The letter and Mr Sarkozy’s comments barely mentioned foreign policy, and
stressed the value of work and personal responsibility, and defended
France’s secular society.
“In this new world, if France doesn’t want to submit, France must be
strong,” he said in the letter. “France can keep its values, its
identity, its way of life. But if we want to continue in this France that we
love, we must rebuild, redefine, and reinvent our policies.”
France holds its first round of presidential elections April 22, with the two
front-runners of that vote squaring off on May 6. Mr Sarkozy leads in most
of the polls for the first round while trailing behind his Socialist
Challenger, Francois Hollande in the second.
Mr Sarkozy reiterated his calls for the EU to tighten up its Schengen system
of open borders and to create a “Buy European” act for public
markets, threatening that France will go it alone on both issues within a
year if its concerns haven’t been met.
“Europe should protect us, instead it has aggravated our difficulties,”
Mr Sarkozy said.
Source: Bloomberg