"I would sometimes like Macron to cross the Rubicon", launches Sarkozy in the "JDD"

Gauthier Delomez 11:45 p.m., October 22, 2022

Five months after the re-election of Emmanuel Macron, Nicolas Sarkozy, who supported him during the presidential election, agreed to answer questions from

.

The former President of the Republic remains on the lookout for political life, and shares his analysis of the first months of Emmanuel Macron's second term.

He also reacts to the murder of little Lola, "a despicable act", and is annoyed by the large part of the Obligations to leave the territory (OQTF) which are not carried out.

Europe 1 offers some strong passages from this interview.

On his support for Emmanuel Macron: "If I had to do it again, I would do it again"

Nicolas Sarkozy does not regret having slipped a ballot in the name of Emmanuel Macron during the second round of the presidential election.

"As everyone knows, I supported him. And if I had to do it again, I would do it again," explains the former president.

Who continues: "Politics is never a choice of absolute value, always a choice of relative value."

If he "did not want" Jean-Luc Mélenchon or Marine Le Pen, the 61-year-old politician believes that helping Macron was "in the interest of France, the best possible decision".

However, he keeps a certain distance with the current tenant of the Élysée.

"Does this mean that I agree with everything, or satisfied with everything? That's another story," he told our colleagues from the JDD.

During this presidential election, the Republican candidate, Valérie Pécresse, achieved an extremely low score in the first round.

"To be able to choose a candidate in the second round, he still had to be qualified. Or that he had a credible chance of being so", asserts the former President of the Republic.

On Emmanuel Macron: “Sometimes I would like him to cross the Rubicon”

If he underlines the qualities of "cold blood, moderation and experience" of Emmanuel Macron, while recalling that he comes from the left, Nicolas Sarkozy "would sometimes like him to cross the Rubicon more frankly , because today France is mostly on the side of the party of authority, firmness, freedom (...) If I had one wish, it would be for the political matrix of the president to come closer of the matrix of the country as I feel it," he adds.

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For him to cross this Rubicon, the former president of the Republicans notes that Emmanuel Macron "has undeniable intuitions and experience. But I observe that he can sometimes be tempted to stop in the middle of the ford. This are the disadvantages of 'at the same time'", tackle Nicolas Sarkozy.

The murder of Lola, "an absolute drama"

"I learned with dismay what had happened to Lola. Like any father of a little girl of the same age, I thought it could have happened to her," says Nicolas Sarkozy in the JDD.

"Mad people, barbarians, men or women, this has always existed. I would like us not to mix everything up", continues the former head of state, rejecting the sensitive question of the low rate of execution of OQTF in this case.

"The non-execution of the decisions to leave the territory is not the question. I would have been just as upset if this despicable act had been committed by a Frenchman", supports the former tenant of the Élysée.

For him, "the death of Lola, whoever the criminal, is an absolute tragedy. But I want to add that if Lola were still alive, I would still be scandalized by the non-execution of deportations to the border", holds he to add.

"In my day, OQTFs weren't at 6% execution"

In the case of the murder of Lola, the main suspect was concerned by an Obligation to leave the territory.

"It's been a long time since we should have been concerned about the non-execution of deportations to the border", explains Nicolas Sarkozy, returning to his visit to the Elysée.

"I had changed the legislation. I was literally insulted during my five years in office by all the 'human rights' people because we went so far as to organize return charters to the countries of origin. "

Before pointing the finger at the balance sheet of "immediate successor", implied François Hollande.

"In my time, the OQTFs were not at 6% execution, even if there was progress to be made. All the legislative arsenal to fight against irregular immigration that we had put in place was systematically dismantled by my immediate successor. Gérald Darmanin is right to demand more firmness", assures Nicolas Sarkozy.

On the continuation of the war in Ukraine: it is "alas" to be worried

The former head of state also addresses the war in Ukraine, and for him, it is necessary "alas!"

to worry.

“I would like someone to explain to me one day what it means to go to war without going to war”, he says.

“If there is a concept that should require clarity, it is that of war and peace. Either we make war or we make peace. Combining the two does not make much sense. in any case, when they are used at the same time", explains Nicolas Sarkozy.

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He also affirms that Emmanuel Macron "is perfectly right to want to maintain contact with Vladimir Putin. How can the war be stopped without speaking to the belligerents?" Adds the one who had notably met the master of the Kremlin as President of the Republic, in June 2007.

On the energy crisis: the result of an "irresponsible strategic choice"

Among the subjects discussed with our colleagues from the JDD, Nicolas Sarkozy spoke about the energy crisis that France is going through.

If the country is threatened by power cuts this winter, for the former tenant of the Élysée, this risk "is the result of an irresponsible strategic choice, in complete rupture with the history of the Fifth Republic. All the presidents, including François Mitterrand (...) have supported nuclear power, up to François Hollande who, to seduce environmentalists, took the foolish risk of suspending the future of the French nuclear industry", criticizes Nicolas Sarkozy.

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However, when it was decided to close the Fessenheim power plant under Macron's first five-year term, "the train was unfortunately well underway when (Emmanuel Macron) took over the reins of the state. Since then, he has changed his mind. … in a good way”, remarks the politician, who therefore keeps a watchful eye on French political life.