WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama welcomed new French President Francois Hollande to the White House on Friday, as world leaders feel a renewed sense of urgency to contain the European debt crisis.
The two leaders spoke for about 20 minutes in the Oval Office, covering such issues as Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Syria — including Hollande’s pledge to draw down French combat troops in Afghanistan by the end of the year.
Obama was scheduled to head to Camp David on Friday evening to welcome the leaders of eight of the world’s richest countries, including Hollande, for the Group of Eight summit.
In remarks to reporters in the Oval Office, Hollande said he was committed to providing assistance to Afghan security but through alternative means. He added that he would discuss the subject further at the NATO summit in Chicago, which begins Sunday.
“I reminded President Obama that I made a promise to the French people to the effect that our combat troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2012,” Hollande said. “That being said, we will continue to support Afghanistan in a different way.”
Regarding the European economic crisis, Hollande said he and Obama agreed that Greece, despite its financial meltdown, “must stay in the eurozone and that all of us must do what we can to that effect.”
“Our economies depend on one another,” Hollande said. “What happens in Europe has an impact on the U.S., and vice versa.”
Before meeting with Hollande, Obama outlined new steps in the global effort to reduce hunger, announcing $3 billion in private-sector commitments to help improve food security efforts in several African nations.
In a speech at the Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security, Obama said the pledges from 45 multinational corporations and African companies aimed to build on the $22 billion that members of the Group of Eight nations committed at a 2009 summit in L’Aquila, Italy.
