July 14, 2008
Sarkozy bounces back
For those of you who missed Nicolas Sarkozy’s appearance last week at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, there are always YouTube and Dailymotion. In one revealing clip, the unforgettable 1968 student rebel Daniel Cohn-Bendit, now a Green MEP, is shown berating the French president for his decision to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.
The tieless, slightly crumpled Cohn-Bendit waves his arms about, jabs his fingers and slices his hands through the air. Sarkozy, immaculate in a dark suit, remains seated, listening carefully, his fingers caressing a pen.
In response to Cohn-Bendit’s accusation that he has gone soft on China over human rights, Sarkozy starts by teasing his opponent: “Mr Cohn-Bendit, I know how generous you are. You’ve never been stingy with advice, especially advice for me.” Then the president makes the killer point: “You can’t boycott a quarter of humanity.”
It is a startling thought that Cohn-Bendit, at the age of 63, is 10 years older than Sarkozy and worse dressed. But the real lesson from last Thursday’s political theatre is that Sarkozy is capable of sheer brilliance under pressure.
He had just flown halfway round the world from the G8 summit in Japan, but in Strasbourg he delivered a long speech - having discarded his prepared text - and then answered questions from various MEPs for well over three hours. By the end, Hans-Gert Pöttering, the European Parliament president, wasn’t the only legislator eating out of Sarkozy’s hand.
One senior French official told Sarkozy it was his most impressive performance since he won the French presidency in May 2007. Of course, that was three days before he hosted more than 40 European, North African and Middle Eastern leaders in Paris at a summit that launched a new platform for co-operation in the Mediterranean region.
That meeting, fraught with risks, went pretty well, too. After a wobble at the start of France’s six-month EU presidency, when he went too far in attacking the European Central Bank and the European Commission’s trade policies, Sarkozy is getting attention for the right reasons.
Nicolas Sarkozy is a true statesmen. His exchange with the pugnacious Daniel Cohn-Bendit speaks volumes about the man.
Posted by: Tom Skypek | July 16th, 2008 at 7:38 pm | Report this commentNicolas is not another Napoleon tyrant.
His shredding by Le Pen was a disgraceful eulogy of truth.
To witness such an “agent provocateur” in full flight was stirring.
Posted by: Riddi of England | July 24th, 2008 at 9:00 pm | Report this commentSarko is the best dressed man in europe, and obviously, the world. You can’t go up against such sartorial excellence without ironing your shirt.
Posted by: Stellan Sjögreen, Banker 39 | July 30th, 2008 at 9:49 am | Report this commentYou are very critical of people Mr. Barber!
I don’t like Sarkozy! I actually think that he is Europe’s most bling-bling head of State after Silvio Berlusconi!
What made you think that Poettering was eating out of Sarkozy’s hand? I think it was just kindness!
He was courteous! Well a bit excessively but…
Barroso is, one could say, Europe’s best representative for lessons ”How to eat out of somebody’s hand”!!!
Posted by: Angela | September 4th, 2008 at 1:08 am | Report this commentWell, Mr Sarkozy is eating now form Russias hand.
Posted by: Draiver | September 9th, 2008 at 12:14 am | Report this commentHumbly.