Posted on 05/13/2007 10:13:56 AM PDT by drzz
President-elect Nicolas Sarkozy, a rightwinger, has offered the foreign minister job in France's next government to Hubert Vedrine, a Socialist heavyweight, political sources said on Friday. Vedrine was top aide to the late president Francois Mitterrand before serving as foreign minister under Socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin between 1997 and 2002. "Nicolas Sarkozy has offered the Quai d'Orsay (the foreign ministry) to Hubert Vedrine. Vedrine is considering the offer," a source told AFP. Sarkozy, who was elected president last Sunday, has said several times he would welcome left and centrist politicians into his government.
Vedrine was known for having called the United States "hyper-power", in a very negative way. Vedrine opposed the war in Iraq, said that US foreign policy was blind, disastrous and ridiculous and is still a socialist.
Sarkozy is already making murky decisions. Sarkozy, friend of the USA ? It seems that the French stupidity is still raging...
And I just bought some french wines this week.
Le Ton Nouveau
Geez, it worked so well for Bush `didn’t it?
Of course.
First mistake....downhill from now on.
Maybe he can add a few islamics to the mix
Sarkozy first decision is a disaster, but Vedrine hasn’t accepted the job yet.
Anyway, giving the foreign ministry to Vedrine is not good at all for the USA.
Sacre bleu!
International rule of thumb: Hate Amrica, until the sh!t hits the fan.
The Weekly standard thinks that it’s not that bad:
” It is rumored that both Claude Allègre, a former Socialist minister of education, and Hubert Védrine, a former Socialist aide to Mitterrand and foreign minister with strong anti-American biases, have been offered positions in the cabinet.
This move is perhaps just tactical. In order to govern France effectively, Sarkozy needs to win the upcoming National Assembly elections, scheduled for June 10 and 17. And that entails, in his opinion, appearing inclusive (especially in the context of renewed rioting in Paris and in other urban areas). More than 1,000 cars have been burned by far-left and ethnic hooligans since Election Day—a disturbance without precedent in recent French politics.
Still unclear is whether Ségolène Royal will lead the Socialist party in the parliamentary elections next month. She lost the presidential ballot, but won herself a name. She may be pathetic as a debater—in the momentous May 2 televised showdown with Sarkozy, she suggested that female police officers should be escorted back home when they go off-duty, as a precaution against street violence and rape—but she is charismatic. And her 47 percent of the vote in May can still translate into a series of local majorities in June, which is the key for a parliamentary victory. In Paris, for instance, Sarkozy won on the second presidential ballot, but the left is poised to carry more seats in the parliamentary election.
Sarkozy’s victory will undoubtedly bring about a shift in the political balance of Europe. France, Britain, and Germany, the three major countries in the E.U., are now in conservative or very moderate social democratic hands. It is an odd thing. George W. Bush was supposed to have entirely alienated Europe. But first with Angela Merkel in Germany and now with Sarkozy in
France, we see pro-American leaders at the very heart of the E.U.”
Where are all of those who were rejoicing at Sarkozy’s win while I was saying that I wouldn’t believe all the hype until I see it?
Sarkozy isn’t conservative. He is just less liberal than Royal. That doesn’t make him a good guy.
My sense of the situation is to hold off on buying the French wine for a while, until we see which way things go.
Americans have repeatedly sacrificed their lives for La Belle France. In return, we have repeatedly been kicked in the teeth. It will take more than a few conciliatory words to undo that.
Actions, not words. And the French won’t really start to balance the account, in my opinion, until thousands of them have shed their blood for us, as we have shed ours for them.
Yes, maybe this is just a tactical move to consolidate power. But the Foreign Ministry is a strange place to do it. It suggests that modernizing the economy and lengthening the work week is more important to Sarkozy than mending relations with former allies or fighting with us for the survival of civilization.
It is ridiculous to think Sarko should name people to his cabinet who will please Americans. When was the last time one of our president’s named someone to a cabinet post to please the French, or anyone else for that matter? He has to name people with whom he can rule the country, and he has to name people that will help him get effective control of the French Parliament. I suspect this guy fulfills those requirements. He can’t be much different from Michel Barnier, and he certainly isn’t Dominque Villepin.
He proposed the foreign ministry to an anti-US fanatic whose last book was “facing the hyper-power” (building Europe against the USA)
What’s important is that Sarkozy put France in the good side in the battle for civilization.
Maybe good news:
UMP party secretary sait that the Socialist Hubert Védrine would join the foreign minister “if he shares Sarkozy’s views in the foreign ministry.”
A friend close to Védrine said that the Socialist will refuse the proposition.
Sarkozy is maybe not that bad. It’s just a strategy. Maybe. Your french boycott can continue until real action between France and the USA.
I wasn’t defending the guy. I was just pointing out that it is hardly realistic to expect Sarko to appoint a cabinet based on what people in the U.S. think. And who said anything about boycotting France? You remind me of those college professors who can’t stand to be challenged, but can’t answer the question, so they try to change the subject. I agree that Sarkozy has moved the French to the right site of the battle. Quant à moi, chaque fou avec son sujet.
First mistake....downhill from now on.
I don't get these idiots that think this way. They are elected because of their ideals, in the case of Bush it was conservative, then after election they decide that the people didn't really want what they were offering and they load their government up with the type of asshats the people rejected in the election. How stupid can they get?
Can you return them? It can't hurt to try. Such stories are bound to get back to the distributors, and then eventually to the producers.
I recently started to lighten up on my French boycott. As of five minutes ago, it's back in full force.
Sarko’s mandate is to fix the French economy. He needs to do well in the elections next month and put together an effective government in order to accomplish this. Socialism still is and will always be freedom’s most deadly enemy. Sarko has to choose his battles just like any other leader. I say let the man do his job.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.