INFO BFMTV – In his new book, covering the period from 2009 to 2011 at the Élysée, the former President of the Republic evokes the presidential election of 2027, Emmanuel Macron or even the war in Ukraine.
In the continuity of Passions (2019) and The Time of Storms (2020), Nicolas Sarkozy publishes a new book, The time of battles, which is scheduled for release on August 22. This 560-page book published by Fayard covers the period between 2009 and 2011 during which the former president was still a tenant of the Élysée. It also includes two photo books of Nicolas Sarkozy as a child, but also of the president with Carla Bruni, Angela Merkel, other heads of state or even in the field with activists, all accompanied by handwritten captions.
As in his last books, Nicolas Sarkozy constantly goes back and forth with what we are experiencing today on the national or international level. He talks about pension reform, the war in Ukraine, current political life, while giving advice on how to reform or make decisions. BFMTV exclusively unveils certain pages of the book.
• Gérald Darmanin, foal for 2027
Within these nearly 600 pages, which BFMTV was able to consult, Nicolas Sarkozy praises the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin and sees him becoming Emmanuel Macron’s successor in 2027.
“Until now, the facts have largely proven him right. Will he be able to take another step, or even the final step, that which leads to the presidency of the Republic? I wish him, because he has qualities obvious”, writes the former head of state.
The “success” of one of his “friends” would “please” the former tenant of the Élysée who adds: “He is (…) one of the most promising forties.”
• Emmanuel Macron “imagines” that he can be master of time
The former right-wing president, however, is less dithyrambic when it comes to evoking the current head of state. In The time of battles, Nicolas Sarkzoy rarely quotes Emmanuel Macron. He recognizes the difficulty of his task, of managing successive crises, and says his respect for those who are at the helm in the face of commentators but refuses to give him the nickname “master of time”.
“Emmanuel Macron imagines that he can be the master of time. (…) For my part, I believe that time does not belong to us and that the speed of execution is the only room for maneuver of a President of the Republic. In this, I differ from the current president,” he said.
In an interview with our colleagues from Figaro, Nicolas Sarkozy “does not share” the opinion of the president on the fact that nobody could have foreseen the recent riots. “No one can be surprised, especially not me who had to deal with the riots of 2005. The crisis of authority comes from afar. We never stop paying the price for a lost generation that no longer has fear of nothing (…) Our democracy is in danger, not because of too much authority, but because of its absence, the deleterious results of which we see every day.”
He also supports the police and castigates “the indignation of the professional defenders of the supposed victims of the police.” “There will come a day when the police will let it go because they will end up not being able to do their job anymore,” he warns.
But Emmanuel Macron is not the only political figure with whom Nicolas Sarkozy distances himself. In his book, he curries François Hollande, gravedigger in his eyes of the French nuclear power, Ségolène Royal, his opponent in 2007, or even François Bayrou.
• Nicolas Sarkozy fears “the worst” in Ukraine
While the international community has supported Ukraine in the face of the Russian invader since February 2022, Nicolas Sarkozy also expresses his fears about a potentially “unmanageable” situation in the future.
“In a few months, we have gone back more than thirty years. And I fear that the worst is yet to come”, he worries in his book.
Among the probable causes of an escalation, Nicolas Sarkozy mentions the massive military aid sent to Ukraine by the Western allies, including France. “We are not engaged in the field. But we are delivering continuous flow weapons to one of the belligerents. This situation risks becoming unmanageable in the short term.”
However, he joins Emmanuel Macron on the desire not to break off the dialogue with Moscow and Vladimir Putin, which has earned the president many comments from Volodymyr Zelensky. “It is the duty of the French president to keep the path of dialogue with Russia open,” he recalls.
On another diplomatic level, the former president questions, in his interview with the Figaro, the “Algerian tropism” of Emmanuel Macron. He explains: “It’s not about severity but about convictions. Let’s not try to build an artificial friendship with Algerian leaders who systematically use France as a scapegoat to hide their own shortcomings and lack of legitimacy.”