Sarkozy, France and Europe
France has a new president: Nicolas Sarkozy. Will he steer European politics in a new direction and end the impasse over the constitution? Or will he divide the EU further over the issue of EU membership for Turkey?
Euro|topics dossiers on the election of Nicolas Sarkozy
Main focus of Friday, 18. May 2007
The idea of a mini treaty defended by the French president Nicolas Sarkozy is evolving in Europe, notably after his meeting in Berlin on Wednesday, ... » more
The idea of a mini treaty defended by the French president Nicolas Sarkozy is evolving in Europe, notably after his meeting in Berlin on Wednesday, May 16th, with the German chancellor Angela Merkel. The European commentators consider that this project, which has reduced the ambition of political integration, should give a new thrust to Europe.
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Europe
All available articles from » Bastienne Joerchel
Main focus of Tuesday, 8. May 2007
As soon as he was elected on Sunday, May 6th, the future French president Nicolas Sarkozy committed himself to placing Europe at the top of ... » more
As soon as he was elected on Sunday, May 6th, the future French president Nicolas Sarkozy committed himself to placing Europe at the top of his list of priorities. The press wonders if France's European policy will change when he comes to power.
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Domestic Policy, » France, » Europe
All available articles from » Arnaud Leparmentier
Main focus of Friday, 30. March 2007
Nicolas Sarkozy, the right-wing Presidential candidate has provoked a heated debate in France by proposing the creation of a 'ministry of immigration and national identity'. ... » more
Nicolas Sarkozy, the right-wing Presidential candidate has provoked a heated debate in France by proposing the creation of a 'ministry of immigration and national identity'. What is national identity and how can it be defined in relation to European identity currently evolving ?
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Migration, » Integration, » France
Main focus of Monday, 15. January 2007
On Sunday, January 14th, the French Minister of the Interior, Nicolas Sarkozy, was named official candidate of the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) for ... » more
On Sunday, January 14th, the French Minister of the Interior, Nicolas Sarkozy, was named official candidate of the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) for the presidential election with a vote of the party's members. Over 98,1 % of the voters chose him. This result and the speech delivered yesterday by Sarkozy have received abundant commentary from the European press.
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » France
Euro|topics magazine
France
Le Monde - France | Wednesday, 7. February 2007
The French philosopher André Glucksmann, considered a left-wing intellectual, recently advertised his support for the right-wing presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy in an article published in ... » more
The French philosopher André Glucksmann, considered a left-wing intellectual, recently advertised his support for the right-wing presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy in an article published in the daily 'Le Monde'. The French novelist Jean-Marie Laclavetine reacts strongly to this stance. "'Why I have chosen Nicolas Sarkozy' [the philosopher had written]... Come on, Glucksmann, it really wasn't necessary to specify this. You have so much in common with him. It is not a choice; it is a slope, a destiny. Like Nicolas you are full of immense love of yourself and figures of strength. You venerated Mao, you admire George W.Bush, you would have loved Picrochole [archetype of the corrupt king created by French writer François Rabelais], if only as a target for you dazzling diatribe. ... As always, you need a powerful figure to adore and a baddy to detest along with complacent ears for you to pour your vast theories into."
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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » France
Le Nouvel Observateur - France | Thursday, 15. February 2007
In an interview with Claude Asklovitch, the French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy considers the rallying cry in favour of Nicolas Sarkozy, right-wing French presidential candidate, pronounced in Le Monde by the philosopher André Glucksmann, normally considered a left-wing intellectual. "I don't understand him. Sarko is neither a fascist, nor a bastard. This is something that the left will debate when it has nothing to say. However, for me, the political engagement of intellectuals in an electoral campaign assumes three principles: » more
In an interview with Claude Asklovitch, the French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy considers the rallying cry in favour of Nicolas Sarkozy, right-wing French presidential candidate, pronounced in Le Monde by the philosopher André Glucksmann, normally considered a left-wing intellectual. "I don't understand him. Sarko is neither a fascist, nor a bastard. This is something that the left will debate when it has nothing to say. However, for me, the political engagement of intellectuals in an electoral campaign assumes three principles: First of all, we are not blind-followers, we are not sheep ... . Secondly, one becomes engaged by default, for lack of a better option, with circumspection: I can't imagine Sartre consecrating a candidate with the fervour of those who are joining Sarkozy camp today. And then there is timing : intellectuals are buccaneers, gangsters, people who lay down conditions, exercise maximum pressure, who should say ye or nay as late as possible, having obtained maximum booty: strong gestures and commitment to what counts most."
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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » France
All available articles from » Bernard-Henri Levy, » Claude Askolovitch
France and Europe
Der Standard - Austria | Thursday, 10. May 2007
Paul Lendvai believes Eastern Europe should look to France, where a man like Nicolas Sarkozy can become president: » more
Paul Lendvai believes Eastern Europe should look to France, where a man like Nicolas Sarkozy can become president: "The fact that in one week, the Paris-born son of a minor aristocratic Hungarian refugee and nephew of a Sephardic Jew from Thessalonica will become the president of France is - in view of the European past and present - an historical event. Sarkozy's election is, given the numerous underhand moves by Le Pen's people and the poisonous remark by François Bayrou about his 'roots,' impressive evidence of the equanimity and tolerance of French society. In his father's homeland, Hungary, right-wing conservative populists attack their critics or opponents as people 'with a foreign heart' or a 'foreign attitude.' In Serbia, nationalists bad-mouth moderate democrats as yes-men and stooges of foreigners. In Budapest or Belgrade and especially in Warsaw or Moscow, a freely elected president like Sarkozy, with similar roots, is hard to imagine."
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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Integration, » France, » Eastern Europe
All available articles from » Paul Lendvai
La Repubblica - Italy | Tuesday, 15. May 2007
"What is the EU for ?" wonders the editorialist Lucio Caracciolo, noting that on numerous occasions the countries that form it prefer to act independently of one another. He fears that the election of Nicolas Sarkozy will do little to improve this situation. "First Romano Prodi, then Giorgio Napolitano - our leaders have adopted a serious tone to warn us about the state of the EU, thus indicating that even at the highest level of the Italian State, it is acknowledged that the crisis that Europe is going through is not only a crisis of expansion, but a real crisis of identity ... . Sarkozy's victory seals the idea of a Europe with 27 gears. The new French president has already confirmed that national interests will guide his action and that he will make a big point of consolidating France in an informal executive board of three: » more
"What is the EU for ?" wonders the editorialist Lucio Caracciolo, noting that on numerous occasions the countries that form it prefer to act independently of one another. He fears that the election of Nicolas Sarkozy will do little to improve this situation. "First Romano Prodi, then Giorgio Napolitano - our leaders have adopted a serious tone to warn us about the state of the EU, thus indicating that even at the highest level of the Italian State, it is acknowledged that the crisis that Europe is going through is not only a crisis of expansion, but a real crisis of identity ... . Sarkozy's victory seals the idea of a Europe with 27 gears. The new French president has already confirmed that national interests will guide his action and that he will make a big point of consolidating France in an informal executive board of three: Paris, Berlin and London. Rome, Madrid and Warsaw have been pushed back into a second division".
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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Italy, » Europe
All available articles from » Lucio Caracciolo
El Mundo - Spain | Tuesday, 27. February 2007
Nicolas Sarkozy is visiting Madrid this Tuesday, February 27th. The conservative daily gives a favourable presentation of the position he has taken on the fight against terrorism and openly supports his presidential candidacy. "Spain would be better off with Sarkozy [right-wing candidate] as president of France, because he is a political leader who has not only demonstrated his intention to fight ETA [Basque Separatist Organisation] terrorism, he also has an idea of how to do so. As he has indicated in our pages [in an exclusive interview], the Madrid Airport bombings prove that ETA is not a 'reliable interlocutor' and the fact that it is claiming that the cease-fire has not been interrupted as a consequence is 'indecent'. For Sarkozy, dialogue with terrorists has a clear limit: » more
Nicolas Sarkozy is visiting Madrid this Tuesday, February 27th. The conservative daily gives a favourable presentation of the position he has taken on the fight against terrorism and openly supports his presidential candidacy. "Spain would be better off with Sarkozy [right-wing candidate] as president of France, because he is a political leader who has not only demonstrated his intention to fight ETA [Basque Separatist Organisation] terrorism, he also has an idea of how to do so. As he has indicated in our pages [in an exclusive interview], the Madrid Airport bombings prove that ETA is not a 'reliable interlocutor' and the fact that it is claiming that the cease-fire has not been interrupted as a consequence is 'indecent'. For Sarkozy, dialogue with terrorists has a clear limit: It is impossible to 'swap tranquillity with impunity or security with justice'. This is a principle that should be followed in all peace processes."
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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Domestic Policy, » France, » Spain
The row about the constitution
The Economist - United Kingdom | Thursday, 26. April 2007
"Europe's leaders are united around two incompatible beliefs", notes the weekly. "The first is that their citizens want them to press ahead with reviving most or all of the constitution. The second is that it is wisest to avoid testing this thesis by asking those citizens directly in new referendums. ... As one top Eurocrat puts it, the thought of further referendums inspires 'absolute, sheer terror' in Brussels. This terror may explain why so many EU leaders are rooting for Nicolas Sarkozy to win the French presidential election. Forget ideology: » more
"Europe's leaders are united around two incompatible beliefs", notes the weekly. "The first is that their citizens want them to press ahead with reviving most or all of the constitution. The second is that it is wisest to avoid testing this thesis by asking those citizens directly in new referendums. ... As one top Eurocrat puts it, the thought of further referendums inspires 'absolute, sheer terror' in Brussels. This terror may explain why so many EU leaders are rooting for Nicolas Sarkozy to win the French presidential election. Forget ideology: what counts is his plan to ditch the constitution and rush an 'institutional treaty' through the French parliament without a referendum. ... In the name of decency, if nothing else, it would be nice if the union's leaders would admit that, when it comes to discovering what their citizens want, their hearing is no better than anybody else's."
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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » EU Constitution, » Europe
The Turkey debate
Kathimerini - Greece | Tuesday, 15. May 2007
"A 'special relationship' between Ankara and the EU, which is being proposed by Mr Sarkozy [France's president-elect] and heartily backed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, ... » more
"A 'special relationship' between Ankara and the EU, which is being proposed by Mr Sarkozy [France's president-elect] and heartily backed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is only viable if Turkey itself embraces this option, for its own reasons", notes the Greek columnist Costas Iordanidis. "The Greek government does not back this prospect because it would allow Ankara to gain all the benefits of EU membership without obliging it to cooperate with Greece subject to the principles of good neighborly relations. The Cypriot government has more or less the same stance. ... The entrance of Sarkozy onto the European political stage will prompt an essential slowdown, if not total paralysis, of Turkey's European-bound course. This calls for alertness from Greece's political leadership, which always thought that the European Commission would be able to solve its longstanding problems with Turkey."
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More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » EU Policy, » Greece, » Turkey
All available articles from » Costas Iordanidis
Kathimerini - Greece | Saturday, 5. May 2007
"Turkey is not Europe but Asia, said Nicolas Sarkozy during the televised debate with his Socialist rival Segolene Royal. In other words, Asia Minor - ... » more
"Turkey is not Europe but Asia, said Nicolas Sarkozy during the televised debate with his Socialist rival Segolene Royal. In other words, Asia Minor - birthplace of the third century Christian saint after whom the [victorious] presidential candidate was named - is not Europe", notes the journalist Machalis N. Katsigeras. "So there is de Gaulle's vision of Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals, the Crusaders' idea of a Catholic Europe, the Christian Europe of the Holy Alliance, Hitler's New Europe, the New Europe of the enlargement-planners in Brussels. ... Europe's borders, particularly to the east, were never clear. Geography may provide some answers but historical, cultural and anthropological factors complicate matters."
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More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » History, » Europe, » Turkey
All available articles from » Michalis N. Katsigeras
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