Sen. Obama Holds News Conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris

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Obama Meets With French President in Paris

Barack Obama met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris. France is one of the final stops in Obama's overseas trip.

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And then, in Europe, my dear Barack Obama, there are a lot of people who come from very different backgrounds with very -- what I would call multiple histories and stories, perhaps not classic or traditional French, and not everyone here is called Sarkozy, you know.

And I'm aware of the fact that not everyone is called "Obama" in the United States of America. And that's a sense of -- gives us a sense of America of adventure. And Barack Obama's adventure is an adventure that rings true in the hearts and mind of the French and of Europeans.

Of course it's not up to the French to choose the next president of the United States of America, whom so ever that may be. We will work with (inaudible) happily and gladly.

But I am especially happy to be meeting with the senator. I met him back in 2006, when we talked in such impassioned terms about Darfur and what was happening there. And there were two of us in that office. And there were two of us in my office, and one of us became president. Well, let the other do likewise, huh? I mean, that's not meddling.

And I also want to say to the ladies and gentlemen of the press that Barack Obama and I talked about many things -- Iran, peace in the Middle East -- and I want to say that there's a tremendous convergence of views. This was a fascinating discussion we had.

Bernard Kouchner participated in the discussion. And thank you for that. A lot of convergence of views and a tremendous sense of impatience (ph) or looking forward to the great American democracy, choosing its president, so that we can do things together, we Europeans and you Americans, on climate change, on reforming world institutions, on peace in the world, on injecting more ethics into financial capitalism. There's so much we can do together.

So, Senator, the floor is yours.