British PM indicates support to Sarkozy in re-election bid

Visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron indicated on Friday his support to French President Nicolas Sarkozy who officialized his candidacy for a second five-year term two days ago. "I will be following your fortunes (Sarkozy's) as you are on the campaign trail in weeks to come. As I said, I wish you well," Cameron said at a joint press conference with Sarkozy after their meeting in Elysee Palace. "I admire Mr. Sarkozy's courage and his leadership,and I think he has achieved great things for his country. Clearly the future is an issue for the French people, " the British prime minister told reporters. Tension has clouded relations between Paris and London, as the latter vetoed a change to the European Union treaty imposing tough control of states' deficits, on the grounds that it would hit Britain's financial interests. But two months later, both Sarkozy and Cameron tried to emphasize common ground. The pairs hailed the stronger relationship between the two countries by announcing a slate of joint programs which involve multibillion-dollar plans to build civil nuclear power plants in Britain, and strengthening cooperations in defense policies and foreign polices. "I believe it's a relationship that is easily strong enough to survive the odd bump or bounce when we sometimes have a disagreement," Cameron argued. French President Sarkozy admitted "there have been differences between us, which are traditional subjects linked to traditional opposing positions of France and Britain on the question of Europe." "I've always been convinced of the importance of Great Britain," Sarkozy added. After one-day summit, aimed at cementing partnership ties on defense and nuclear issues, French giant nuclear group Arava said it signed a memorandum of understanding with the British Rolls-Royce to build modern EPR reactors. According to a statement posted on the group website, the British engineering firm "will provide Areva equipment and technical and engineering services worth for an amount of 116 million euros ( 152.88 million U.S. dollars) for the first EPR to be built by EDF at Hinkley Point". The agreement had set a same investment value to build a second reactor in Britain.