France says UK free to leave European UnionJanuary 23, 2013 - 12:35 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - France believes Britain has many advantages to offer the European Union but if it chose to leave the bloc, Paris would not stand in its way, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Wednesday, Jan 23, according to Reuters. British Prime Minister David Cameron is due later to give Britons a straight referendum choice on whether to stay in the European Union or leave, provided he wins an election in 2015. Speaking on French radio, Fabius said Britain had "positive points" to offer Europe, but added that he had told a recent meeting with British businessmen: "If Britain wants to leave Europe we will roll out the red carpet for you." The comment is a jibe on much-reported remarks by Cameron last year in which he offered to "roll out the red carpet" to French firms wishing to avoid high French corporate taxes by re-basing to Britain. Fabius repeated France's view that there could be no "Europe a la carte" in which a country picked which rules applied to it. "Imagine we are a football club. You join the football club - but once you are in, you cannot say ‘Let's play rugby'," he added. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Putin congratulates Pashinyan’s birthday Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his birthday on June 1. Opposition motorcade en route to Gyumri for large rally A motorcade of protesters headed by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is heading to the city of Gyumri. Ruling MPs, Foreign Minister talk Armenia-Azerbaijan processes MOs from the ruling Civil Contract party met with the Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in the Armenian parliament. Russia: Armenia’s frozen membership weakens CSTO position in Caucasus A Russian envoy said any step that could alienate the CSTO member states from each other is “deeply wrong”. |