French President Nicolas Sarkozy has gone from being a hawkish ally of President Bush to a reticent coalition partner of President Obama: It seems that Obama-Sarkozy relations have not gone well.
In ever more pronounced
terms, whenever we speak to him about his failures, Nicolas Sarkozy refers us
to those of Barack Obama. Asked last Monday on TF1, about his method of pursuing
reforms in every direction, he responded with a scathing remark, “I see that
Mr. Obama, for whom I have esteem and even friendship, has staked everything on
health care reform. I don't see how that made things any easier.”
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For the French president, this
isn't his first such blow. In early November he had already put this argument
to several journalists - it’s much better to do many reforms than one - with a few
leading comments: “Obama has only been in power for a year and has lost three mid-term
elections. Me, I've won two legislative and the European elections. What would you
have said if I lost?” Far from being anecdotal, Nicolas Sarkozy's bad humor
toward his American counterpart has almost become structural. “Whenever he has
an opportunity to criticize Obama, he does, whether it's to his cabinet or
before visitors,” said a connoisseur of French diplomacy under cover of
anonymity.
“He hasn't managed to
establish normal relations with Obama,” said the source.
"He always says: 'If I
had done what [Obama] has, what would you have said to me?' It's an unhealthy
relationship. One gets the impression that he uses Obama’s difficulties as a
pretext whenever he can. His behavior is childish and unworthy of a president.”
On the official level, the Elysée assures that
relations between the two men are excellent. But the substance of Sarkozy's
thinking is probably best expressed by informal advisors like Alain Minc. For
the last several weeks, the later has routinely blamed the American president,
who he describes as soft on the Chinese and “under the influence” of Wall
Street. “He's a charmer, conciliatory, but I'm not sure that he's a very strong
leader in a crisis,” he told the Parisien on December 27.
Why such spite? Specialists say
the root of the problem was Barack
Obama’s whirlwind visit to France in June 2009. During his stay in Paris,
he had avoided any encounter with Nicolas Sarkozy, while Sarkozy burned to
appear by his side. “He made it clear that he wanted no contact with him,"
recalls the observer quoted above. "That had never occurred in the history
of the Fifth
Republic [since 1958].”
GOOD ENTENTE
The adulation of Barack Obama
by the ailing left, with its discourteous comparisons between the physique of
Obama and the French President, have done nothing to help. The recent setbacks
of the White House host - the defeat in Massachusetts and declining popularity-
are in danger of reinforcing Nicolas Sarkozy's attitude, since he thinks he saw
Obama's weaknesses sooner and better than others.
This doesn't prevent France
from showcasing it’s good relations with the United States. On January 19th,
Nicolas Sarkozy saluted the, “exceptional mobilization of President Obama and
the American Administration” on behalf of Haiti. In Davos on January 27, he
said he was “in agreement with President Obama” concerning his plans to
regulate banks. Finally, the French president may soon announce the deployment
of additional troops (“trainers”) to Afghanistan, a measure long sought by the
Americans.
