PARIS (Reuters) – French budget talks are moving ahead and must not be “taken hostage” by a dispute over remarks the prime minister made about immigration, government spokeswoman Sophie Primas said on Wednesday.
The budget talks were on the verge of collapse on Wednesday, a day after Socialist party officials suspended their participation in protest over Prime Minister Francois Bayrou’s remarks.
“At this stage the talks are ongoing. We do not wish for France’s budget to be taken hostage,” Primas told reporters after a meeting of the French ministerial cabinet.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon and Michel Rose; editing Leigh Thomas)
