While the French public comes to terms with a series of appalling attacks, politicians seize the opportunity to position themselves ahead of next year’s Presidential election.
The next French president? Not likely.
Julien Warnard/EPA
With its share of the vote rising with each election, can the extreme-right party take power on its own? The example of the French communists during the postwar boom suggests otherwise.
Banned from speaking, Jean-Marie Le Pen managed to photo-bomb daughter Marine at the FN’s May Day rally.
EPA/Yoan Valat
France has had a long and troubled relationship with its Muslim populations. French armies faced down Muslim leaders during the expansion of the country’s empire in Africa in the 19th century. And in the…
I can’t even look at you right now, Gérard.
EPA/Gerard Cerles
On September 28, 179 new members were elected to the 348 seats in the French senate. Gérard Larcher, a member of the centre-right UMP party, was chosen as the senate président, or speaker. Even though…
You remember my best angle! How sweet.
Troye Owens
Nicolas Sarkozy has returned to mainstream French politics by announcing his plan to run for the leadership of the main opposition party, the centre-right UMP. He faces tough opposition from within his…
Jean-François Copé, the leader of France’s Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP), stepped down last month after a scandal over funding for Nicolas Sarkozy’s losing presidential campaign in 2012. The…
In late February 2014, it was discovered that Nicolas Sarkozy’s close aide during his presidency, Patrick Buisson, had secretly recorded hundreds of hours of conversations with the then-president and others…
Austerity’s political cheer squad: but is the game over? G8 countries have committed to growth by setting sights on employment.
The lingering commitment to austerity of leading Western politicians in the face of impending economic tragedy is beyond belief. The dismal science is a sobriquet often wrongly applied to economics, but…
Francois Hollande has a tough challenge ahead, having won the French presidency.
EPA/Guillaume Horcajuelo
Socialist candidate Francois Hollande has won the French presidential election with 52% of the vote, ousting sitting president Nicolas Sarkozy. In hindsight, there have been few surprises in this campaign…
Marine Le Pen’s ideology cannot be defined simply as “right wing”.
EPA/Ian Langsdon
Marine Le Pen’s ability to attract nearly a fifth of the vote in the first round of the French presidential election was a resounding victory for her party. While Le Pen’s Front National (FN) did not secure…
Socialist candidate Francois Hollande’s win in the first round of the French election signals more than “crazy” ideas; but a refashioning of political purpose that extends beyond French borders.
AAP
The seismic forces propelling the socialist contender to the Elysee Palace have been caustically dismissed by Bret Stephens, a prominent columnist for the Wall Street Journal, as the result of the conceited…
Francois Hollande will struggle to consolidate his left-wing base and tackle Europe’s economic woes.
AAP/Ian Langsdon
France went to sleep last weekend knowing that almost a fifth of those who felt compelled to vote in the first round of the presidential election chose a party formed on an openly neo-fascist platform…
Nicolas Sarkozy will seek another term as President of France this Sunday.
EPA/Christophe Karaba
The first round of the French Presidential election is set to take place this Sunday. The latest polls show that right-wing president Nicolas Sarkozy and his centre-left contender François Hollande are…
Eurozone countries must toe the fiscal line, or face the consequences under a new treaty signed this week.
AAP
Europe this week has voted for tough new fiscal rules aimed at reining in high deficits, as world economic leaders continue to grapple with solving the sovereign debt crisis. But not all measures have…
Merkel, Sarkozy and Monti must accept drastic fiscal reforms if they want to save the Eurozone.
The announcement by credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s overnight that it could downgrade the triple-A rating of Europe’s debt rescue fund has battered market confidence, which had been buoyed…
Former EU commissioner Mario Monti will form government in Italy as Silvio Berlusconi exits.
AAP
Is the Eurozone about to crash and burn, leaving Club Med in its wake? Not so fast. Reports have suggested that French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have discussed a strategic…
Nicholas Sarkozy is a master of the political insult.
EPA/Kerim Okten/Pool
So Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has been called a liar in a conversation that was released on the web. I’m not talking about the chat between Nicholas Sarkozy and Barack Obama. Rather, I’m…
President Obama and French leader Nicolas Sarkozy were caught speaking of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in unflattering terms at the G20 summit.
AAP/Stefan Rousseau
The recent Cannes G20 meeting was ostensibly about saving Europe from falling into economic oblivion. But a frank exchange between US President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, caught…