Hollande holds talks in London

LONDON - Agence France-Presse

Cameron (L) welcomes Hollande to 10 Downing Street in London. AFP photo

French President François Hollande held talks with Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday, to smooth over a slew of recent differences as he made his first official visit to Britain.

Cameron welcomed Hollande at the Foreign Office in London with a guard of honor comprising soldiers in red tunics and bearskin hats, and Hollande then stood to attention as a military band played the French national anthem.

Meeting with Queen 

Hollande, who came to power in May, was set to be later be received by Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle just outside London for a teatime meeting during which the British monarch would speak in French. Socialist Hollande played down disagreements with Conservative Cameron over host of issues affecting the two NATO and European Union allies, including tax, financial regulation and the eurozone crisis. 
“I have come to reaffirm the strength of relations between France and Britain,” Hollande told a reception of French expatriates at the start of his one-day visit.

“We share positions in several areas, but not in all... It is true that on economic and monetary union we have positions that are, let us say, nuanced.” Hollande said they shared “many points in commun in foreign policy,” citing the crisis in Syria, Iran’s nuclear program, and the French and British cooperation in the NATO air war against Libya in 2011.