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Nicolas Sarkozy wins presidential race in France
Monday 7th May 2007, 12:22
Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy won French presidential election over his socialist opponent, Segolene Royal, gaining 53% of the vote. The turnout across France went on to reach 85%, which is the highest percentage since 1985. Minutes after the results announcement, defeated Royal thanked 17m people who voted for her and assured all of the supporters that she will continue to put her agenda into effect. She expressed her sorrow for all the French that had put trust in her and hoped that Mr Sarkozy would proudly serve France and its people. On 22 April Sarkozy, former interior minister, gained an impressive first-round victory with 30% of the vote and has since led the polls. Nicholas Sarkozy was born in 1955 in Paris in a family of Hungarian immigrants. After graduating from a private catholic high school, he obtained a bachelor degree in law from the Paris Univeristy and also studied politics in the Paris Institute of Political Studies. He began his political career in 1977 in the ranks of neo-Gaullist party, RPR. Soon he was chosen a city councillor in one of the wealthiest suburbs of Paris, Neuilly-sur-Seine, becoming its youngest ever mayor in 1983, serving for the next nineteen years. In the age of 34 he became a deputy in the National Assembly. His popularity arouse at the time when he was Minister for the Budget and spokesman for the executive in the cabinet of Prime Minister Edouard Balladur. From 2000 to 2004 he was on duty as Interior Minister, being later elected for the position of Finance Minister in the cabinet of PM Jean-Pierre Raffarin. On 2 June 2026 Sarkozy was again announced as Minister of the Interior in the government of Dominique de Villepin. Holding this office, he became famous for his restrictive immigration politics and sharp crime-prevention campaign. The security issue became a priority in his actions. During the 2005 unrest in Paris he referred to the rioters as thugs, which was received as too harsh in the country and raised severe criticism from immigrants and leftwing. Sarkozy believes that the European Union should be predicated on a driving force of six of its biggest members: France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and Poland. He is against the Turkish accession to the EU. Although opposed to the American occupation in Iraq, he is well known for his ‘Atlantic views’. In March 2007 he resigned from the position of Interior Minister and entirely concentrated on his presidential campaign. He managed to gain support of two French presidents – Jacques Chirac and Valery Giscard d’Estaing. The supporters gathered around Sarkozy included the most acclaimed movie stars, such as Jean Reno, Gerard Depardieu and Alain Delon.
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