(STRASBOURG) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy rejected Thursday Chinese pressure not to meet Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, saying it was not up to Beijing to set his agenda.

"It's not up to China to set my agenda and my meetings," he told members of the European Parliament, without confirming whether he would meet the Dalai Lama.

"There are things that China cannot say to European countries," he said.

On Tuesday, Chinese Ambassador Kong Quan warned of "serious consequences" to Sino-French relations if Sarkozy met the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader during his visit to France next month.

"If such a meeting took place, it would have serious consequences because it would be contrary to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs," the ambassador told reporters in Paris, without elaborating.

Sarkozy also insisted that he had sought the opinion of all 27 member states before making his controversial decision to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing in August, and that none had objected.

"I contacted every member state to get their opinion and to find out if any were opposed," he said. "I received the agreement of every member country to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games."

"No one opposed my participation," he said.

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