Joe Biden: “But let me answer the French issue first. It is always difficult, as my friend knows, understanding what the French…”

“But let me answer the French issue first. It is always difficult, as my friend knows, understanding what the French mean. But the short answer to his question is that France has changed its view. France has publicly now said that in fact it will now meet its share of the expansion cost. Second, on the first question asked about target goals, I remind my friend of a little bit of history; that is, that it is important to note that Greece, Turkey, Germany, and Spain were admitted to NATO without any target force goal, and that no ally meets--including us--100 percent of the target force goal now, No. 1. No. 2, to the extent that the three new applicants are committing to and fulfilling their targets in advance of accession is another demonstration that their commitment to the alliance and their capability to fulfill those target goals are, in fact, real, Poland has stated that it will fulfill all the target force goals that are due prior to accession.”