The Gallic Pride Is Not to Be Humbled - Sarkozy in a fighting mood

by Rikke Brammer Buk

Mr. Sarkozy, do you feel that the summits negotiations are going in the right direction?

“The Commission’s position is too soft. It is trying to solve current European problems of European immigration, but in their proposal there are some points that are extremely unacceptable for France, for instance burden-sharing and resettlement. France already has a population of approximately 14% of foreign origin. Until they are fully integrated, France does not wish to take on any new immigrants. This is due to the fact, that France's immigration policy has always been to make a Frenchman out of the foreigner, and so that we need to accomplish that with the ones we already have.”

What outcome of this summit would you fell is needed, in order for France to move away from ideas of returning to national borders?

France is trying to introduce a more strict rule against immigrants, in the light of a new wave of immigrants due to the Arab Spring. The perfect outcome for France would be that our delegation convinces our allies and friends in the EU at both the state and institutional levels, that more strict norms against immigration are needed for the EU. This is because Europe is suffering from the economical crisis and we cannot afford more immigrants.

For instance, yesterday Poland mentioned that they needed more immigrants due to the economical growth experienced in Poland. But if these immigrants to come to Poland, the Polish government should make sure that they bind these immigrants to Poland, and make sure these immigrants do not end up in France after a few months. We have better living conditions and better wages, and so immigrants tend to come to France. If this insurance of fixation is not given to France, we will be forced to extract ourselves from the Schengen Agreement.

How do you feel about the Commission’s proposal of Safe Ports in the neighbouring states of the EU?

It is the French position that we should take of our problem outside the EU. If we bring it inside, it is always harder to solve. So the French offer is, that we can establish asylum camps outside the European borders. These asylum camps or Safe Ports should be in states such as Tunisia, Turkey, and Ukraine. We must be sure that the new resettlement camps will comply with human rights. France is not against the Geneva Convention, and we are not against the Human Rights Convention. We respect all of these rules and we should make sure that these camps for asylum seekers outside our borders follow these rules.

What do you hope to gain from today's meeting with the Alliance of European Nationalist Movements and German Federal Chancellor Merkel on the Commission’s proposal? 

We decided to meet them because the representative and the president of the national movements are French and besides the fact that they are rather radical, we decided to meet them and listen to what their positions are, towards a common EU Immigration Policy. Also what their opinions and suggestions are in the light of the Commissions proposal.