If I were living in France, I'd vote for Jacques Chirac, despite the fact that he can't seem to keep his hands out of the cash till.
Good news from France, where the man picked by Nicolas Sarkozy as his foreign minister is not the execrable Hubert Védrine, but Bernard Kouchner - a socialist who supports Israel and the invasion of Iraq.
It was [meeting with Nicolas Sarkozy] like looking at my mirror image.
It was Jacques Chirac and Schroeder both, who pushed us into a conflict to remove Milosevic.
Why Nicolas Sarkozy is the head of France, [he is] warm and extremely likeable.
France isn't just any country in Europe, and its president is not an ordinary leader in the world. Sometimes directing or leading the way is not enough, he has to initiate policies, as Nicolas Sarkozy was able to demonstrate during his term.
This assumes an upward revision of the European Budget, which is precisely what Jacques Chirac refuses to do. On the contrary, he has demanded a reduction.
If I become president, France will not continue with the same policies as under Nicolas Sarkozy - both in domestic policy and in foreign and European policy.
I condemn what happened in Madrid, but it is suspicious. If tomorrow there will be another bombing, in France for example, who will gain power? Of course not Jacques Chirac, but Le Pen.
I would also point out that many governments that chose not to support this war - certainly, the French president, Jacques Chirac, as I recall in April of last year, referred to Iraq's possession of WMD.
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.
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.
I perfectly understood President Obama's attitude throughout the French presidential campaign. He had no reason to distance himself from Nicolas Sarkozy. It's the basic solidarity that leaders who worked together owe to each other.
Whatever happened during the French presidential campaign will leave no hard feelings. I perfectly understand why Angela Merkel supported Nicolas Sarkozy because of the action they have taken together, even though I have questioned its results, and because of their shared political sensibility.
You know Sarkozy offered me the Legion d'honneur medal? I refused. People said I refused because I don't like Sarkozy, but that's ridiculous. I refused because I don't like decorations - except on women.
Perhaps the biggest boost to the LePenization of French politics came from Nicolas Sarkozy. As president of France between 2007 and 2012, he actively courted FN voters and helped dismantle the 'Republican pact,' under which the two main parties had pledged to work together to defeat the FN at a national and local level.