François Hollande will plead with Barack Obama to show greater urgency in the fight against Islamic State when the presidents meet in Washington next week, warning of a state of emergency in Europe.
French officials have been careful not to openly criticise the US’s strategy in Syriaand Iraq but believe Obama must be made aware of the extent of the refugee crisis it has caused, a European diplomat said on Wednesday.
“The message that we want to send to the Americans is simply that the crisis is destabilising Europe,” said the diplomat, who did not wish to be named. “The problem is that the attacks in Paris and the refugee crisis show that we don’t have time. There is an emergency.”
Noting the debate raging among governments over how to handle the biggest movement of people to Europe since the second world war, he added: “It’s the foreign fighters but it’s also the migrants crisis which is dividing the Europeans, destabilising the continent, so we have to act quickly, telling the US administration the core interests of the Europeans, your best allies, are at stake.”
As Paris reels from the terrorist attacks that killed 129 people last week, Hollande will try to impress on Obama that there is a need to act now and the world cannot afford to wait for a war of attrition that might take two years. Some insiders believe that America has been slow to appreciate the effects of millions of refugees pouring out of Syria, partly because the US is an ocean away and far less vulnerable.
The European diplomat said: “That’s the reason why the French president will be in Washington on Tuesday before flying to Moscow to meet President Putin.”
France wants world leaders to redefine the strategy for taking on Isis and give it a greater sense of urgency.
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