I gave myself an objective, to be the second president from Correze and finally to be the successor to Francois Mitterrand.
There’s always a risk when the candidate becomes president: Will he deliver what is expected of him?
We’re all taking part in this solidarity. The French, the Germans, just like all the Europeans in the ESM. Let’s stop thinking that there’s only one country who’s going to pay for the others. That’s false.
What is at stake is preserving our relations with the United States. They should not be changed because of what has happened. But trust has to be restored and reinforced.
The transatlantic relationship is vital for both our countries: France will remain a reliable ally of the United States. Nevertheless, ally does not mean aligned.
Nicolas Sarkozy said he could see a wave rising. For once he was right. The wave’s coming; it’s high, its strong, and it’s going to smack him in the face.
Europe needs an engine, and the Franco-German motor has provided that when the two nations have converged on important topics during critical periods. But that partnership shouldn’t be a directorate for other EU members.
I have defended the interests of France at the G8 in Washington; afterwards I was at Chicago to announce the withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan; I have participated in two European summits, so I have fully respected the engagements I made to the French.
During a term in office there are highs and lows, but what counts is that the goal is set as well as the means to achieve it, and the force we put into getting results.
Between France and Senegal there’s a history. There’s a language that we both speak. There’s a culture that we share and to which both of our peoples have contributed. But beyond our history, beyond our language, beyond the links that have united us for so long, what unites us today is the future.
Nothing was given to me, nothing was entrusted to me, nothing was assigned to me. Everything I have, I took by right.
That is now my mission: to provide a European vision of growth, employment, prosperity – in one word, our future.
France, after the month of May, will share trust with the current leadership of the United States which, on many subjects, has tended to take useful positions in our view.
Before you, I engage myself to serve my country with the devotion and the exemplary that this post demands. I understand responsibilities of the job and, as such, I give a republican salute to Nicolas Sarkozy who has led France for 5 years and who deserves all of our respect.
What the French want is coherence, stability and justice. If I am in a favorable position today, it’s because my fellow citizens want to make the effort to straighten out the country, and at the same time they want it to be just and equitable.
I don’t want to drive the markets crazy. I don’t want to create trouble, but rather order and rules and norms. We have to struggle against financial excesses, those who speculate with sovereign debt, those who develop financial products which have done so much harm.
Terrorism fuels itself from all kinds of illicit trafficking: drugs, weapons, human beings.
No one imposes things on anyone in Europe. That’s not my notion, nor is it my temperament. The EU has always functioned under the banner of respect, equilibrium and trust.
Germany and France are pinning their hopes on young people, in terms of education, science and innovation.
Symbols mean a lot in politics. They indicate a will and create new realities.
Mitterrand had a sense for symbols, and he was the first Socialist president since 1958. He wanted to show that there is historical continuity, a connection with the great figures of French history.