Sarkozy on Obama -- and Zapatero -- and Merkel ...
What does President Sarkozy of France really think of President Obama? He's "very clever, very charismatic, but not always up to standard on decision-making." Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero: "Perhaps not very clever." German chancellor Angela Merkel: "She took a while to understand the seriousness of the crisis facing her country's banks and car industry, but when she did, she had no choice but to come round to my position."
All as reported in the French press, and picked up -- of course -- elsewhere. So where does it leave the state of European diplomacy? Here are the thoughts of former UK ambassador Sir Christopher Meyer. (WARNING: He's not a big fan of M. Sarkozy.)
(Broadcast on The World Tonight, BBC Radio 4, 17 April 2009
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let d BBC speak to then
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From my limited knowledge, Mr. Sarkozy's pithy summaries are quite accurate.
Perhaps it may be helpful for a leader to sometimes call a spade a spade.
Diplomacy enters when his staff denies the quotes or claim that they were "taken out of context".
Better to be hyperactive than hypodull.
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"Perhaps it may be helpful for a leader to sometimes call a spade a spade."
We really need more of this type of thinking!
compact refrigerator
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Would I trade Obama for Sarkozy as my President? Even with all his apparent shortcomings, the answer is clearly no, Sarkozy is much inferior to Obama. So are Europe's other midget leaders. One of Sarkozy's failings...he has a big fat stupid mouth that he doesn't know when to shut. I think it's a French cultural trait.
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Here we have a leader for the future, really a great leader for the future and one that comes along only every now and then, and AND mR sARKOZY knows it so he has to undermine him. And one of his best weapons in typical french fashion is to seek attention for all the wrong reasons.
I'm sure sarkozy should always dream and shoot higher than he knows he can do. Yet he should bother just to be better than his contemporaries or predecessors. This man need to be better than himself.
However,given the choice between the experience of pain and and exchange a constructive discussion with sarkozy, I would choose pain.
By the way this man has managed to deceive the Congoluese people in signing a mighty contract to extract uranium,like any french leader,when these people are struggling to overcome one war it is always to create another as long it helps him and his cronies to line up his pockets .
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