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The French Berlusconi

Nicolas Sarkozy könnte sich auf der Weltbühne schnell einen Namen machen. Nur, nicht den den er sich wünscht.

Jonathan Steele
Friday November 9, 2007
The Guardian

Sechs Monaten im Dienst, und Nicolas Sarkozy hat nicht aufgehört sich auf der Weltbühne in Verlegenheit zu bringen. Von seinem ersten Auftreten am G8-Gipfel in Deutschland, an dem er hinsichtlich Kosovo dümmlich eine längere Verzögerung verlangte – ein Wunsch den seine neuen Partner ihm aus Höflichkeit gewährten - , bis zu seinem einschmeichelnden Besuch in Washington diese Woche, bewegt der Präsident Frankreichs aus falschen Gründen die Wellen. Starrköpfig und unreflektiert, riskiert Sarkozy einen Esel aus sich zu machen.

Man nehme seinem plötzlichen Abflug letzten Sonntag nach Tschad, wo eine Gruppe französischer ‘Menschenrechtler’ der Entführung von Kindern angeklagt worden ist, indem sie einige von ihnen vorgetäuschte Verbände anlegten und diese Kinder als Waisen bezeichneten, die sie fuer immer von ihren Eltern entfernen wollten. Hier handelt es sich um einen Fall, der es offensichtlich verdient vor Gericht gebracht zu werden.

Trotzdem fliegt Präsident Sarkozy nach N'djamena und erklärt dort, daß er wünsche, die Beklagten nach Frankreich zu nehmen und ihnen dort Gerechtigkeit widerfahren zu lassen. Außer der Implikation im Benehmen Sarkozys, daß die angeblichen Entführer ebenso wie die entführten Kinder Opfer seien, überrascht es kaum, daß Chadians seine Tätigkeiten als unerträgliche imperiale Zumutung betrachten. Dennoch sagt Sarkozy am folgenden Tag, daß seine Reise zeige, daß Frankreich ein "neues" Verhältnis zu seinen ehemaligen Kolonien in Afrika anstrebe, in dem er sie als “Gleiche” behandele. “Mein Gott!”…

Of course, Sarkozy and his then wife, Cécilia, had already intervened in Libya to rescue five Bulgarian nurses accused of spreading Aids. But the nurses had already spent several years in jail on evidence that was vague and deeply flawed. There is no comparison with the Chadian allegations - and if Sarkozy thinks he sees a chance for a second "success" in extracting Europeans from the horrors of Africa, more's the pity.

The visit to Washington - from where he returned yesterday - is of a different dimension, though here the Americans are as much to blame as Sarkozy and his entourage for the phoney mood music. They are hyping the alleged shift in French policy as falsely as Sarkozy's people. Some US and French commentators are even saying that Sarkozy is Bush's staunchest European friend, the new Tony Blair.

What is the substance? Sarkozy's predecessor, Chirac, was a lifelong admirer of America, spending a gap year there, working in a bar and collecting a bevy of American girlfriends. Sarkozy, by contrast, first visited the US at the age of 31 as the guest of a US government "young leaders" programme - the classic case of an ambitious man who was willing to be wooed.

Chirac's cooling towards America was not based on prejudice but a principled difference in policy over Iraq - a stance that Sarkozy (to his democratic credit, since few French people would support a turnaround) is not reversing.

All that has happened is a shift in symbolism in the war on terror, pushed partly by France's foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, who did agree with the attack on Iraq. France will send 50 military trainers, not to Iraq but southern Afghanistan, as well as letting its Mirage fighter-bombers go into action there. Not much change there.

The main US excitement came from a stray Sarkozy comment that he might rejoin Nato's integrated compound almost 50 years after De Gaulle walked out. Washington saw an opening, and hopes this reconciliation will happen at the alliance's next summit in April. Since then, however, the Gaullists around the president have taken the issue back from the Atlanticists, and policy is likely to remain unchanged - though, with his impetuosity and a dose of Bush flattery this week, who knows what Sarkozy will do?

On some "Islamic" issues he is certainly closer to Bush than Chirac was. Sarkozy speaks more fiercely against Iran and more warmly towards Israel. On Turkey there is a difference. While Bush sees a western interest in wooing Ankara, Sarkozy feels no such imperative. He wants Turkey kept out of the EU.

At home, Sarkozy's rush to act first and think afterwards is as notable as on foreign policy. So are his arrogance and bad temper. He demeaned his friend and jogging partner, the prime minister François Fillon, by calling him an "aide". He shouted at his press secretary, publicly accusing him of being a "child" and an "imbecile". Where is the dignity of the office?

Where is a sense of the responsibilities a president carries? Where is the subtlety needed by anyone who wants to negotiate a new deal with France's public service workers? Foreign policy was almost absent from the presidential campaign. So why race around like a bull in an international china shop when you were elected to implement a domestic agenda?

The glamour of foreign summits is seductive. But even in a global television age European leaders are still judged by what they do at home rather than abroad. Stick to that, Sarkozy. Ground yourself for a while. Otherwise, you may do worse than Tony Blair. You could become the gaffe-prone European whom your colleagues roll their eyes at when you turn your back - the new Berlusconi, the clown they grimly have to grin and bear.

j.steele@guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,,2208061,00.html

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