Word: mitterrand
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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President François Mitterrand last week made the first visit to Britain by a French head of state in eight years. Like two of his postwar predecessors, Charles de Gaulle and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the Socialist leader was accorded the rare honor of addressing members of both houses of Parliament. He used the occasion to issue a ringing appeal for European unity. Said Mitterrand: "The moment has come to make Europe become a genuine political reality, capable of asserting itself on the international scene...
...visit was marred by an astonishing occurrence. A French bomb-disposal technician planted a small quantity of explosives, without detonator to be sure, on the grounds of the residence of the French Ambassador, where Mitterrand was to hold a reception. The technician, acting without authorization, apparently wanted to test British antibomb squads. The explosives were quickly discovered by dogs trained to detect them. Understandably edgy in the wake of the Irish Republican Army bombing in Brighton two weeks ago aimed at Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, British authorities questioned the French technician at length and gave him what was described...
After three years of political exile, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing has become the first former President since the Fifth Republic wa; founded in 1958 to regain a seat in the National Assembly. Giscard, who was defeated by François Mitterrand in 1981 , captured an impressive 63% of the vote in the department of Puy-de-Dôme regaining a seat he had held repeatedly since 1956. The winner who has made no secret of his desire to be the center-right presidential candidate in 1988, proclaimed his "victory of reason...
...victory was important for Giscard, according to Political Writer Jean-Marie Benoist, because "it restored his confidence." Giscard campaigned in a downhome, American style, calling the charge that he is out of touch "a myth." While some political analysts see his victory as an indication of dissatisfaction with Mitterrand, others wonder whether Giscard's return will succeed only in further fracturing the center-right...
...unlikely liaison scattered diplomatic sparks in many directions. Washington dispatched roving Ambassador Vernon Walters to Rabat to warn Hassan that an angry Congress might now try to block the $140 million in military and economic aid earmarked for Morocco in fiscal 1985. French President François Mitterrand sent a minister to Algeria and another to Chad; he himself dashed off to Rabat to see whether the new alliance could be of help in settling French differences with Libya in Chad. Even Syrian President Hafez Assad, who has not left his country since a serious heart attack ten months...