford us an opportunity, during these
two days of meeting, not only to talk about European matters but also
about global matters that matter to both of us and that are of common
interest.

And let me say, again, that I very fondly remember the evening in
the White House and the award.

Thank you.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you, everybody.

—

** Market News International **

[TOPICS: M$U$$$,M$X$$$,M$Y$$$,MGX$$$,M$$CR$]