2023-08-23 21:42:46
This is one of the back-to-school books. It is not a novel, but a political book, that of Nicolas Sarkozy. On this occasion, and to return to his remarks concerning in particular the war in Ukraine, the former head of state was the guest of the JT of TF1, Wednesday evening. Back to his most resounding statements.
The “serious fault” of Vladimir Putin
The former President of the Republic has managed to create a buzz around his new book The time of battles by evoking the war in Ukraine and by positioning itself against the entry of kyiv into NATO and the European Union. Questioned on this question by Gilles Bouleau, Nicolas Sarkozy persists and signs. He first recalled that he himself had been “very brutally confronted by Putin” trying to negotiate with the Russian president during “eight hours of extremely violent discussions” leading to the withdrawal of Russian tanks from Georgia.
However, he did not mention a “crime of Putin”, preferring to underline a “serious fault”. “I know he is guilty today in Ukraine,” he said, believing that the war could only be won in two ways: “either you annihilate the adversary or you negotiate.” Nicolas Sarkozy then militates to “find a solution which preserves the interests of Ukraine, but which makes people understand that Russia will not move, Putin or not Putin”. And to add: “The question of bringing Ukraine into NATO will only aggravate the situation”. “They say that Putin is Hitler, in that case you have to go find him in Moscow! “, he comments again.
“The migration crisis has not started”
Flagship subject of Nicolas Sarkozy’s five-year term and a theme that should punctuate the political return of the current government, immigration was also discussed during the interview. And the former president predicted: “The migration crisis has not started, the worst is yet to come because Europe is in demographic decline”, unlike Africa.
Nicolas Sarkozy then presents a new solution to another major subject: “Our destinies are linked, we must help the development of Africa. Immigration cannot continue like this, we must install treatment centers in Africa. “This is a major subject that causes a lot of concern among the French. You can say that and be a xenophobe, a racist, or on the far right, ”he argues.
Gerald Darmanin at the Elysée? And why not
He has always been able to remain faithful to his mentor, and Nicolas Sarkozy pays him back. The former head of state is now advertising Gérald Darmanin, someone he “loves a lot”, whose “humble origins” he appreciates, as well as the fact that he “is not formatted by the great schools like so many others”. To know if he will one day be a candidate, as rumors have been going around lately, “he will decide”, replies Nicolas Sarkozy. “Will he ever be elected? It’s so long away,” he adds.
And if Gérald Darmanin, could, in the eyes of Nicolas Sarkozy, act as a bulwark against Marine Le Pen, he nevertheless wants to make things clear. For him, it is “unbearable to reproach the National Rally for not being within the framework of the Republic”. “I do not like this systematic trial of the extreme right, the trial of illegitimacy seems to me unfair and insulting to the millions of people who vote for [Marine Le Pen] “, he continues.
“I didn’t embezzle a penny”
It’s not only at the start of the literary school year that Nicolas Sarkozy gets people talking about him. The former President of the Republic is often in the newspapers, in the justice section. Prosecuted in numerous cases, sentenced in some, in particular those of wiretapping… In May 2023, he was sentenced on appeal to three years in prison, including one closed under electronic surveillance and three years of deprivation of civil rights, before appealing in cassation. Wednesday evening again, he proclaims his innocence, saying that if his power is rejected, he will go to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). “I am a litigant who is not above the law but who is not below”, justifies Nicolas Sarkozy.
“I didn’t embezzle a penny, I was checked, nothing was found. It’s a long road, it’s an ordeal, I won’t lower my head for something I didn’t do, I won’t betray the French,” he defends himself.
“Vincent Bolloré does honor to the French economy”
No reason for Nicolas Sarkozy not to respond favorably to an interview at the JDD. On the contrary. For the former president, the acquisition of the Lagardère group by Vincent Bolloré and the arrival of Geoffroy Lejeune at the head of the new formula of the Sunday weekly is good news for journalism. “Do we not have the right to have a newspaper committed to the centre-right? In France not everyone is on the left. I am for pluralism,” he argues. Geoffroy Lejeune is from the far-right newspaper Current values.
“I deplore the witchcraft trials for the new director of the JDD or the new owner of the Lagardère group. [Vincent Bolloré] for whom I have affection, which does the honor of the French economy,” he adds.
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