Weekly brief

French Defense Minister Gérard Longuet traveled to Afghanistan on Saturday, January 21, the day after four French soldiers were killed there on Friday, January 20, the same day six U.S. marines were killed in a helicopter crash, CNN and the Washington Post reported. Eight French soldiers were among the 16 who were also wounded in the shooting. The Afghan Taliban stated on Saturday, January 21, that it had recruited the Afghan soldier who shot dead the four French soldiers, creating questions about the role and influence of the Taliban in Afghanistan’s military, as covered by Reuters and l’Express. French President Nicolas Sarkozy responded quickly on Friday, January 20, suspending France’s training of Afghan forces and discussing France’s withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, previously scheduled for 2014, according to le JDD and the LA Times.  

 François Hollande, 2012 presidential candidate for the Socialist Party, officially presented his presidential campaign on Sunday, January 22, in a speech before more than 20,000 people in Le Bourget, a northeastern suburb of Paris, ABC and le Monde reported. Presenting his platform exactly 90 days before the first round of voting, Hollande’s primary target was the financial sector, as he announced, among his proposed initiatives, plans to withdraw French troops from Afghanistan, eliminate stock options, create stricter regulations of bonuses, and pass a tax on financial transactions, according to Bloomberg. Presenting himself as the antithesis of France’s current leadership, Hollande said he hopes to bring the left to the presidency for the first time since 1995 and create a tradition of Socialist leadership to the nation, as the Socialist Party has only had one president – François Mitterand – during the Fifth Republic, according to les Echos.

 In the week after France’s sovereign debt was downgraded by Standard & Poor’s from the top AAA to AA+, a successful bond sale on Thursday, January 19, eased fears about the nation’s economy, Bloomberg and the Washington Post reported. Both France and neighbor Spain held successful bond auctions with greater demand and lower yields than prior to the downgrade, solidifying the belief that the much-anticipated downgrade had had little impact on the continent’s stability. While Spain sold €3 billion in 10-year bonds at a yield of 5.403 percent, France sold €9.5 billion in four-year and 10-year bonds at rates well below the 2.32 percent of last November, according to the New York Times.

 After France’s Energy Regulation Commission announced predictions on Tuesday, January 17, that the price of energy would rise 6 percent per year until 2016, Energy Minister Eric Besson emphasized on Friday, January 20, that any increases in energy prices would be “reasonable,” la Libération and Boursier reported. The question of energy prices emerged as Swiss Petroplus, Europe’s largest oil refinery, faces decreased lending capacity and could shut down plants in five nations, including France, where union protests have led Besson and fellow leaders to begin talks to help the failing company, as covered by the Wall Street Journal.

Germany and France pressed on Monday, January 23 for a rapid deal between Greece and its private creditors that returns its debt to sustainable levels and said they remained committed to a new bailout that is needed by March to avert a disastrous default, according to Reuters. The remaining question is whether the deal would return Greece's debt mountain, currently over 350 billion euros, to levels that European governments believe are sustainable. The euro pushed up to its highest level against the dollar in nearly three weeks on hopes for a successful debt swap. IMF chief Christine Lagarde urged European governments to increase their financial firewall to prevent Greece's troubles from ensnaring bigger countries like Italy and Spain.

 As doubts about credit rating agencies such as Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch grow among European leaders, German businessman Roland Berger told an Italian newspaper this week that a proposed European ratings agency could start work by the end of 2012, First Post and les Echos reported. Berger said the company would require 300 billion in initial capital and would operate as clients paid for objective and reliable ratings, according to le Nouvel Observateur.

 The photography giant Eastman Kodak Company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, January 19, le Figaro and the Chicago Tribune reported. The company, which had not seen a profitable year since 2007, was granted a $950-million financing deal with Citigroup and now has until February 15, 2013, to propose a reorganization that would bring the once leader in photography and photo cameras out of debt, as explored by the Christian Science Monitor. Part of the company’s financing plan would include the sale of 1,100 patents, which are predicted to bring Kodak up to $2 billion.

 To meet deadlines set by the European Banking Authority, banks across the European Union submitted recapitalization plans by Friday, January 20, in hopes of increasing reserves a total of 115 billion across the continent, Boursier and the New York Times reported. The European Banking Authority will then respond to individual banks on February 8 and 9, according to la Tribune.