Nicolás Sarkozy (Paris, 1955) tells an anecdote that describes his relationship with Vladimir Putin. It was the summer of 2008 and Russian troops had invaded Georgia. The French president wanted to intervene in the crisis to force his Russian counterpart to withdraw his tanks. He had an “eight hour” long meeting with him. In the middle of the meeting, his wife, singer and model Carla Bruni, called him. He says he can’t answer but he has made it a habit not to keep his wife waiting. For this reason I decided to make the phone hands free. and put it on hold for a while. According to Sarkozy, Bruni then asked him: “Who were you talking to? You were shouting!” said. The meeting was tense, but the Frenchman says that thanks to the meeting, Putin withdrew from the occupied country.
This episode was described this Wednesday by the former French president at the presentation of his memoirs in Madrid. Years of struggle (Editor Alliance). At an event held at the Ritz hotel, Sarkozy argued for negotiations with Putin to end the war in Ukraine. “I’m surprised that people talk about Putin without meeting him. I had eighty meetings with him,” the Frenchman said. “How do you solve a problem without talking to the enemy? How do you solve it? By being smart on TV, saying you have to send in guns and bombs?”
Sarkozy supported his presentation in Madrid former president José María Aznarwhom he describes as a friend, “even if he does not always have an easy character”; President of the community, Isabel Diaz Ayuso; and the mayor of the city, José Luis Martínez-Almeida. Sarkozy says Madrid is one of his favorite cities in the world: “I could live in Madrid […] It is Paris with less rain, higher altitude, less traffic congestion and a better mayor,” he added, referring to Almeida and his counterpart Anne Hidalgo.
Regarding Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, Sarkozy believes that France should remain on Israel’s side, “because there was the Shoah” [el holocausto]”but also remember this”It was not the Arabs who destroyed the Jewish people; Auschwitz is in Europe, not in the Middle East.” “I stand with Netanyahu not because I defend Israel’s existence: the two-state solution is the only possible solution, it is also for Israel’s security.”
Sarkozy criticized the United Nations, which, in his opinion, should solve the problem. “Who knows the UN Secretary General?” he asked rhetorically. offers to create a new Security Council has more permanent members. What exists does not represent the world today: it is not an African or Latin American country, he argues, nor is India, the world’s most populous country.
Convicted and charged
At the beginning of October, the judge accused Nicolas Sarkozy of illegally financing his campaign with Libyan money, tampering with witnesses and committing fraud in an organized gang. He was already sentenced to one year in prison for corruption in 2021. In his book, the former French president assures that his conviction and the ongoing trials are part of a process. unjust persecution against his person.
In these memoirs, which he wrote in French and is the only memoir translated into Spanish, he describes the last years of his Presidency between 2007 and 2012, which were marked by the 2008 economic crisis. During his visit to Spain in 2009, in the middle of the euro crisis. He assures that the cause of the global systemic crisis is the lack of regulation in financial markets.
Imagine it’s Spain “One of the greatest nations in Europe”, but he doesn’t quite believe it: “Sometimes I thought I believed in the importance of Spain more than many Spaniards,” he said in Madrid. Cooperation in the fight against ETA stands out in relations with our country: He remembers from his time as the Minister of Internal Affairs of France: “I said in 2002 that France would not be a base for terrorists.”
Nicolás Sarkozy emphasized: “Reached the top” He was in power even though he did not belong to the French elite. He justified the pleasure of the struggle and the passion for life. He did not rule out rejoining in response to questions from journalist Ana Blanco, who moderated the event.
Obama and Carla Bruni
In the book, Sarkozy describes his relationships with world leaders at length. defined Barack Obama is handsome but cold and is very concerned about his image. He bitterly described how the American president refused to issue a joint statement calling for a fair trial of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whom he “liked” and was eventually executed. Obama told him no because it would create a bad image on Egypt’s youth. According to Sarkozy, this was a mistake: “I am a man of beliefs, not of image.”
Sarkozy During the Years of Struggle He distances himself from the far right without hesitation. He calls him populist and irresponsible. He defends the necessity of a solid democratic right and the historical right-left two-party system.
About his relationship with the singer Carla BruniSarkozy, who made the couple world famous, claims that his fast-paced Mediterranean character is complemented by his slower-burning solid character. He expressed that he felt pain for his father’s mistake He explained in an interview with a German newspaper That Bruni is pregnant.