欧洲－希拉克在巴黎会见德国总理默克尔

Germany's Merkel Meets Chirac in Paris

希拉克在巴黎会见德国总理默克尔

 

Just a day after being elected as Germany's new chancellor¹, Angela Merkel was in Paris holding luncheon² talks with French President Jacques Chirac. At a joint³ press conference at the Elysee presidential palace, Mr. Chirac declared the two leaders had a common vision of Europe. And Mrs. Merkel formally invited Mr. Chirac to Berlin for another meeting next month.

 

In remark, translated into French, Mrs. Merkel said French-German ties must be constantly supported, and she said traditional meetings Mr. Chirac had with her Socialist⁴ predecessor⁵, Gerhard Schroeder, would be pursued.

 

Mrs. Merkel's visit here has been closely watched, particularly by those who feared she would place less emphasis on the French-German relationship, which has traditionally been described as the motor of Europe. Before being elected chancellor, Mrs. Merkel said she wanted to pursue other ties, namely with other European countries and the United States.

 

And in a previous trip in July, Mrs. Merkel appeared to have a lot more in common with Mr. Chirac's political rival, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, than with the French president. Unlike Mr. Chirac, for example, both Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Sarkozy oppose Turkey being a full member of the European Union at some future date.

 

But Marco Incerti, a researcher at the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels, says Mrs. Merkel's visit to France means bilateral⁶ ties between the two countries remain as critical as ever. But, he says, those ties are no longer enough.

 

Marco Incerti: And in this respect, it's interesting to see that Angela Merkel is traveling to Paris today, but immediately after she will be coming to Brussels to meet with the [European] Commission and the president of the Commission, [Jose Manuel Durao] Barroso.

 

Besides meeting with European Commission leaders, Mrs. Merkel will also be meeting with NATO's secretary-general. And on Thursday, she visits Britain for talks with Prime Minister Tony Blair.

 

Lisa Bryant for VOA news, Paris.

 

注释：

luncheon [5lQntFEn] n. 午宴，正式的午餐

Elysee [7eli5zei] n. <法>爱丽舍宫，巴黎的法国总统官邸

pursue [pE5sju:] vt. 继续

bilateral [bai5lAtErEl] adj. 两边的；双方的

1 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

2 luncheon   

n.午宴，午餐，便宴

参考例句：

• We have luncheon at twelve o'clock.我们十二点钟用午餐。
• I have a luncheon engagement.我午饭有约。

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

5 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

6 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。