Nicolas Sarkozy#Carla Bruni

{{Main|Family history of Nicolas Sarkozy}}

Sarkozy was born in Paris and is the son of Pál István Ernő Sárközy de Nagy-Bócsa{{NoteTag|"Sarkozy" is the westernized, or internationalized, version of his Hungarian name. In Hungarian, the given name comes last rather than first. The French aristocratic particle "de" is also used instead of the Hungarian aristocratic ending "-i". This westernization of Hungarian names is frequent, particularly for people with an aristocratic name. For example, the leader of Hungary from 1920 to 1944, whose Hungarian name is nagybányai Horthy Miklós, is known in English as Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya. The French name of Pál Sárközy de Nagy-Bócsa changed in 1948 to Paul Étienne Arnaud Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa when Pál was translated as Paul in French. The acute accents on the "a" of Sarközy and the "o" of Bocsa were dropped as these letters never carry an acute accent (accent aigu) in French. The trema on the "o" of Sárközy was kept, probably because French typewriters allow this combination, whereas it is impossible to write "a" or "o" with an acute accent using a French typewriter.}} ({{langx|hu|nagybócsai Sárközy Pál}}; {{IPA|hu|ˈnɒɟboːt͡ʃɒi ˈʃaːrkøzi ˈpaːl||Pal_sarkozy.ogg}}—in some sources Nagy-Bócsay Sárközy Pál István Ernő;{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/15/opinion/15tue4.html | title=The New French President's Roots Are Worth Remembering | date=15 May 2007 | access-date=28 September 2008 | work=The New York Times | first=Serge | last=Schmemann | archive-date=23 July 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723115200/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/15/opinion/15tue4.html | url-status=live }} 5 May 1928 – 4 March 2023), a Protestant Hungarian aristocrat, and Andrée Jeanne "Dadu" Mallah (12 October 1925 – 12 December 2017),{{cite web | url=https://www.ledauphine.com/france-monde/2017/12/13/la-mere-de-nicolas-sarkozy-andre-mallah-dite-dadu-est-morte | title=La mère de Nicolas Sarkozy, Andrée Mallah dite "Dadu", est morte | date=13 December 2017 | publisher=Le Dauphiné | access-date=20 July 2020 | archive-date=21 July 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721035205/https://www.ledauphine.com/france-monde/2017/12/13/la-mere-de-nicolas-sarkozy-andre-mallah-dite-dadu-est-morte | url-status=live }} whose Ottoman Greek Jewish father (Sarkozy's grandfather) converted to Catholicism to marry Sarkozy's French Catholic maternal grandmother.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3673102.stm |title=Profile: Nicolas Sarkozy |work=BBC News |date=26 July 2009 |access-date=9 March 2010 |archive-date=1 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401164649/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3673102.stm |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://www.ejpress.org/article/22741|title=A Greek book on Nicolas Sarkozy|publisher=The European Jewish Press|access-date=12 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417061636/http://www.ejpress.org/article/22741|archive-date=17 April 2008}} They were married in the Saint-François-de-Sales church, 17th arrondissement of Paris, on 8 February 1950, and divorced in 1959.{{cite web |url=http://www.wargs.com/noble/sarkozy.html |title=Ancestry of Nicolas Sarkozy |publisher=William Addams Reitwiesner |access-date=9 March 2010 |archive-date=27 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827220612/http://www.wargs.com/noble/sarkozy.html |url-status=live }}

During Sarkozy's childhood, his father founded his own advertising agency and became wealthy. The family lived in a mansion owned by Sarkozy's maternal grandfather, Benedict Mallah, in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. The family later moved to Neuilly-sur-Seine, one of the wealthiest communes of the Île-de-France région immediately west of Paris. According to Sarkozy, his staunchly Gaullist grandfather was more of an influence on him than his father, whom he rarely saw. Sarkozy was raised Catholic.

Sarkozy said that being kept at a distance by his father shaped much of who he is today. He also has said that, in his early years, he felt inferior to his wealthier and taller classmates. He has spoken about the difficulties he faced as a child of divorced parents at a time when divorce was uncommon.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stUqfrc1EFE&t=595s |title=NICOLAS SARKOZY: CONFESSIONS INÉDITES DE L'ANCIEN PRÉSIDENT (parentalité, rumeurs, drames, succès) |date=2024-11-17 |last=LEGEND |access-date=2024-11-19 |via=YouTube}} "What made me who I am now is the sum of all the humiliations suffered during childhood", he said later.

Sarkozy was enrolled in the Lycée Chaptal, a well-regarded public middle and high school in Paris' 8th arrondissement, where he failed his sixième. His family then sent him to the Cours Saint-Louis de Monceau, a private Catholic school in the 17th arrondissement, where he was reportedly a mediocre student, but where he nonetheless obtained his baccalauréat in 1973.

Sarkozy enrolled at the Université Paris X Nanterre, where he graduated with an M.A. in private law and, later, with a D.E.A. degree in business law. Paris X Nanterre had been the starting place for the May '68 student movement and was still a stronghold of leftist students. Described as a quiet student, Sarkozy soon joined the right-wing student organisation, in which he was very active.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}} He completed his military service as a part-time Air Force cleaner.{{cite web |url=http://www.newsnours.com/2008/07/le-service-mili.html |title=Le service militaire de Sarkozy |publisher=Nousnours |date=22 February 1999 |access-date=9 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100214025105/http://www.newsnours.com/2008/07/le-service-mili.html |archive-date=14 February 2010 }}

After graduating from university, Sarkozy entered Sciences Po, where he studied between 1979 and 1981, but failed to graduateAugustin Scalbert, [http://www.rue89.com/2007/09/18/un-soupcon-de-vantardise-sur-les-cv-ministeriels Un soupçon de vantardise sur les CV ministériels] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011174511/http://rue89.com/2007/09/18/un-soupcon-de-vantardise-sur-les-cv-ministeriels |date=11 October 2007 }}, Rue 89, 18 September 2007 {{in lang|fr}} due to an insufficient command of the English language.Un pouvoir nommé désir, Catherine Nay, 2007

After passing the bar, Sarkozy became a lawyer specialising in business and family law and was one of Silvio Berlusconi's French lawyers.{{cite web |url=http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/actualites/international/europe/20090629.OBS2316/berlusconi__le_bon_nicolas_sarkozy_a_ete_mon_avocat.html |title=Berlusconi: le "bon Nicolas Sarkozy" a été mon avocat |work=Le Nouvel Observateur |language=fr |date=29 June 2009 |access-date=9 March 2010 |archive-date=24 May 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120524/http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/actualites/international/europe/20090629.OBS2316/berlusconi__le_bon_nicolas_sarkozy_a_ete_mon_avocat.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://www.repubblica.it/2009/06/sezioni/politica/berlusconi-varie-2/berlusconi-russia/berlusconi-russia.html|title=Corfù, il vertice del disgelo "Riparte collaborazione Nato-Russia" Il Cavaliere: "Mandai il mio avvocato Sarkozy da lui per la Georgia..."|language=it|publisher=la Repubblica|access-date=9 March 2010|archive-date=24 May 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120524/http://www.repubblica.it/2009/06/sezioni/politica/berlusconi-varie-2/berlusconi-russia/berlusconi-russia.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://www.unionesarda.it/articoli/articolo/131694 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722065841/http://www.unionesarda.it/Articoli/Articolo/131694 |archive-date=22 July 2011 |title=Berlusconi al vertice Nato-Russia "Quando mandai l'avvocato Sarkozy" |publisher=L'Unione Sarda |language=it |date=27 June 2009 |access-date=9 March 2010 }}

Sarkozy married his first wife, Marie-Dominique Culioli, on 23 September 1982, with prominent right-wing politician Charles Pasqua serving as best man. (Pasqua later became a political opponent.)[http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,476255-2,00.html Sarkozy Closes in on his Goal: Ambition and Honesty on the French Campaign Trail] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629055729/http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,476255-2,00.html |date=29 June 2011 }} Spiegel.de, 4 September 2007 Culioli's father was a pharmacist from Vico (a village north of Ajaccio, Corsica); her uncle was Achille Peretti, the mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine from 1947 to 1983 and Sarkozy's political mentor. They had two sons, Pierre (born in 1985), now a hip-hop producer,{{cite web|last=Indrisek|first=Scott|url=http://blog.rhapsody.com/2008/01/pierre-sarkozy-hip-hop-producer.html|title=Pierre Sarkozy: Hip-Hop Producer|publisher=Rhapsody Blog|date=7 January 2008|access-date=9 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324154727/http://blog.rhapsody.com/2008/01/pierre-sarkozy-hip-hop-producer.html|archive-date=24 March 2010}} and Jean (born in 1986), now a local politician in the city of Neuilly-sur-Seine, where Sarkozy started his own political career. Sarkozy divorced Culioli in 1996, after they had been separated for several years.

As mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine, Sarkozy met former fashion model and public relations executive Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz (great-granddaughter of composer Isaac Albéniz and daughter of a Moldovan father), when he officiated at her wedding{{cite news|title=Cécilia Sarkozy: The First Lady vanishes |date=24 June 2007 |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/europe/ccilia-sarkozy-the-first-lady-vanishes-454247.html |location=London |access-date=31 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517134053/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/europe/ccilia-sarkozy-the-first-lady-vanishes-454247.html |archive-date=17 May 2008 }} to television host Jacques Martin. In 1988, she left her husband for Sarkozy, and divorced one year later. She and Sarkozy married in October 1996, with witnesses Martin Bouygues and Bernard Arnault.{{cite web |url=http://www.netglimse.com/celebs/pages/cecilia_sarkozy/index.shtml |title=Cecilia Sarkozy Biography |publisher=NetGlimse.com |access-date=9 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100314171455/http://www.netglimse.com/celebs/pages/cecilia_sarkozy/index.shtml |archive-date=14 March 2010 }} They have one son, Louis, born 23 April 1997.

Between 2002 and 2005, the couple often appeared together on public occasions, with Cécilia Sarkozy acting as the chief aide for her husband.{{cite news |last=Wyatt |first=Caroline |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6656717.stm |title=Sarkozy soap opera grips Paris |work=BBC News |date=15 May 2007 |access-date=9 March 2010 |archive-date=12 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112043732/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6656717.stm |url-status=live }} On 25 May 2005, however, the Swiss newspaper Le Matin revealed that she had left Sarkozy for Moroccan national Richard Attias, head of Publicis in New York.{{cite web|url=http://www.huliq.com/38585/nicolas-sarkozy-divorce-official|title=Nicolas Sarkozy divorce official|publisher=HULIQ|date=18 October 2007|access-date=9 March 2010|archive-date=12 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110712230726/http://www.huliq.com/38585/nicolas-sarkozy-divorce-official|url-status=live}} There were other accusations of a private nature in Le Matin, which led to Sarkozy suing the paper.{{cite web |url=http://www.globaljournalist.org/stories/2005/12/01/french-roast-served-up-american-style/ |title=Globaljournalist.org |publisher=Global Journalist |access-date=9 March 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120731204224/http://www.globaljournalist.org/stories/2005/12/01/french-roast-served-up-american-style/ |archive-date=31 July 2012 }} In the meantime, he was said to have had an affair with a journalist of Le Figaro, Anne Fulda.{{cite news|work=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=SNKICWL0BRPGRQFIQMGCFFWAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2006/02/19/wsark19.xml&page=2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013191607/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=SNKICWL0BRPGRQFIQMGCFFWAVCBQUIV0?xml=%2Fnews%2F2006%2F02%2F19%2Fwsark19.xml&page=2|archive-date=13 October 2007|title=The Sarkozy saga|access-date=12 August 2007|location=UK|first=Kim|last=Willsher|date=19 February 2006}}

Sarkozy and Cécilia ultimately divorced on 15 October 2007, soon after his election as president.{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2007/10/18/afx4234519.html |title=French president Sarkozy separation is 'divorce' – official UPDATE |author=AFX News Limited |work=Forbes |date=18 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805000643/http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2007/10/18/afx4234519.html |archive-date=5 August 2011 }}

File:Obama Sarkozy and Carla.jpg at the G8 Summit dinner in Deauville, France, 26 May 2011.]]

Less than a month after separating from Cécilia, Sarkozy met Italian-born singer, songwriter and former fashion model Carla Bruni at a dinner party, and soon entered into a relationship with her.[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jan/13/france.alexduvalsmith France begins to grow weary with the Sarkozy soap opera] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310020710/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/13/france.alexduvalsmith |date=10 March 2013 }}. The Guardian, 13 January 2008 They married on 2 February 2008 at the Élysée Palace in Paris.{{citation|title=French President Marries Former Model|date=2 February 2008|work=ABC News|agency=Associated Press}}

The couple have a daughter, Giulia, born on 19 October 2011.{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/nicolas-sarkozy/8839687/Carla-Bruni-Sarkozy-confirms-name-of-daughter-Giulia.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | first=Henry | last=Samuel | title=Carla Bruni-Sarkozy confirms name of daughter: Giulia | date=20 October 2011 | access-date=3 April 2018 | archive-date=6 March 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306084523/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/nicolas-sarkozy/8839687/Carla-Bruni-Sarkozy-confirms-name-of-daughter-Giulia.html | url-status=live }} It was the first time a French president has publicly had a child while in office.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/frances-first-couple-welcomes-their-baby-girl-giulia-after-low-profile-pregnancy/2011/10/20/gIQA1M6x0L_story.html |title=France's first couple welcomes their baby girl Giulia after low-profile pregnancy |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=23 October 2011 }}{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

Sarkozy declared to the Constitutional Council a net worth of €2 million, most of the assets being in the form of life insurance policies.{{cite news |author=AFP |title=L'homme qui valait 2 millions |trans-title=The man worth 2 million |work=Libération |location=France |language=fr |date=11 May 2007 |url=http://www.liberation.fr/politiques/010119057-l-homme-qui-valait-2-millions |access-date=18 March 2010 |archive-date=16 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100216024023/http://www.liberation.fr/politiques/010119057-l-homme-qui-valait-2-millions |url-status=live }} As the French President, one of his first actions was to give himself a pay raise: his yearly salary went from €101,000 to €240,000, matching other European officeholders.{{cite news |first=Jon |last=Boyle |title=Jokes and anger in France over Sarkozy pay rise |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL3132522020071031 |agency=Reuters UK |date=31 October 2007 |access-date=12 March 2010 |archive-date=1 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080101211909/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL3132522020071031 }} He is also entitled to a mayoral, parliamentarian and presidential pension as a former Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine, member of the National Assembly and President of France.

Sarkozy is recognised by French parties on both the Right and Left as a skilled politician and striking orator."French Populism", by Ignacio Ramonet, Le Monde Diplomatique, June 2007 Edition, [http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2007/06/RAMONET/14842 French version] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070601172837/http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2007/06/RAMONET/14842 |date=1 June 2007 }} {{in lang|fr}}, [http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/053107G.shtml English translation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070612221707/http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/053107G.shtml |date=12 June 2007 }} His supporters within France emphasize his charisma, political innovation and willingness to "make a dramatic break" amid mounting disaffection against "politics as usual". Overall, he is considered more pro-American and pro-Israeli than most French politicians.

{{Conservatism in France|Politicians}}

From 2004 to 2007, Sarkozy was president of the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP), France's major right-wing political party, and he was Minister of the Interior in the government of Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, with the honorific title of Minister of State, making him effectively the number three official in the French State after President Jacques Chirac and Villepin. His ministerial responsibilities included law enforcement and working to co-ordinate relationships between the national and local governments, as well as Minister of Worship: in this role he created the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM). Previously, he was a député in the French National Assembly. He was forced to resign this position in order to accept his ministerial appointment. He previously also held several ministerial posts, including Finance Minister.

Sarkozy's political career began when he was 23, when he became a city councillor in Neuilly-sur-Seine. A member of the Neo-Gaullist party RPR, he went on to be elected mayor of that town, after the death of the incumbent mayor Achille Peretti. Sarkozy had been close to Peretti, as his mother was Peretti's secretary. A more senior RPR councillor, Charles Pasqua, wanted to become mayor, and asked Sarkozy to organize his campaign. Instead, Sarkozy took that opportunity to propel himself into the office of mayor.Le Parisien, 11 January 2007 He was the youngest mayor of any town in France with a population of over 50,000. He served from 1983 to 2002. In 1988, he became a deputy in the National Assembly.

In 1993, Nicolas Sarkozy was in the national news for personally negotiating with the "Human Bomb", a man who had taken small children hostages in a kindergarten in Neuilly.{{cite news

|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/world/europe/07winner.html

|title = Sarkozy Wins the Chance to Prove His Critics Wrong

|work = The New York Times

|author = Craig S. Smith

|date = 7 May 2007

|access-date = 8 January 2008

|archive-date = 17 April 2009

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090417033215/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/world/europe/07winner.html

}} The "Human Bomb" was killed after two days of talks by policemen of the RAID, who entered the school stealthily while the attacker was resting.

At the same time, from 1993 to 1995, he was Minister for the Budget and spokesman for the executive in the cabinet of Prime Minister Édouard Balladur. Throughout most of his early career, Sarkozy had been seen as a protégé of Jacques Chirac. During his tenure, he increased France's public debt more than any other French Budget Minister, by the equivalent of €200 billion (US$260 billion) (FY 1994–1996). The first two budgets he submitted to the parliament (budgets for FY1994 and FY1995) assumed a yearly budget deficit equivalent to six percent of GDP.{{NoteTag|See also Dette publique de la France {{in lang|fr}}}} According to the Maastricht Treaty, the French yearly budget deficit may not exceed three percent of France's GDP.

In 1995, he spurned Chirac and backed Édouard Balladur for President of France. After Chirac won the election, Sarkozy lost his position as Minister for the Budget, and found himself outside the circles of power.

However, he returned after the right-wing defeat at the 1997 parliamentary election, as the number two candidate of the RPR. When the party leader Philippe Séguin resigned, in 1999, he took the leadership of the Neo-Gaullist party. But it obtained its worst result at the 1999 European Parliament election, winning 12.7% of the votes, less than the dissident Rally for France of Charles Pasqua. Sarkozy lost the RPR leadership.

File:Sarkozy-congres-ump.jpg

In 2002, however, after his re-election as President of the French Republic (see 2002 French presidential election), Chirac appointed Sarkozy as Minister of the Interior in the cabinet of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, despite Sarkozy's support of Edouard Balladur for President in 1995.[http://www.dartmouthindependent.com/archives/2007/10/french-presiden.html Sauced Sarkozy] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902135114/http://www.dartmouthindependent.com/archives/2007/10/french-presiden.html |date=2 September 2013 }} Felice E. Baker, The Dartmouth Independent, 31 October 2007 Following Chirac's 14 July keynote speech on road safety, Sarkozy as Minister of the Interior pushed through new legislation leading to the mass purchase of speed cameras and a campaign to increase the awareness of dangers on the roads.

In the cabinet reshuffle of 30 April 2004, Sarkozy became Finance Minister. Tensions continued to build between Sarkozy and Chirac and within the UMP party, as Sarkozy's intentions of becoming head of the party after the resignation of Alain Juppé became clear.

In party elections of 10 November 2004, Sarkozy became leader of the UMP with 85% of the vote. In accordance with an agreement with Chirac, he resigned as Finance Minister. Sarkozy's ascent was marked by the division of UMP between sarkozystes, such as Sarkozy's "first lieutenant", Brice Hortefeux, and Chirac loyalists, such as Jean-Louis Debré.

Sarkozy was made Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) by President Chirac in February 2005. He was re-elected on 13 March 2005 to the National Assembly. (As required by the constitution,{{cite web |url=http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/english/8ab.asp#TITLE%20III |title=French Constitution, article 23 |publisher=Assemblee Nationale |access-date=9 March 2010 |archive-date=13 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313212736/http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/english/8ab.asp#TITLE%20III |url-status=live }} he had to resign as a deputy when he became minister in 2002.)

On 31 May 2005, the main French news radio station France Info reported a rumour that Sarkozy was to be reappointed Minister of the Interior in the government of Dominique de Villepin without resigning from the UMP leadership. This was confirmed on 2 June 2005, when the members of the government were officially announced.

Towards the end of his first term as Minister of the Interior, in 2004, Sarkozy was the most divisive conservative politician in France, according to polls conducted at the beginning of 2004.

Sarkozy has sought to ease the sometimes tense relationships between the general French population and the Muslim community. Unlike the Catholic Church in France with its official leaders or Protestants with their umbrella organisations, the French Muslim community had a lack of structure with no group that could legitimately deal with the French government on their behalf. Sarkozy supported the foundation in May 2003 of the private non-profit Conseil français du culte musulman ("French Council of the Muslim Faith"), an organisation meant to be representative of French Muslims.JO associations, 28 May 2003 In addition, Sarkozy has suggested amending the 1905 law on the separation of Church and State, mostly in order to be able to finance mosques and other Muslim institutions with public funds[http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=19272&sec=59&con=2 WorldWide Religious News] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224071400/http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=19272&sec=59&con=2 |date=24 December 2008 }} so that they are less reliant on money from outside France. It was not followed by any concrete measure.

During his short appointment as Minister of Finance, Sarkozy was responsible for introducing a number of policies. The degree to which this reflected libéralisme (a hands-off approach to running the economy) or more traditional French state dirigisme (intervention) is controversial. He resigned the day following his election as president of the UMP.

• In September 2004, Sarkozy oversaw the reduction of the government ownership stake in France Télécom from 50.4 per cent to 41 per cent.{{cite news |last=Thorel |first=Jerome |title=Le gouvernement finalise la privatisation de France Télécom |language=fr |publisher=ZDNet France |date=1 September 2004 |url=http://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/business/0,39020715,39169571,00.htm |access-date=18 March 2010 |archive-date=30 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130173905/https://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/le-gouvernement-finalise-la-privatisation-de-france-telecom-39169571.htm |url-status=live }}
• Sarkozy backed a partial nationalisation of the large engineering company Alstom decided by his predecessor when the company was exposed to bankruptcy in 2003.{{cite news |title=Bruxelles valide le sauvetage d'Alstom |work=L'Expansion |publisher=L'Express |location=France |language=fr |date=22 September 2003 |url=http://www.lexpansion.com/art/17.363.70036.0.html |access-date=18 March 2010 |archive-date=3 September 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050903202733/http://www.lexpansion.com/art/17.363.70036.0.html |url-status=live }}
• In June 2004, Sarkozy reached an agreement with the major retail chains in France to concertedly lower prices on household goods by an average of two percent; the success of this measure is disputed, with studies suggesting that the decrease was close to one percent in September.{{cite news|title=Grande distribution : l'accord Sarkozy à moitié appliqué |work=L'Expansion |location=France |language=fr |date=30 September 2004 |url=http://www.lexpansion.com/art/2576.78716.0.html |access-date=18 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202200442/http://www.lexpansion.com/art/2576.78716.0.html |archive-date=2 December 2008 }}
• Taxes: Sarkozy avoided taking a position on the ISF (solidarity tax on wealth). This is considered an ideological symbol by many on the left and right. Some in the business world and on the liberal right, such as Alain Madelin, wanted it abolished. For Sarkozy, that would have risked being categorised by the left as a gift to the richest classes of society at a time of economic difficulties.{{cite news |last=Martine |first=Gilson |title=ISF, la tentation des députés |trans-title=press review |work=Le Nouvel Observateur |location=France |language=fr |date=20 May 2004 |url=http://www.nouvelobs.com/articles/p2063/a241461.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050208204557/http://www.nouvelobs.com/articles/p2063/a241461.html |archive-date=8 February 2005}}

File:2006 09 12 sarkozy 600.jpg, after their bilateral meeting in Washington, D.C., 12 September 2006]]

During his second term at the Ministry of the Interior, Sarkozy was initially more discreet about his ministerial activities: instead of focusing on his own topic of law and order, many of his declarations addressed wider issues, since he was expressing his opinions as head of the UMP party.

{{Main|Response to the 2005 civil unrest in France}}

However, the civil unrest in autumn 2005 put law enforcement in the spotlight again. Sarkozy was accused of having provoked the unrest by calling young delinquents from housing projects a "rabble" ("racaille") in Argenteuil near Paris, and controversially suggested cleansing the minority suburbs with a Kärcher. After the accidental death of two youths, which sparked the riots, Sarkozy first blamed it on "hoodlums" and gangsters. These remarks were sharply criticised by many on the left wing and by a member of his own government, Delegate Minister for Equal Opportunities Azouz Begag.[http://www.lemonde.fr/cgi-bin/ACHATS/acheter.cgi?offre=ARCHIVES&type_item=ART_ARCH_30J&objet_id=921072 Azouz Begag, principal opposant à Nicolas Sarkozy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070504120121/http://www.lemonde.fr/cgi-bin/ACHATS/acheter.cgi?offre=ARCHIVES&type_item=ART_ARCH_30J&objet_id=921072 |date=4 May 2007 }}, Le Monde, 2 November 2005 {{in lang|fr}}

After the rioting, he made a number of announcements on future policy: selection of immigrants, greater tracking of immigrants, and a reform of the 1945 ordinance government justice measures for young delinquents.

File:Flickr - europeanpeoplesparty - EPP Summit 14 December 2006 (15).jpg]]

Before he was elected President of France, Sarkozy was president of UMP, the French conservative party, elected with 85 per cent of the vote. During his presidency, the number of members increased significantly. In 2005, he supported a "yes" vote in the French referendum on the European Constitution, but the "No" vote won.

Throughout 2005, Sarkozy called for radical changes in France's economic and social policies. These calls culminated in an interview with Le Monde on 8 September 2005, during which he claimed that the French had been misled for 30 years by false promises.{{cite web |url=http://sarkozyblog.free.fr/index.php?2005/09/07/170-le-meilleur-pour-la-france |title=Interview with Le Monde, 8 September 2005 |publisher=Sarkozy Blog |date=19 September 2004 |access-date=9 March 2010 |archive-date=30 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230052512/http://sarkozyblog.free.fr/index.php?2005%2F09%2F07%2F170-le-meilleur-pour-la-france |url-status=live }} Among other issues:

• he called for a simplified and "fairer" taxation system, with fewer loopholes and a maximum taxation rate (all direct taxes combined) at 50 per cent of revenue;
• he approved measures reducing or denying social support to unemployed workers who refuse work offered to them;
• he pressed for a reduction in the budget deficit, claiming that the French state had been living off credit for some time.

Such policies are what are called in France libéral (that is, in favour of laissez-faire economic policies) or, with a pejorative undertone, ultra-libéral. Sarkozy rejects this label of libéral and prefers to call himself a pragmatist.

Sarkozy opened another avenue of controversy by declaring that he wanted a reform of the immigration system, with quotas designed to admit the skilled workers needed by the French economy. He also wanted to reform the current French system for foreign students, saying that it enabled foreign students to take open-ended curricula in order to obtain residency in France; instead, he wanted to select the best students for the best curricula in France.

In early 2006, the French parliament adopted a controversial bill known as DADVSI, which reforms French copyright law. Since his party was divided on the issue, Sarkozy stepped in and organised meetings between various parties involved. Later, groups such as the Odebi League and EUCD.info alleged that Sarkozy personally and unofficially supported certain amendments to the law, which enacted strong penalties against designers of peer-to-peer systems.

File:Meeting Royal 2007 02 06 n11-edit1.jpg was Sarkozy's final opponent during the 2007 campaign.]]

{{Main|French presidential election, 2007}}

Sarkozy was a likely candidate for the presidency in 2007; in an oft-repeated comment made on television channel France 2, when asked by a journalist whether he thought about the presidential election when he shaved in the morning, Sarkozy commented, "Not just when I shave".[http://www.rtl.fr/rtlinfo/article.asp?dicid=159060 Broadcast of "France 2"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050427000943/http://www.rtl.fr/rtlinfo/article.asp?dicid=159060 |date=27 April 2005 }}, 19 November 2003

On 14 January 2007, Sarkozy was chosen by the UMP to be its candidate in the 2007 presidential election. Sarkozy, who was running unopposed,{{cite web |url = http://www.la-croix.com/article/index.jsp?docId=2288253&rubId=4076 |title=Boutin renonce à se présenter et soutient Sarkozy |work=La Croix |location=France |date=3 December 2006 |access-date=4 January 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929084218/http://www.la-croix.com/article/index.jsp?docId=2288253&rubId=4076 |archive-date=29 September 2007 }} won 98 percent of the votes. Of the 327,000 UMP members who could vote, 69 per cent participated in the online ballot."[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6260275.stm Sarkozy nod for presidential run] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070116141101/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6260275.stm |date=16 January 2007 }}", BBC News, 14 January 2007. Retrieved 14 January 2007.

In February 2007, Sarkozy appeared on a televised debate on TF1 where he expressed his support for affirmative action and the freedom to work overtime. Despite his opposition to same-sex marriage, he advocated civil unions and the possibility for same-sex partners to inherit under the same regime as married couples. The law was voted in July 2007.{{NoteTag|It was included in the paquet fiscal that has been one of the first laws passed in Parliament.}}

On 7 February, Sarkozy decided in favour of a projected second, non-nuclear, aircraft carrier for the national Navy (adding to the nuclear Charles de Gaulle), during an official visit in Toulon with Defence Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie. "This would allow permanently having an operational ship, taking into account the constraints of maintenance", he explained.[https://web.archive.org/web/20070712192502/http://www.marianne2007.info/index.php?id_plugin=266&path=newsAFP%2Fpage2News.php&ftpUrl=070207164849.bmmbl7vt.txt&pos=1&action=plugin Sarkozy pour un deuxième porte-avions français] (AFP)

On 21 March, President Jacques Chirac announced his support for Sarkozy. Chirac pointed out that Sarkozy had been chosen as presidential candidate for the ruling UMP party, and said: "So it is totally natural that I give him my vote and my support."{{cite news|first1=Sophie|last1=Louet|access-date=2021-04-03|title=France's Chirac backs Sarkozy presidential bid|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-election-chirac-idUSL2145446120070321|newspaper=Reuters|date=21 March 2007|via=www.reuters.com|archive-date=30 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130173903/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-election-chirac-idUSL2145446120070321|url-status=live}} To focus on his campaign, Sarkozy stepped down as Minister of the Interior on 26 March.{{cite web|access-date=2021-04-03|title=Chirac finally endorses his old rival Sarkozy|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1546278/Chirac-finally-endorses-his-old-rival-Sarkozy.html|website=www.telegraph.co.uk|date=21 March 2007 |archive-date=7 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107225817/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1546278/Chirac-finally-endorses-his-old-rival-Sarkozy.html|url-status=live}}

During the campaign, rival candidates had accused Sarkozy of being a "candidate for brutality" and of presenting hard-line views about France's future.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6566649.stm French confused over the real Sarkozy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070427000445/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6566649.stm |date=27 April 2007 }}. 18 April 2007 Opponents also accused him of courting conservative voters in policy-making in a bid to capitalise on right-wing sentiments among some communities. However, his popularity was sufficient to see him polling as the frontrunner throughout the later campaign period, consistently ahead of rival Socialist candidate, Ségolène Royal.

File:Bastille 2007-05-06 anti Sarkozy 487599014 1737ddc0d6 o.jpg

The first round of the presidential election was held on 22 April 2007. Sarkozy came in first with 31.18 per cent of the votes, ahead of Ségolène Royal of the Socialists with 25.87 percent. In the second round, Sarkozy came out on top to win the election with 53.06 per cent of the votes ahead of Ségolène Royal with 46.94 per cent.Élection présidentielle de 2007—[http://www.interieur.gouv.fr/sections/a_votre_service/resultats-elections/PR2007/FE.html résultats définitifs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090803125756/http://www.interieur.gouv.fr/sections/a_votre_service/resultats-elections/PR2007/FE.html |date=3 August 2009 }} French Ministry of the Interior In his speech immediately following the announcement of the election results, Sarkozy stressed the need for France's modernisation, but also called for national unity, mentioning that Royal was in his thoughts. In that speech, he claimed "The French have chosen to break with the ideas, habits and behaviour of the past. I will restore the value of work, authority, merit and respect for the nation."

{{Main|Presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy}}

File:L. Bush-Sarkozy 20070608-5 d-0047-515h.jpg in Germany, June 2007.]]

On 6 May 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy became the sixth person to be elected President of the Fifth Republic (which was established in 1958), and the 23rd President in French history.

The official transfer of power from Chirac to Sarkozy took place on 16 May at 11:00 am (9:00 UTC) at the Élysée Palace, where he was given the authorization codes of the French nuclear arsenal.{{cite news |last=Samuel |first=Henry |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/17/wfra17.xml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023042542/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2007%2F05%2F17%2Fwfra17.xml |archive-date=23 October 2007 |title=Radiant Cécilia puts Sarkozy in the shade |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK |date=17 May 2007 |access-date=9 March 2010 }} In the afternoon, the new president flew to Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Under Sarkozy's government, François Fillon replaced Dominique de Villepin as Prime Minister.[http://elysee.fr/elysee/elysee.fr/francais_attente/salle_de_presse/communique_concernant_la_nommination_du_premier_ministre.76689.html Communiqué de la Présidence de la République concernant la nomination du Premier ministre.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070519071357/http://www.elysee.fr/elysee/elysee.fr/francais_attente/salle_de_presse/communique_concernant_la_nommination_du_premier_ministre.76689.html |date=19 May 2007 }} Élysée Palace, 17 May 2007 Sarkozy appointed Bernard Kouchner, the left-wing founder of Médecins Sans Frontières, as his Foreign Minister, leading to Kouchner's expulsion from the Socialist Party. In addition to Kouchner, three more Sarkozy ministers are from the left, including Éric Besson, who served as Ségolène Royal's economic adviser at the beginning of her campaign. Sarkozy also appointed seven women to form a total cabinet of 15; one, Justice Minister Rachida Dati, is the first woman of Northern African origin to serve in a French cabinet. Of the 15, two attended the elite École nationale d'administration (ENA).[http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9226982 France's New Government – A study in perpetual motion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070716000336/http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9226982 |date=16 July 2007 }}, The Economist, 23 June 2007 The ministers were reorganised, with the controversial creation of a 'Ministry of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Co-Development'—given to his right-hand man Brice Hortefeux—and of a 'Ministry of Budget, Public Accounts and Civil Administration'—handed out to Éric Wœrth, supposed to prepare the replacement of only a third of all civil servants who retire. However, after the 17 June parliamentary elections, the Cabinet was adjusted to 15 ministers and 16 deputy ministers, totalling 31 officials.

Sarkozy broke with the custom of amnestying traffic tickets and of releasing thousands of prisoners from overcrowded jails on Bastille Day, a tradition that Napoleon had started in 1802 to commemorate the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution.

File:Nicolas Sarkozy Bastille Day 2008 n2.jpg

In 2007 and 2008, French President Nicolas Sarkozy,{{cite web |url = http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=079abc91-ed93-41c2-bce4-0579af73ea32&p=1 |title=Sarkozy professes love for Quebec and Canada |access-date=27 April 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304210643/http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=079abc91-ed93-41c2-bce4-0579af73ea32&p=1 |archive-date=4 March 2016 }} Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Quebec Premier Jean Charest{{cite web |url = https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canada-and-quebec-unite-on-eu-free-trade-accord |title=Canada and Quebec Unite on EU Free Trade Accord |url-status=live |first = Paul |last = Wells |work=Maclean's Magazine |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110926051959/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0013123 |archive-date=26 September 2011 }} all spoke in favour of a Canada – EU free trade agreement. In October 2008, Sarkozy became the first French President to address the National Assembly of Quebec. In his speech, he spoke out against Quebec separatism, but recognised Quebec as a nation within Canada. He said that, to France, Canada was a friend, and Quebec was family.

Shortly after taking office, Sarkozy began negotiations with Colombian president Álvaro Uribe and the left-wing guerrilla FARC, regarding the release of hostages held by the rebel group, especially Franco-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt. According to some sources, Sarkozy himself asked for Uribe to release FARC's "chancellor" Rodrigo Granda.[http://www.lacronica.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Internacional/08062007/244942.aspx Llama G8 a FARC contribuir a liberación de rehenes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225022851/http://www.lacronica.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Internacional/08062007/244942.aspx |date=25 December 2008 }}, La Cronica, 8 June 2007 {{in lang|es}}

Furthermore, he announced on 24 July 2007, that French and European representatives had obtained the extradition of the Bulgarian nurses detained in Libya to their country. In exchange, he signed with Muammar Gaddafi security, health care and immigration pacts—and a $230 million (168 million euros) MILAN antitank missile sale.Molly Moore, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/03/AR2007080301950.html France's Sarkozy Off to a Running Start] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017195451/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/03/AR2007080301950.html |date=17 October 2017 }}, Washington Post, 4 August 2007 The contract was the first made by Libya since 2004, and was negotiated with MBDA, a subsidiary of EADS. Another 128 million euro contract would have been signed, according to Tripoli, with EADS for a TETRA radio system. The Socialist Party (PS) and the Communist Party (PCF) criticised a "state affair" and a "barter" with a "Rogue state".{{cite web | url=http://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2007/08/02/tripoli-annonce-un-contrat-d-armement-avec-la-france-l-elysee-dans-l-embarras_941475_3210.html | archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20100215053855/http://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2007/08/02/tripoli-annonce-un-contrat-d-armement-avec-la-france-l-elysee-dans-l-embarras_941475_3210.html | archive-date=2010-02-15 | title=Tripoli annonce un contrat d'armement avec la France, l'Elysée dans l'embarras |website=LeMonde.fr |via=wayback.archive-it.org}} The leader of the PS, François Hollande, requested the opening of a parliamentary investigation.Molly Moore, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/03/AR2007080301950.html France's Sarkozy Off to a Running Start] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017195451/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/03/AR2007080301950.html |date=17 October 2017 }}, Washington Post, 4 August 2007 {{in lang|en}}

On 8 June 2007, during the 33rd G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Sarkozy set a goal of reducing French CO₂ emissions by 50 percent by 2050 in order to prevent global warming. He then pushed forward Socialist Dominique Strauss-Kahn as European nominee to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).[http://www.lefigaro.fr/economie/20070710.WWW000000271_fmi_strauss_kahn_candidat_officiel_de_lunion_europeenne.html FMI: Strauss-Kahn candidat officiel de l'Union européenne] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070813023639/http://www.lefigaro.fr/economie/20070710.WWW000000271_fmi_strauss_kahn_candidat_officiel_de_lunion_europeenne.html |date=13 August 2007 }}, Le Figaro, 10 July 2007 {{in lang|fr}} Critics alleged that Sarkozy proposed to nominate Strauss-Kahn as managing director of the IMF to deprive the Socialist Party of one of its more popular figures.[https://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSPAB00331220070707 France's Sarkozy wants Strauss-Kahn as IMF head] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415183641/https://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSPAB00331220070707 |date=15 April 2021 }} Reuters, 7 July 2007

In 2010, a study of :Yale and Columbia universities ranked France the most respectful country of the G20 concerning the environment.{{in lang|fr}} La France au 7e rang mondial pour l'environnement – Le Monde

The Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), Sarkozy's party, won a majority at the June 2007 legislative election, although by less than expected. In July, the UMP majority, seconded by the Nouveau Centre, ratified one of Sarkozy's electoral promises, which was to partially revoke the inheritance tax.[http://www.lefigaro.fr/pratique-patrimoine/20070713.FIG000000211_les_deputes_votent_la_quasi_suppression_des_droits_de_succession.html Les députés votent la quasi-suppression des droits de succession] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715124826/http://www.lefigaro.fr/pratique-patrimoine/20070713.FIG000000211_les_deputes_votent_la_quasi_suppression_des_droits_de_succession.html |date=15 July 2007 }}, Le Figaro, 13 July 2007 {{in lang|fr}}[http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/politiques/266891.FR.php Les droits de succession (presque) supprimés] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713122632/http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/politiques/266891.FR.php |date=13 July 2007 }}, Libération, 13 July 2007 {{in lang|fr}} The inheritance tax formerly provided €8 billion in revenue.[https://www.humanite.fr/2007-06-07_Politique_Droits-de-succession-pour-une-minorite-de-menages-aises Droits de succession: pour une minorité de ménages aisés] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430110546/http://www.humanite.fr/2007-06-07_Politique_Droits-de-succession-pour-une-minorite-de-menages-aises |date=30 April 2008 }}, L'Humanité, 7 June 2007 {{in lang|fr}}

File:G8 summit in L'Aquila, family photo.jpg in 2009]]

Sarkozy's UMP majority prepared a budget that reduced taxes, in particular for upper middle-class people, supposedly in an effort to boost GDP growth, but did not reduce state expenditures. He was criticised by the European Commission for doing so.

On 23 July 2008, parliament voted the "loi de modernisation de l'économie" (Modernization of the Economy Law), which loosened restrictions on retail prices and reduced limitations on the creation of businesses. The Government also made changes to long-standing French work-hour regulations, allowing employers to negotiate overtime with employees and making all hours worked past the traditional French 35-hour week tax-free.{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?source=hptextfeature&story_id=11792306 |title=France—The reformist president |date=24 July 2008 |access-date=27 July 2008 |newspaper=The Economist |archive-date=27 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080727024145/http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?source=hptextfeature&story_id=11792306 |url-status=live }}

File:Nicolas Sarkozy addresses the E-G8 Forum.jpg

However, as a result of the 2008 financial crisis, Sarkozy returned to the state interventionism of his predecessors, declaring that "laissez-faire capitalism is over" and denouncing the "dictatorship of the market". Confronted with the suggestion that he had become a socialist, he responded: "Have I become socialist? Perhaps." He also pledged to create 100,000 state-subsidised jobs.{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12607041|title=Is Sarkozy a closet socialist?|date=13 November 2008|access-date=14 November 2008|newspaper=The Economist|archive-date=18 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090818133511/http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12607041|url-status=live}}

Sarkozy's government issued a decree on 7 August 2007 to generalise a voluntary biometric profiling program of travellers in airports. The program, called 'Parafes', was to use fingerprints. The new database would be interconnected with the Schengen Information System (SIS) as well as with a national database of wanted persons (FPR). The Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL) protested against this new decree, opposing itself to the recording of fingerprints and to the interconnection between the SIS and the FPR.[http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3224,36-942808@51-931629,0.html Généralisation du fichage biométrique volontaire des voyageurs dans les aéroports français] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070909160705/http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3224,36-942808@51-931629,0.html |date=9 September 2007 }}, Le Monde, 8 August 2007 {{in lang|fr}}

On 21 July 2008, the French parliament passed constitutional reforms, which Sarkozy had made one of the key pledges of his presidential campaign. The vote was 539 to 357, one vote over the three-fifths majority required; the changes are not yet{{Clarify timeframe|date=July 2022}} finalised. They would introduce a two-term limit for the presidency, and end the president's right of collective pardon. They would allow the president to address parliament in session, and parliament to set its own agenda. They would give parliament a veto over some presidential appointments, while ending government control over parliament's committee system. He claimed that these reforms strengthen parliament, while some opposition socialist lawmakers described it as a "consolidation of a monocracy".France backs constitution reform; [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7517505.stm France backs constitution reform] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112104431/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7517505.stm |date=12 January 2009 }} BBC News, 21 July 2008

File:Nicolas Sarkozy and Dilma Rousseff (2011).jpg Dilma Rousseff]]

During his 2007 presidential campaign, Sarkozy promised a strengthening of the entente cordiale with the United Kingdom{{cite news|first=David|last=Byers|title=Nicolas Sarkozy calls for 'Franco-British brotherhood' as state visit begins|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3624398.ece|work=The Times|location=UK|date=26 March 2008|access-date=26 March 2008|archive-date=10 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510160405/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3624398.ece}} and closer cooperation with the United States.Anderson, John Ward and Molly Moore; [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/06/AR2007050600216.html "Sarkozy Wins, Vows to Restore Pride in France"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223011857/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/06/AR2007050600216.html |date=23 February 2017 }}, Washington Post, 7 May 2007. Despite this, Sarkozy opposed George W. Bush in granting membership in NATO for Ukraine and Georgia during the organization's Bucharest summit in April 2008, forming a common front with Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel and foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.[https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/ukraine-how-merkel-prevented-ukraine-s-nato-membership-a-der-spiegel-reconstruction-a-c7f03472-2a21-4e4e-b905-8e45f1fad542 The Day the War Really Began], Der Spiegel, 25 August 2023

Sarkozy wielded special international power when France held the rotating EU Council Presidency from July through December 2008. Sarkozy publicly stated his intention to attain EU approval of a progressive energy package before the end of his EU Presidency. This energy package would clearly define climate change objectives for the EU and hold members to specific reductions in emissions. In further support of his collaborative outlook on climate change, Sarkozy led the EU into a partnership with China.[http://www.eubusiness.com/China/climate-change.23 New chapter opens in EU-China Climate Change Partnership] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224002231/http://www.eubusiness.com/China/climate-change.23/ |date=24 December 2008 }} EUbusiness.com, 29 April 2008 On 6 December 2008, Nicolas Sarkozy, as part of France's then presidency of the Council of the EU, met the Dalai Lama in Poland and outraged China, which announced that it would postpone the China-EU summit indefinitely.{{cite news |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hm4uz6lCdhPdwJhNTl63SxPrkKhA |title=France's Sarkozy meets Dalai Lama as China fumes |date=6 December 2008 |access-date=9 March 2010 |agency=AFP |archive-date=5 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205094159/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hm4uz6lCdhPdwJhNTl63SxPrkKhA }}

File:Cameron and Sarkozy 2.jpg, November 2010]]

On 3 April 2009, at the NATO Summit in Strasbourg, Sarkozy announced that France would offer asylum to a former Guantanamo captive.{{cite news| url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/6357069.html| title=Sarkozy says France to accept Guantanamo prisoner|work=Houston Chronicle| archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5fl8rmfXc?url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/6357069.html| archive-date=3 April 2009| access-date=3 April 2009| date=3 April 2009}}{{cite news| url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iOmBrSJce9WwmkDD2o9EU8KT0RxAD97AV7OO0| first=Tom| last=Raum| title=Obama, Sarkozy find common ground on Guantanamo

| archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5fl9KrlvQ?url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iOmBrSJce9WwmkDD2o9EU8KT0RxAD97AV7OO0 |work=Associated Press| date=3 April 2009| access-date=3 April 2009| archive-date=2009-04-03}}

"We are on the path to failure if we continue to act as we have", French President Nicolas Sarkozy cautioned at the U.N. Climate Summit on 22 September 2009.[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113015959 NPR.org]{{Dead link|date=March 2010}}

On 5 January 2009, Sarkozy called for a ceasefire plan for the Gaza Strip Conflict.{{Cite news |title=France's Sarkozy calls for Gaza ceasefire |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSL012123322 |work=Reuters |date=7 January 2009 |access-date=7 January 2009 |first=Alastair |last=MacDonald |archive-date=30 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130173907/https://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSL012123322 |url-status=live }} The plan, which was jointly proposed by Sarkozy and Egyptian ex-President Hosni Mubarak, envisioned the continuation of the delivery of aid to Gaza and talks with Israel on border security, a key issue for Israel as it says Hamas smuggles its rockets into Gaza through the Egyptian border. Welcoming the proposal, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called for a "ceasefire that can endure and that can bring real security".{{Cite news |title=UN chief demands Gaza ceasefire |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7814772.stm |work=BBC News |date=7 January 2009 |access-date=7 January 2009 |archive-date=7 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107092016/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7814772.stm |url-status=live }}

File:Paris Summit for the Support to the Libyan People 04.jpg

Muammar Gaddafi's official visit to Nicolas Sarkozy in December 2007 triggered a strong wave of protests against the President in France.{{cite news | url=http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/politique/la-photo-kadhafi-sarkozy-introuvable-sur-le-site-de-l-elysee_964940.html | work=L'Express Reuters | first=Jacky | last=Naegelen | title=2007 Gaddafi-Sarkozy photo disappeared from the website of the Elysée | date=22 February 2011 | access-date=4 February 2013 | archive-date=8 January 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130108113606/http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/politique/la-photo-kadhafi-sarkozy-introuvable-sur-le-site-de-l-elysee_964940.html | url-status=live }}

In March 2011, after having been criticized for his unwillingness to support the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions, and persuaded by the philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy to have France actively engage against the forces of the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, Sarkozy was amongst the first Heads of State to demand the resignation of Gaddafi and his government, which was then fighting a civil war in Libya. On 10 March 2011, Sarkozy welcomed to the Elysée Palace three emissaries from the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC), brought to him by Bernard-Henri Levy, who mediated at the meeting. Sarkozy promised them that a no-fly zone would be imposed on Gaddafi's aeroplanes. He also promised them French military assistance. On 17 March 2011, at the behest of France, resolution 1973 was adopted by the Security Council of the United Nations, permitting the creation of a "no fly" zone over Libya, and for the undertaking of "necessary measures" for the protection of the country's civilian population.

On 19 March 2011, Sarkozy officially announced the beginning of a military intervention in Libya, with France's participation. These actions of Sarkozy were favorably received by the majority of the French political class and public opinion.{{cite web |url=http://www.lejdd.fr/International/Actualite/La-Libye-un-veritable-succes-diplomatique-pour-Sarkozy-285403/ |title=La Libye, un véritable succès diplomatique pour Sarkozy? |publisher=leJDD.fr |access-date=20 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519121235/http://www.lejdd.fr/International/Actualite/La-Libye-un-veritable-succes-diplomatique-pour-Sarkozy-285403/ |archive-date=19 May 2011 }}[http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=2011-12-12#folio=CV1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010173457/http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=2011-12-12#folio=CV1|date=10 October 2016}} "No Exit" by Philip Gourevitch, 12 December 2011, New Yorker{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/02/world/africa/02levy.html?pagewanted=all | work=The New York Times | first=Steven | last=Erlanger | title=In His Telling, One Man Made Libya a French Cause | date=1 April 2011 | access-date=17 February 2017 | archive-date=23 July 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723115223/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/02/world/africa/02levy.html?pagewanted=all | url-status=live }}

File:Sondages sarkozy.svg

In 2016, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the British Parliament published a report stating that the military intervention "was based on erroneous assumptions" that the threat of a massacre of civilian populations has been "overvalued" and that the coalition "Has not verified the real threat to civilians"; He also believes that the true motivations of Nicolas Sarkozy were to serve French interests and to "improve his political situation in France".{{cite web |title=Royaume-Uni: un rapport parlementaire éreinte Sarkozy et Cameron pour l'intervention en Libye |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2016/09/14/01003-20160914ARTFIG00259-royaume-uni-un-rapport-parlementaire-ereinte-sarkozy-et-cameron-pour-l-intervention-en-libye.php |website=LEFIGARO |date=14 September 2016 |language=fr |access-date=1 March 2021 |archive-date=3 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103024719/https://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2016/09/14/01003-20160914ARTFIG00259-royaume-uni-un-rapport-parlementaire-ereinte-sarkozy-et-cameron-pour-l-intervention-en-libye.php |url-status=live }}

{{Main|French presidential election, 2012}}

Sarkozy was one of ten candidates who qualified for the first round of voting.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120417021012/http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseil-constitutionnel/root/bank/download/cc2012listecandidats.pdf Décision du 19 mars 2012 arrêtant la liste des candidats à l'élection présidentielle] – Conseil Constitutionnel François Hollande, the Socialist Party candidate, received the most votes in the first round held on 22 April election, with Sarkozy coming second, meaning that both progressed to the second round of voting on 5–6 May 2012.{{cite web|title=Résultats de l'élection présidentielle 2012 Sarkozy lost the second round to the socialist candidate François Hollande making Hollande the new President of France.|url=http://elections.interieur.gouv.fr/PR2012/FE.html|access-date=23 April 2012|archive-date=12 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512003940/http://elections.interieur.gouv.fr/PR2012/FE.html|url-status=live}} Sarkozy lost in the runoff and conceded to Hollande. He received an estimated 48.38% compared to Hollande's 51.62%.{{cite web|url=http://www.france24.com/en/france/2min/20120506-france-socialist-hollande-wins-presidential-election-sarkozy|title=Socialist Hollande triumphs in French presidential poll – France 24|date=6 May 2012|publisher=France 24|access-date=30 December 2016|archive-date=17 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161217193613/http://www.france24.com/en/france/2min/20120506-france-socialist-hollande-wins-presidential-election-sarkozy|url-status=live}}

After his defeat at the 2012 election, Sarkozy asked his supporters to respect Hollande's victory. He invited his successor to attend his last 8 May Victory in Europe Day commemoration in office. His last day as President of the French Republic was 15 May.

Shortly after, Sarkozy briefly considered a career in private equity and secured a €250 million commitment from the Qatar Investment Authority to back his planned buyout firm. He abandoned his private equity plans when he decided to make a political comeback in 2014.{{cite news | first1=Anne-Sylvaine | last1=Chassany | first2=Camilla | last2=Hall | date=28 March 2013 | url=https://www.ft.com/content/52b9eaba-97be-11e2-b7ef-00144feabdc0 | title=Nicolas Sarkozy's road from the Elysée to private equity | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110235902/https://www.ft.com/content/52b9eaba-97be-11e2-b7ef-00144feabdc0 |archivedate=10 January 2020 | newspaper=Financial Times}}{{cite news | first=Anne-Sylvaine | last=Chassany | date=21 February 2017 | url=https://www.ft.com/content/1ed0309c-f859-11e6-9516-2d969e0d3b65 | title=Nicolas Sarkozy joins AccorHotels to head international strategy | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190924215906/https://www.ft.com/content/1ed0309c-f859-11e6-9516-2d969e0d3b65 |archivedate=24 September 2019 | newspaper=Financial Times}}

{{further|The Republicans (France) presidential primary, 2016}}

File:2015-03-12 18-16-27 meeting-sarkozy (cropped).jpg

On 19 September 2014, Sarkozy announced that he was returning to politics and would run for chairman of the UMP party,{{cite web|last1=Willsher|first1=Kim|title=Sarkozy announces return to politics in France|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/19/sarkozy-return-politics-france-ump|website=The Guardian|date=19 September 2014|access-date=19 September 2014|archive-date=19 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140919152011/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/19/sarkozy-return-politics-france-ump|url-status=live}} and was elected to the post on 29 November 2014.{{cite web|last1=Willsher|first1=Kim|title=Nicolas Sarkozy elected to head French opposition party in comeback bid|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/29/nicolas-sarkozy-ump-party-leadership-elected|website=The Guardian|date=29 November 2014|access-date=29 November 2014|archive-date=29 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129230724/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/29/nicolas-sarkozy-ump-party-leadership-elected|url-status=live}} Led by Sarkozy, UMP won over two-thirds of the 102 local départements in the nationwide elections on 29 March 2015.{{cite web |title=French local elections: Exit polls suggest Conservative win |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32104760 |website=bbc.com |date=29 March 2015 |access-date=27 August 2016 |archive-date=30 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130034722/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32104760 |url-status=live }} On 13 December, the Republicans won the majority of regional office races, another set of national elections.BBC News, 13 December 2015 "French Far Right National Front 'Routed' in Key Vote" (On 30 May, the UMP's name was changed to the Republicans.)

In January 2016, Sarkozy published the book La France pour la vie. In August 2016, he announced his candidacy for 2016 Republican presidential primary in November 2016, but only came in third place behind François Fillon and Alain Juppé. He decided to endorse Fillon and signaled that he was retiring from politics.{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38047046 |title=France Sarkozy: Ex-president exits after defeat |date=21 November 2016 |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-date=6 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206215412/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38047046 |url-status=live }} Being defeated at the Republican presidential primary in 2016, he retired from public life.

File:2018 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony (2018-06-14) 29.jpg, Gianni Infantino and Juan Carlos Varela at the FIFA World Cup in Russia, 14 June 2018]]

In 2020, Sarkozy was charged with corruption by French prosecutors in two cases, notably concerning the alleged Libyan interference in the 2007 French elections. At issue for Sarkozy were campaign costs exceeding the maximum allowed, and how they were paid. In 2021, Sarkozy was convicted of corruption in two separate trials. His first conviction resulted in him receiving a sentence of three years, two of them suspended and one in prison; he has appealed against the ruling. For his second conviction in September 2021, he received a one-year sentence, which he is allowed to serve under home confinement; his lawyer said he would appeal this decision.{{cite news |url=https://www.france24.com/en/france/20210930-former-french-president-sarkozy-found-guilty-of-illegal-campaign-financing |title=France's ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy to serve a year of house arrest for illegal campaign financing |date=30 September 2021 |work=France 24 |access-date=22 April 2022 }}

He is still a force in conservative politics in France. "Sarkozy retired from active politics in 2017, but is still playing a role behind the scenes. French media have reported that he is involved in the process of choosing a conservative candidate ahead of France's presidential election next year. But the pair of convictions could force Sarkozy to play a more discreet role in 2022's presidential race." Sarkozy endorsed Emmanuel Macron in the April 2022 election.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/macron-le-pen-france-elections-sarkozy-b2056309.html?amp |title=France's ex-President Sarkozy endorses Macron in election battle against Le Pen |date=12 April 2022 |work=The Independent |first=Tom |last=Batchelor |access-date=22 April 2022 }}

In February 2023, Sarkozy together with his wife and daughter visited the Western Wall where they expressed their enthusiasm for the "exciting place" as well as their deep friendship with Israel.{{cite web |title=Former French President Sarkozy Visits the Kosel {{!}} Matzav.com |url=https://matzav.com/former-french-president-sarkozy-visits-the-kosel/ |website=Matzav.com |access-date=20 February 2023}}

On 12 November 2023, he took part in the March for the Republic and Against Antisemitism in Paris in response to the rise in antisemitism since the start of the Gaza war.{{Cite web |last1=Bajos |first1=Sandrine |last2=Balle |first2=Catherine |last3=Bérard |first3=Christophe |last4=Berrod |first4=Nicolas |last5=((Bureau)) |first5=Éric |last6=Choulet |first6=Frédéric |last7=Collet |first7=Emeline |last8=Souza |first8=Pascale De |last9=Doukhan |first9=David |date=2023-11-11 |title=Marche contre l'antisémitisme: François Hollande, Marylise Léon, Agnès Jaoui... pourquoi ils s'engagent |url=https://www.leparisien.fr/societe/marche-contre-lantisemitisme-francois-hollande-marylise-leon-agnes-jaoui-pourquoi-ils-sengagent-11-11-2023-WREACIPV4BEOZEDCWAGRM5ZNRA.php |website=leparisien.fr |language=fr-FR}}

On 18 December 2024, Sarkozy was definitively sentenced to three years in prison, including one to be served under electronic monitoring, for corruption and influence peddling. Despite the ruling, he has decided to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.{{Cite web |date=2024-12-18 |title=Affaire des écoutes: Nicolas Sarkozy définitivement condamné à un an sous bracelet électronique |url=https://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/affaire-des-ecoutes-nicolas-sarkozy-definitivement-condamne-a-un-an-sous-bracelet-electronique-18-12-2024-YVQBBXE6HBBM5FGRPKO347LUBA.php |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=leparisien.fr |language=fr-FR}}{{Cite web |title=Nicolas Sarkozy sera équipé d'un bracelet électronique pendant 1 an: la Cour de cassation a tranché dans l'affaire Bismuth |url=https://www.ladepeche.fr/2024/12/18/nicolas-sarkozy-sera-equipe-dun-bracelet-electronique-la-cour-de-cassation-a-tranche-dans-laffaire-bismuth-12399852.php |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=ladepeche.fr |language=fr}}

• Lagardère Group, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2020)Benoit Van Overstraeten and Maya Nikolaeva (27 February 2020), [https://www.reuters.com/article/lagardere-board/frances-lagardere-adds-nicolas-sarkozy-to-its-board-idUSP6N29Y00C France's Lagardere adds Nicolas Sarkozy to its board] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229102533/https://www.reuters.com/article/lagardere-board/frances-lagardere-adds-nicolas-sarkozy-to-its-board-idUSP6N29Y00C |date=29 February 2020}} Reuters.
• Accor, Independent Member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the International Strategy Committee (since 2017)[https://press.accor.com/nicolas-sarkozy-joins-accorhotels-board-of-directors-to-support-its-international-vision%e2%80%8b/?lang=en Nicolas Sarkozy joins AccorHotels' Board of Directors to support its international vision] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804183219/https://press.accor.com/nicolas-sarkozy-joins-accorhotels-board-of-directors-to-support-its-international-vision%e2%80%8b/?lang=en |date=4 August 2020 }} Accor, press release of 21 February 2017.Dominique Vidalon (21 February 2017), [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-accorhotels-sarkozy/accorhotels-beats-profit-expectations-ex-president-sarkozy-joins-board-idUSKBN1602BJ AccorHotels beats profit expectations, ex-president Sarkozy joins board] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804120956/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-accorhotels-sarkozy/accorhotels-beats-profit-expectations-ex-president-sarkozy-joins-board-idUSKBN1602BJ |date=4 August 2020 }} Reuters.
• Groupe Lucien Barrière, Member of the Board of Directors (since 2019)[https://www.groupebarriere.com/en/our-group/governance-shareholders/board-of-directors.html Board of Directors] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804104607/https://www.groupebarriere.com/en/our-group/governance-shareholders/board-of-directors.html |date=4 August 2020 }} Groupe Lucien Barrière.

• Berggruen Institute, Member of the 21st Century Council[https://www.berggruen.org/people/group/21st-century-council/ 21st Century Council] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821155415/https://www.berggruen.org/people/group/21st-century-council/ |date=21 August 2019 }} Berggruen Institute.
• Schwarzman Scholars, Honorary Member of the Advisory Board[https://www.schwarzmanscholars.org/about/advisors/ Advisors] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205212711/https://www.schwarzmanscholars.org/about/advisors/ |date=5 December 2019 }} Schwarzman Scholars.

File:Sarkozy.jpg

Sarkozy was named the 68th best-dressed person in the world by Vanity Fair, alongside David Beckham and Brad Pitt.[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/french-president-is-best-dressed-pol/ French President Is Best Dressed Pol], CBS, 9 August 2007 However, Sarkozy has also been named as the third worst-dressed person in the world by GQ.[https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/01/04/gord-at-no-10-down-n-out-street-115875-21940661/ Gordon Brown tops GQ worst dressed man poll] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110920032455/http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/01/04/gord-at-no-10-down-n-out-street-115875-21940661/ |date=20 September 2011 }}, Daily Mirror, 4 January 2010 (original GQ article no longer available)

Beside publicising, at times, and at others, refusing to publicise his ex-wife Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz's image,Frédéric Pagès, "[http://www.lecanardenchaine.fr/une4530.html Cécilia, dame d'enfer] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824162852/http://www.lecanardenchaine.fr/une4530.html |date=24 August 2007 }}" in Le Canard enchaîné, 22 August 2007 {{in lang|fr}} Sarkozy takes care of his own personal image, sometimes to the point of censorship—such as in the Paris Match affair, when he allegedly forced its director to resign following an article on his ex-wife and her affair with Publicis executive Richard Attias, or pressures exercised on the Journal du dimanche, which was preparing to publish an article concerning Ciganer-Albéniz's decision not to vote in the second round of the 2007 presidential election.[http://www.rue89.com/2007/05/13/cecilia_sarkozy_na_pas_vote_un_scoop_censure_du_jdd Cécilia Sarkozy n'a pas voté... scoop censuré du JDD] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070910224607/http://www.rue89.com/2007/05/13/cecilia_sarkozy_na_pas_vote_un_scoop_censure_du_jdd |date=10 September 2007 }}, Rue 89, 13 May 2007 {{in lang|fr}} In its edition of 9 August 2007, Paris Match retouched a photo of Sarkozy in order to erase a love handle.[http://www.lexpress.fr/info/quotidien/actu.asp?id=13512 Sarkozy: les poignées de l'amour] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824095525/http://www.lexpress.fr/info/quotidien/actu.asp?id=13512 |date=24 August 2007 }}, L'Express, 22 August 2007 {{in lang|fr}}[http://rue89.com/2007/08/23/un-bourrelet-relance-le-debat-sur-la-retouche-dimages Un bourrelet relance le débat sur la retouche d'images] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930013215/http://rue89.com/2007/08/23/un-bourrelet-relance-le-debat-sur-la-retouche-dimages |date=30 September 2007 }}, Rue 89, 23 August 2007 {{in lang|fr}}[http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/5967 Topless Sarkozy's love handles airbrushed away] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930165532/http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/5967 |date=30 September 2007 }}, Foreign Policy blog, 22 August 2007 His official portrait destined for all French town halls was done by Sipa Press photographer Philippe Warrin, better known for his paparazzi work.Chloé Leprince, [http://rue89.com/2007/08/21/pour-le-nouveau-president-la-rupture-commence-par-limage Pour le nouveau Président, la rupture commence par l'image] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930012906/http://rue89.com/2007/08/21/pour-le-nouveau-president-la-rupture-commence-par-limage |date=30 September 2007 }}, Rue 89, 21 August 2007 {{in lang|fr}} Former Daily Telegraph journalist Colin Randall has highlighted Sarkozy's tighter control of his image and frequent interventions in the media: "he censors a book, or fires the chief editor of a weekly". Sarkozy lost a suit against a manufacturer of Sarkozy voodoo dolls, in which he claimed that he had a right to his own image.{{cite news|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/30/europe/france.php|title=France enjoys Sarkozy's voodoo doll setback|last=Bennhold|first=Katrin|date=30 October 2008|work=International Herald Tribune|access-date=31 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081031020022/http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/30/europe/france.php|archive-date=31 October 2008}}

File:Caricature Nicolas Sarkozy.jpg

Sarkozy is reported by Reuters to be sensitive about his height; believed to be 165 cm (e.g. 5 ft 5 in).{{cite news | title=Socialists say Sarkozy has "small man syndrome" | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL2186523220070921 | work=Reuters | date=21 September 2007 | access-date=1 July 2017 | archive-date=17 September 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090917164031/http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL2186523220070921 | url-status=live }} The French media have pointed out that Carla Bruni frequently wears flats when in public with him. In 2009, a worker at a factory where Sarkozy gave a speech said she was asked to stand next to him because she was of a similar height to Sarkozy. (This story was corroborated by some trade union officials.) This was the subject of a political row: the president's office called the accusation "completely absurd and grotesque", while the Socialist Party mocked his fastidious preparation.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8243486.stm#graphic|title=Sarkozy height row grips France|work=BBC News|date=8 August 2009|access-date=8 August 2009|archive-date=14 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814171126/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8243486.stm#graphic|url-status=live}}

Sarkozy was nicknamed as Hyper-president or hyperpresident by some French media{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7116978.stm|title=The hyper-president's biggest problem|date=28 November 2007|work=BBC News|access-date=28 October 2015|archive-date=7 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107004810/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7116978.stm|url-status=live}} after his 2007 election as president, to describe his desire to control everything.L'hyper-président, Le Monde, 06 Juin 2007 {{in lang|fr}} «Le nouveau président de la République a marqué des points grâce à son style direct, son art de la communication, son omniprésence sur tous les fronts intérieurs et extérieurs, sa volonté affichée d'engager les réformes promises» Whereas in the history of the Fifth Republic, the successive presidents were traditionally focused on the foreign policy of the country and on international relations, leaving the Prime Minister and the government to determine the domestic policy, as the Constitution states it,{{cite web|url=http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseil-constitutionnel/root/bank_mm/anglais/constiution_anglais_oct2009.pdf|title=Constitution of 4 October 1958|work=Conseil Constitutionnel|access-date=28 October 2015|archive-date=30 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130173951/https://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/sites/default/files/as/root/bank_mm/anglais/constiution_anglais_oct2009.pdf|url-status=live}} {{in lang|en}} Nicolas Sarkozy appeared to determine both the foreign and domestic policy.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}} Some compared Nicolas Sarkozy to Napoléon Bonaparte and Louis XIV.{{Cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html|title=OP-ED COLUMNIST; Sarkozy's New Order|last=Cohen|first=Roger|date=23 August 2007|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=7 February 2017|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=9 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209030954/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html|url-status=live}} Indeed, he appointed a very close friend of his, François Fillon, as a Prime Minister.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6664565.stm|title=Sarkozy names ally Fillon as PM|date=17 May 2007|work=BBC News|access-date=28 October 2015|archive-date=5 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805231434/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6664565.stm|url-status=live}} Fillon was accused of being an instrument of the President's power.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

The biopic The Conquest is a 2011 film that dramatizes Sarkozy's rise to power, with candid portrayals of Nicolas Sarkozy himself, Chirac and Villepin.{{cite web|title=The Conquest (La Conquete): Cannes 2011 Review|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/conquest-la-conquete-cannes-2011-189810|access-date=2020-06-13|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=18 May 2011|language=en|archive-date=13 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613201402/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/conquest-la-conquete-cannes-2011-189810|url-status=live}} It was shown at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.{{Cite news|last=Poirier|first=Agnès C.|date=2011-05-18|title=Cannes 2011 review: La Conquête (The Conquest)|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/may/18/cannes-2011-review-la-conquete-sarkozy|access-date=2020-06-13|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=13 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613201359/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/may/18/cannes-2011-review-la-conquete-sarkozy|url-status=live}}

Sarkozy is generally disliked by the left and has been criticised by some on the right, most vocally by moderate Gaullist supporters of Jacques Chirac and Dominique de Villepin.{{cite web |url = http://www.marianne2007.info/Cette-droite-qui-dit-non-a-Sarkozy_a313.html |title=Cette droite qui dit "non" à Sarkozy |publisher=Marianne2007.info |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070108194215/http://www.marianne2007.info/Cette-droite-qui-dit-non-a-Sarkozy_a313.html |archive-date=8 January 2007 }} The communist-leaning magazine L'Humanité accused Sarkozy of populism.L'Humanité, [http://www.humanite.presse.fr/journal/2005-06-11/2005-06-11-808328 Humanite.presse.fr] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427073035/http://www.humanite.presse.fr/journal/2005-06-11/2005-06-11-808328 |date=27 April 2006 }}, 11 June 2005

File:Anti Sarko 480342767 8b13c8532f o d.jpg

In 2004 Sarkozy co-authored a book, La République, les religions, l'espérance (The Republic, Religions, and Hope),{{cite book|author1=Thibaud Collin, Philippe Verdin|last2=Sarkozy|first2=Nicolas|title=La République, les religions, l'espérance|publisher=Les éditions du Cerf|year=2004|isbn=2-204-07283-4}} in which he argued that the young should not be brought up solely on secular or republican values. He advocated reducing the separation of church and state, arguing for the government subsidies for mosques to encourage Islamic integration into French society.{{cite web|title=L'Etat Doit-Il Financer La Construction de Mosquées ?|publisher=Libres.org|language=fr|date=2 July 2007|url=http://www.libres.org/francais/actualite/archives/actualit%E9_1004/mosquees_a5_4504.htm|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091010194121/http://www.libres.org/francais/actualite/archives/actualit%E9_1004/mosquees_a5_4504.htm|archive-date=10 October 2009}} He has opposed financing of religious institutions with funds from outside France. After meeting with Tom Cruise, Sarkozy was criticized by some for meeting with a member of the Church of Scientology, which has been seen by some as a cult.Worldwide Religious News, 2 September 2004 Sarkozy was criticized by some after he claimed "the roots of France are essentially Christian" at a December 2007 speech in Rome. Similarly, he drew criticism after he called Islam "one of the greatest and most beautiful civilizations the world has known" at a speech in Riyadh in January 2008.{{cite news|title=French President's religious mixing riles critics|url=http://www.christiantoday.com/article/french.presidents.religious.mixing.riles.critics/16423.htm|date=23 January 2008|work=Christianity Today|access-date=29 January 2009|archive-date=20 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420223313/http://www.christiantoday.com/article/french.presidents.religious.mixing.riles.critics/16423.htm|url-status=live}}

In the midst of a tense period and following the death of an 11-year-old boy, caught in the crossfire of a gang brawl in the Paris suburb of La Courneuve in June 2005, Sarkozy went to the scene and said: "on va nettoyer au Kärcher la cité" ("we will clean the area with a pressure washer"). Two days before the 2005 Paris riots, he referred to young criminals of nearby housing projects as "voyous" ("thugs") and "racaille", a slang term which can be translated into English as "rascals", "scum" or "riff-raff", in answer to a resident who addressed Sarkozy with "Quand nous débarrassez-vous de cette racaille?" ("When will you rid us of these dregs?").{{cite news|title=Banlieues : filmer et raconter avec Françoise Laborde, Claude Dilain, Nicolas Comte, Guillaume Biet (Les videos) |work=Arrêt sur images |language=fr |publisher=France 5 |date=6 November 2005 |url=http://www.france5.fr/asi/007548/10/129836.cfm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703031423/http://www.france5.fr/asi/007548/10/129836.cfm |archive-date=3 July 2007 }} The French Communist Party publication, L'Humanité, branded this language as inappropriate.{{cite news|title=Nicolas Sarkozy pompier pyromane|work=L'Humanité|location=France|date=2 November 2005|url=http://www.humanite.presse.fr/journal/2005-11-02/2005-11-02-817109|access-date=4 January 2007|archive-date=14 December 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051214150705/http://www.humanite.presse.fr/journal/2005-11-02/2005-11-02-817109|url-status=live}} Following Sarkozy's use of the word racaille, many people in the banlieues identified him as a politician of the far right. His period as Minister of the Interior saw the use of police as shock troops in the "banlieues", and a police "raid" on the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois in October 2005 led to two boys being electrocuted in a power sub-station. The riots began that night.The Independent, 17 April 2007, p. 20, "The banlieues prepare to vote: 'We hate Sarkozy because he hates us'."

In September 2005, Sarkozy was accused of pushing for a hasty inquiry into an arson attack on a police station in Pau, of which the alleged perpetrators were acquitted for lack of proof.{{cite news|title=Incendie de Pau : les 8 accusés acquittés|agency=Associated Press|work=Le Nouvel Observateur |location=France|language=fr|date=1 October 2005|url=http://permanent.nouvelobs.com/societe/20051001.OBS0822.html}}{{dead link|date=August 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} On 22 June 2005 Sarkozy told law enforcement officials that he had questioned the Minister of Justice about the future of "the judge" who had freed a man on parole who had later committed a murder.{{cite web|title=Nicolas Sarkozy veut faire " payer " un juge pour " sa faute "|work=Le Monde|language=fr|format=Fee required for full article|date=23 June 2005|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3224,36-665357@51-660372,0.html|access-date=3 October 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050626010734/http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3224,36-665357@51-660372,0.html|archive-date=26 June 2005|df=dmy-all}}

A few weeks before the first round of the 2007 presidential elections, Sarkozy had an interview with philosopher Michel Onfray.[http://philomag.com/article,dialogue,nicolas-sarkozy-et-michel-onfray-confidences-entre-ennemis,288.php online extracts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715074700/http://www.philomag.com/article,dialogue,nicolas-sarkozy-et-michel-onfray-confidences-entre-ennemis,288.php |date=15 July 2011 }}, Philosophie Magazine, nr 8, April 2007 Sarkozy stated that disorders such as paedophilia and depression have a genetic as well as social basis, saying "... I'd be inclined to think that one is born a paedophile, and it is actually a problem that we do not know how to cure this disease"; he claimed that suicides among youth were linked to genetic predispositions by stating, "I don't want to give parents a complex. It's not exclusively the parents' fault every time a youngster commits suicide." These statements were criticised by some scientists, including geneticist Axel Kahn.[https://archive.today/20070604061336/http://www.humanite.presse.fr/journal/2007-04-04/2007-04-04-848961 "Un gène ne commande jamais un destin humain"], 4 April 2007, L'Humanité.[http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-823448,36-894367@51-893376,0.html "Tollé dans la communauté scientifique après les propos de Nicolas Sarkozy sur la génétique"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226181644/http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-823448,36-894367@51-893376,0.html |date=26 December 2007 }}, 11 April 2007Le Monde (in French). Sarkozy later added, "What part is innate and what part is acquired? At least let's debate it, let's not close the door to all debate."[https://www.theguardian.com/france/story/0,,2053956,00.html "Row over Sarkozy's paedophilia comment refuses to go away"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130173906/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/10/france |date=30 November 2021 }}, The Guardian, 10 April 2007.

On 27 July 2007, Sarkozy delivered a speech in Dakar, Senegal, written by Henri Guaino, in which he claimed that "the African has never really entered into history".News24.com; 28 July 2007; [http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_2154961,00.html Sarkozy's Africa vision under fire] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930210956/http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_2154961,00.html |date=30 September 2007 }}Chris McGreal;The Guardian (UK) 27 August 2007 [https://www.theguardian.com/france/story/0,,2156809,00.html Mbeki criticised for praising 'racist' Sarkozy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130173932/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/aug/27/southafrica.france |date=30 November 2021 }} The controversial remarks were widely condemned by Africans, with some viewing them as racist.Michel Agier, [http://www.vacarme.eu.org/article1493.html l'Afrique en France après le discours de Dakar] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080405020136/http://vacarme.eu.org/article1493.html |date=5 April 2008 }}, Vacarme n°42 {{in lang|fr}} South African president Thabo Mbeki praised Sarkozy's speech, which raised criticism by some in the South African media.

On 30 July 2010, Sarkozy suggested a new policy of security, and he proposed "stripping foreign-born French citizens who opted to acquire their nationality at their majority of their citizenship if they are convicted of threatening the life of a police officer or other serious crimes".{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/opinion/06fri2.html?_r=1&ref=nicolas_sarkozy|work=The New York Times|title=Casting Out the Un-French|date=5 August 2010|access-date=17 February 2017|archive-date=23 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723115229/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/opinion/06fri2.html?_r=1&ref=nicolas_sarkozy|url-status=live}} This policy has been criticized for example by the US newspaper The New York Times, by Sarkozy's political opponents, including the Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry,{{cite web|url=http://www.lepoint.fr/politique/securite-aubry-denonce-la-derive-antirepublicaine-de-sarkozy-et-de-sa-majorite-01-08-2010-1221034_20.php|title=SÉCURITÉ – Aubry dénonce la "dérive antirépublicaine" de Sarkozy et de sa majorité, actualité Politique: Le Point|work=Le Point|date=August 2010|location=France|access-date=5 November 2010|archive-date=6 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806210740/http://www.lepoint.fr/politique/securite-aubry-denonce-la-derive-antirepublicaine-de-sarkozy-et-de-sa-majorite-01-08-2010-1221034_20.php|url-status=live}} and by experts of French law, including the ex-member of the Constitutional Council of France, Robert Badinter, who said that such action would be unconstitutional.{{cite news|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2010/08/02/badinter-rappelle-a-sarkozy-l-egalite-de-tous-les-francais-devant-la-loi_1394701_823448.html|title=Badinter rappelle à Sarkozy l'égalité de tous les Français devant la loi|work=Le Monde|date=2 August 2010|location=France|access-date=5 November 2010|archive-date=23 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123040615/http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2010/08/02/badinter-rappelle-a-sarkozy-l-egalite-de-tous-les-francais-devant-la-loi_1394701_823448.html|url-status=live}}

He called for coercive methods to promote "métissage," a melting pot society, which he called an "obligation" during a press conference on 17 December 2008.{{cite video |title = Sarkozy – Métissage obligatoire {{!}} cultural mixing is necessary [full press conference] |date=6 August 2016 |url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwPPRYl0xQE |access-date=5 October 2017 }}

File:Touche-moi-pas.jpg

On 23 February 2008, Sarkozy was filmed by a reporter for French newspaper Le Parisien having the following exchange while visiting the Paris International Agricultural Show:{{cite web |title=Premiers pas mouvementés de Sarkozy au salon de l'agriculture |work=Le Parisien |location=France|language=fr |format=SWF |date=23 February 2008|url = http://videos.leparisien.fr/video/iLyROoaftL1D.html |archive-url = https://archive.today/20120718082514/http://videos.leparisien.fr/video/iLyROoaftL1D.html |archive-date=18 July 2012 }}

While quickly crossing the hall Saturday morning, in the middle of the crowd, Sarkozy encounters a recalcitrant visitor who refuses to shake his hand. "Ah no, don't touch me!", said the man. The president retorted immediately: "Get lost, then." "You're making me dirty", yelled the man. With a frozen smile, Sarkozy says, his teeth glistening, a refined "Get lost, then, poor dumb-ass, go."{{NoteTag|In French: "Lors de sa traversée éclair du salon samedi matin, en plein bain de foule, Sarkozy croise un visiteur récalcitrant qui refuse sa poignée de main. «Ah non, touche-moi pas», prévient-il. Le chef de l'État rétorque sans détour: «Casse-toi, alors.» «Tu me salis», embraye l'homme. Le sourire se crispe. Sarkozy lâche, desserrant à peine les dents, un raffiné «Casse-toi alors, pauv'con, va.»}}

Sarkozy opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. However, he was critical of the way Chirac and his foreign minister Dominique de Villepin expressed France's opposition to the war. Talking at the French-American Foundation in Washington, D.C., on 12 September 2006, he denounced what he called the "French arrogance" and said: "It is bad manners to embarrass one's allies or sound like one is taking delight in their troubles."{{cite web|url=http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/politiques/205032.FR.php|title=Chirac juge "lamentable" l'atlantisme de Sarkozy|author=Libération|date=18 September 2006|language=fr|access-date=28 April 2007|archive-date=19 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819050053/http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/politiques/205032.FR.php|url-status=live}} He added: "We must never again turn our disagreements into a crisis." Chirac reportedly said in private that Sarkozy's speech was "appalling" and "a shameful act".

In October 2009, Sarkozy was accused of nepotism for helping his son, Jean, try to become head of the public body running France's biggest business district, EPAD.Angelique Chrisafis (Oct 2009). [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/oct/09/jean-sarkozy-nepotism-row "Sarkozy's son sparks nepotism row after being tipped for top public job"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722194539/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/oct/09/jean-sarkozy-nepotism-row |date=22 July 2016 }} The Guardian, Friday 9 October 2009. Accessed 2 July 2014{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/6410101/Nicolas-Sarkozys-son-will-not-seek-high-profile-post-after-nepotism-row.html|title=Nicolas Sarkozy's son will not seek high-profile post after nepotism row|work=The Telegraph|location=United Kingdom|access-date=15 May 2012|first=Henry|last=Samuel|date=23 October 2009|archive-date=9 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309180846/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/6410101/Nicolas-Sarkozys-son-will-not-seek-high-profile-post-after-nepotism-row.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9249521/France-election-2012-Nicolas-Sarkozy-booted-out-of-office-having-exhausted-France.html|title=France election 2012: Nicolas Sarkozy booted out of office having exhausted France|work=The Telegraph|location=United Kingdom|access-date=15 May 2012|first=Henry|last=Samuel|date=6 May 2012|archive-date=9 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509032112/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9249521/France-election-2012-Nicolas-Sarkozy-booted-out-of-office-having-exhausted-France.html|url-status=live}} On 3 July 2012, French police raided Sarkozy's residence and office as part of a probe into claims that Sarkozy was involved in illegal political campaign financing.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/03/nicolas-sarkozy-home-raided-police?newsfeed=true|title=Nicolas Sarkozy's home raided by French police|date=3 July 2012|work=The Guardian|first=Angelique|last=Chrisafis|access-date=15 December 2016|archive-date=10 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510212816/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/03/nicolas-sarkozy-home-raided-police?newsfeed=true|url-status=live}}

On 5 July 2010, following its investigations on the Bettencourt affair, online newspaper Mediapart ran an article in which Claire Thibout, a former accountant of billionairess Liliane Bettencourt, accused Sarkozy and Eric Woerth of receiving illegal campaign donations in 2007, in cash.[http://www.mediapart.fr "L'ex-comptable des Bettencourt accuse: des enveloppes d'argent à Woerth et à Sarkozy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224155948/http://www.mediapart.fr/ |date=24 February 2011 }}, original report (in French){{cite web|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e72598de-88d5-11df-8925-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=rss|title=Financial Times article|work=Financial Times|date=6 July 2010|access-date=5 November 2010|archive-date=30 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130173914/https://www.ft.com/content/e72598de-88d5-11df-8925-00144feab49a?ftcamp=rss|url-status=live}}

On 1 July 2014, Sarkozy was detained for questioning by police over claims he had promised a prestigious role in Monaco to a high-ranking judge, Gilbert Azibert, in exchange for information about the investigation into alleged illegal campaign funding. Mr Azibert, one of the most senior judges at the Court of Appeal, was called in for questioning on 30 June 2014.BBC News (July 2014). [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-28103223 "French ex-President Sarkozy held over influence claims"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205171821/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-28103223 |date=5 December 2018 }}, BBC News, 1 July 2014. Accessed 1 July 2014 It is believed to be the first time a former French president has been held in police custody, although his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, was found guilty of embezzlement and breach of trust while he was mayor of Paris and given a suspended prison sentence in 2011.Kim Willsher (July 2014). [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/01/nicolas-sarkozy-detained-questioning-alleged-corruption "Nicolas Sarkozy detained for questioning over alleged corruption"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160908234744/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/01/nicolas-sarkozy-detained-questioning-alleged-corruption |date=8 September 2016 }} The Guardian, 1 July 2014. Accessed 1 July 2014 After 15 hours in police custody, Sarkozy was put under official investigation for "active corruption", "misuse of influence" and "obtained through a breach of professional secrecy" on 2 July 2014.BBC News (July 2014). [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-28122473 "France's ex-President Sarkozy put under investigation"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205170230/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-28122473 |date=5 December 2018 }} BBC News, 2 July 2014. Accessed 2 July 2014 Mr Azibert and Sarkozy's lawyer, Thierry Herzog, are also now under official investigation. The two accusations carry sentences of up to 10 years in prison.Kim Willsher (July 2014). [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/02/nicolas-sarkozy-faces-criminal-charge-after-being-placed-under-investigation "Nicolas Sarkozy under official investigation after questioning"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927155757/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/02/nicolas-sarkozy-faces-criminal-charge-after-being-placed-under-investigation |date=27 September 2016 }}, The Guardian, 2 July 2014. Accessed 2 July 2014 The developments were seen as a blow to Sarkozy's attempts to challenge for the presidency in 2017.BBC News (July 2014). [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-28103223 "French ex-President Sarkozy held over influence claims"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205171821/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-28103223 |date=5 December 2018 }}, BBC News, 1 July 2014. Accessed 1 July 2014{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/10942094/Nicolas-Sarkozy-I-am-victim-of-a-grotesque-witch-hunt.html|title=Nicolas Sarkozy: I am victim of a 'grotesque' witch-hunt|date=2 July 2014|work=Daily Telegraph|access-date=3 July 2014|archive-date=2 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702202802/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/10942094/Nicolas-Sarkozy-I-am-victim-of-a-grotesque-witch-hunt.html|url-status=live}} Nevertheless, he later stood as a candidate for the Republican party nomination,{{cite web |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11576712 |title= Profile: Nicolas Sarkozy |author= |date= 22 August 2016 |website= BBC News Online |publisher= BBC |access-date= 5 December 2016 |archive-date= 1 April 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120401164649/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3673102.stm |url-status= live }} but was eliminated from the contest in November 2016.{{cite web|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38047046|title= France Sarkozy: Ex-president exits after defeat|author= |date= 21 November 2016|website= BBC News Online|publisher= BBC|access-date= 5 December 2016|archive-date= 12 December 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161212050256/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38047046|url-status= live}} A trial on this case, Sarkozy's first, started on 23 November 2020.{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/french-president-sarkozy-stands-trial-corruption-74356391|title=French ex-President Sarkozy's trial for corruption suspended|author=Nicolas Vaux-Montagny and Sylvie Corbet|date=23 November 2020|access-date=24 November 2020|work=ABC News|agency=Associated Press|archive-date=24 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124021439/https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/french-president-sarkozy-stands-trial-corruption-74356391|url-status=live}}

On 16 February 2016, Sarkozy was indicted on "illegal financing of political campaign" charges related to overspending in his 2012 presidential campaign and retained as witness in connection with the Bygmalion scandal.[http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2016/02/16/01016-20160216ARTFIG00072-affaire-bygmalion-nicolas-sarkozy-actuellement-entendu-par-les-juges.php "Affaire Bygmalion : Nicolas Sarkozy est mis en examen"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160217091556/http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2016/02/16/01016-20160216ARTFIG00072-affaire-bygmalion-nicolas-sarkozy-actuellement-entendu-par-les-juges.php |date=17 February 2016 }}, Le Figaro, 16 February 2016, Accessed 16 February 2016{{cite news|title = Nicolas Sarkozy investigated over France campaign funds – BBC News|work = BBC News|date = 16 February 2016|url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35592077|access-date = 18 February 2016|language = en-GB|archive-date = 17 February 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160217231640/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35592077|url-status = live}}{{cite web|title = France 24 – Sarkozy questioned by judges over campaign funding scandal|url = http://www.france24.com/en/20160216-france-sarkozy-questioned-judges-over-campaign-funding-scandal-bygmalion|website = France 24|date = 16 February 2016|access-date = 18 February 2016|language = en-US|archive-date = 17 February 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160217231347/http://www.france24.com/en/20160216-france-sarkozy-questioned-judges-over-campaign-funding-scandal-bygmalion|url-status = live}}{{Cite news|title = Nicolas Sarkozy under investigation over 2012 campaign funds|url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/16/nicolas-sarkozy-under-investigation-over-2012-campaign-funds|author=|newspaper = The Guardian|date = 16 February 2016|access-date = 18 February 2016|issn = 0261-3077|language = en-GB|agency = Reuters|archive-date = 17 February 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160217122228/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/16/nicolas-sarkozy-under-investigation-over-2012-campaign-funds|url-status = live}}

In April 2016, Arnaud Claude, former law partner of Sarkozy, was named in the Panama Papers.{{cite web |url=http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/en-direct/a-chaud/20891-panamapapers-sarkozy-emission-investigation-cause-societe-gen.html |title=L'émission Cash Investigation met en cause la Société générale et cite l'avocat Arnaud Claude, associé de Nicolas Sarkozy, dans son émission sur le scandale Panama Papers |work=L'Obs |access-date=4 April 2016 |archive-date=1 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001200421/http://www.nouvelobs.com/en-direct/a-chaud/20891-panamapapers-sarkozy-emission-investigation-cause-societe-gen.html }}

On 23 November 2020, the trial of Nicolas Sarkozy started who is accused of corruption and influence peddling, for an attempted bribery of a judge. The trial was postponed until 26 November, following a request from one of his co-defendants for health reasons.{{cite web |url= https://www.politico.eu/article/sarkozy-criminal-trial-begins-set-to-begin/ |title= Coronavirus fears postpone corruption trial of former French President Sarkozy |access-date= 23 November 2020 |website= Politico |date= 23 November 2020 |archive-date= 23 November 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201123141952/https://www.politico.eu/article/sarkozy-criminal-trial-begins-set-to-begin/ |url-status= live }}

File:Nicolas Sarkozy 20220927.jpg

On 1 March 2021, a court in Paris found former French President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption, trading in influence in a wiretapping and illegal data exchange case involving a number of individuals like magistrate Gilbert Azibert and Sarkozy's former lawyer Thierry Herzog. Both men were tried with him and convicted as well. Sarkozy and his two co-defendants were sentenced to three years, two of them suspended, and one in prison.{{Cite news|date=2021-03-01|title=Sarkozy: Former French president sentenced to jail for corruption|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56237818|access-date=2021-03-01|archive-date=1 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301113120/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56237818|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/article/nicolas-sarkozy-convincted-corruption-france-6ee89cb03ba8f3888ac64447ebf61f28|title=France's Sarkozy convicted of corruption, sentenced to jail|first=Sylvie|last=Corbert|work=Associated Press|date=1 March 2021|access-date=1 March 2021|archive-date=1 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301150230/https://apnews.com/article/nicolas-sarkozy-convincted-corruption-france-6ee89cb03ba8f3888ac64447ebf61f28|url-status=live}} Sarkozy appealed the ruling, which suspends its application.{{cite news |language=fr |title=Nicolas Sarkozy va faire appel après sa condamnation pour corruption |url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/justice/20210301.OBS40807/nicolas-sarkozy-va-faire-appel-apres-sa-condamnation-pour-corruption.html |work=L'Obs |location= |access-date=1 March 2021 |archive-date=1 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301160857/https://www.nouvelobs.com/justice/20210301.OBS40807/nicolas-sarkozy-va-faire-appel-apres-sa-condamnation-pour-corruption.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |language=fr |title=Affaire des " écoutes ": Nicolas Sarkozy va faire appel |url=https://www.lepoint.fr/politique/affaire-bismuth-pourquoi-sarkozy-a-ete-condamne-a-de-la-prison-ferme-01-03-2021-2415889_20.php |work=Le Point |location= |access-date=1 March 2021 |archive-date=1 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301163509/https://www.lepoint.fr/politique/affaire-bismuth-pourquoi-sarkozy-a-ete-condamne-a-de-la-prison-ferme-01-03-2021-2415889_20.php |url-status=live }}

On 20 May 2021, a second criminal trial, this time pertaining to the Bygmalion Scandal related to illegal campaign funding, began for Sarkozy, as well as 13 other defendants who were said to have been involved in the Bygmalion scandal.{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-20/sarkozy-returns-to-paris-courtroom-to-relive-failed-election-bid|title=Sarkozy a No-Show as Second Criminal Trial Begins in Paris|first=Gaspard|last=Sebag|publisher=Bloomberg News|date=20 May 2021|access-date=11 February 2022}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57186670|title=Nicolas Sarkozy: Ex-president goes on trial for illegal campaign funding|publisher=BBC News|date=20 May 2021|access-date=11 February 2022}} Sarkozy's second corruption trial involved allegations of diverting tens of millions of euros which was intended to be spent on his failed 2012 re-election campaign and then hiring a PR firm to cover it up. The illicit campaign finance money was instead used to overspend on lavish campaign rallies and events.

On 30 September 2021, Sarkozy was convicted along with his co-defendants.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58729505|title=Sarkozy: Ex-French president gets jail sentence over campaign funding|publisher=BBC News|date=30 September 2021|access-date=11 February 2022}}{{cite news|url=https://www.france24.com/en/france/20210930-former-french-president-sarkozy-found-guilty-of-illegal-campaign-financing|title=France's ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy to serve a year of house arrest for illegal campaign financing|publisher=France 24|date=30 September 2022|access-date=11 February 2022}} For this conviction, Sarkozy was given a one-year prison sentence, though he was also given the option to serve this sentence at home with an electronic bracelet. On 18 December 2024, the Court of Cassation rejected Nicolas Sarkozy's appeal in cassation and the co-defendants, thus making Nicolas Sarkozy's conviction final, who immediately announced that they would refer the matter to the European Court of Human Rights.{{cite news |date=18 December 2024 |title=Affaire des écoutes «Bismuth»: Nicolas Sarkozy définitivement condamné à un an sous bracelet électronique |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/affaire-des-ecoutes-bismuth-nicolas-sarkozy-definitivement-condamne-a-un-an-ferme-sous-bracelet-electronique-20241218 |access-date=18 December 2024 |publisher=Le Figaro}}

In 2023, Sarkozy's attempt to appeal the decision was denied, and he has been banned from holding public office for three years and but will still have the option of serving his sentence from home with an electronic bracelet.{{Cite news |date=2023-05-17 |title=Nicolas Sarkozy to wear tag after losing corruption appeal |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65620064 |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}

In February 2024, an appeals court in Paris upheld a lower court decision requiring Sarkozy to serve his sentence for the campaign overspending conviction.{{cite news|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/appeals-court-uphold-prison-sentence-former-french-president-nicolas-sarkozy/|title=Appeals court upholds prison sentence for former French President Nicolas Sarkozy|first=Victor|last=Goury-Laffont|publisher=Politico|date=14 February 2024|access-date=7 July 2024}} However, the one-year sentence was revised so he would instead serve six months of it in prison and six months of it suspended.{{cite news|url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240214-%F0%9F%94%B4-ex-french-president-sarkozy-handed-one-year-jail-sentence-for-illegal-2012-campaign-financing|title=Paris court halves ex-French president Sarkozy's 2012 campaign financing sentence|publisher=France 24|date=14 February 2024|access-date=14 February 2024}}

{{main|Alleged Libyan influence in the 2007 French elections}}

File:Muammar_al-Gaddafi_at_the_AU_summit.jpg

Shortly after his inauguration as President of France in 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy invited Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to France over the objections of both the political opposition and members of his own government.{{cite news|title=Gaddafi visit seals French deals|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7135788.stm|access-date=20 March 2018|work=BBC News|date=10 December 2007|archive-date=27 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927080724/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7135788.stm|url-status=live}} The visit marked the first time Gaddafi had been to France in more than 35 years and, during it, France agreed to sell Libya 21 Airbus aircraft and signed a nuclear cooperation agreement. Negotiations for the purchase of more than a dozen Dassault Rafale fighter jets, plus military helicopters, were also initiated during the trip.{{cite magazine|last1=Walt|first1=Vivienne|title=French Defense Execs Woo Gaddafi|url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1694635,00.html|access-date=20 March 2018|magazine=TIME|date=14 December 2007|archive-date=12 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180312072848/http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1694635,00.html|url-status=live}}

During the 2011 Libyan Civil War – a conflict in which France intervened – Saif-al-Islam Gaddafi said in an interview with euronews that the Libyan state had donated €50 million to Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign in exchange for access and favors by Sarkozy.{{cite news|last1=Chazan|first1=David|title=Sarkozy aide charged with money laundering|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/nicolas-sarkozy-did-take-50-million-of-muammar-gaddafis-cash-french-judge-is-told-8435872.html|website=Telegraph|access-date=18 August 2016|archive-date=19 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819072634/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/nicolas-sarkozy-did-take-50-million-of-muammar-gaddafis-cash-french-judge-is-told-8435872.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news |title = Explained: What we know about the Gaddafi-Sarkozy funding scandal |url = http://www.euronews.com/2018/03/20/sarkozy-in-libya-case-what-does-it-all-mean- |access-date = 20 March 2018 |work = euronews |date = 20 March 2018 |archive-date = 20 March 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180320191828/http://www.euronews.com/2018/03/20/sarkozy-in-libya-case-what-does-it-all-mean- |url-status = live }}

Investigative website Mediapart subsequently published several documents appearing to prove a payment of €50 million, and also published a claim by Ziad Takieddine (disclaimer by the same person in another video) that he had personally handed three briefcases stuffed with cash to Sarkozy.{{cite news|title=French police hold ex-president Sarkozy over 'Gaddafi funding'|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43469316|access-date=20 March 2018|work=BBC News|date=20 March 2018|archive-date=20 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320180502/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43469316|url-status=live}} French magistrates later acquired diaries of former Libyan oil minister Shukri Ghanem in which payments to Sarkozy were mentioned.{{cite news|title=Gaddafi relations haunt Sarkozy in 2007 campaign financing case|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20180320-france-libya-sarkozy-gaddafi-relations-haunt-2007-campaign-financing-case-custody|access-date=20 March 2018|work=France24|date=20 March 2018|archive-date=20 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320190858/http://www.france24.com/en/20180320-france-libya-sarkozy-gaddafi-relations-haunt-2007-campaign-financing-case-custody|url-status=live}} Shortly thereafter, however, Ghanem was found dead, floating in the Danube in Austria and thereby preventing his corroboration of the diaries.

In January 2018, British police arrested Alexandre Djouhri on a European Arrest Warrant.{{cite news|title=UK arrests French suspect in Sarkozy financing probe|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20180108-france-businessman-arrested-london-linked-sarkozy-2007-presidential-campaign|access-date=9 January 2018|work=France24|date=20 March 2018|archive-date=8 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108184906/http://www.france24.com/en/20180108-france-businessman-arrested-london-linked-sarkozy-2007-presidential-campaign|url-status=live}} Djouhri was an associate of Sarkozy and had refused to respond to a French judicial summons for questioning over allegations he had helped launder Libyan funds on behalf of Sarkozy.

In an interview with {{lang|fr|Le Figaro}} in August 2023,{{cite news |last1=Jaigu |first1=Charles |last2=Roquette |first2=Guillaume |title=Nicolas Sarkozy: "Nous avons besoin des Russes et ils ont besoin de nous" |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/nicolas-sarkozy-nous-avons-besoin-des-russes-et-ils-ont-besoin-de-nous-20230816 |access-date=27 August 2023 |work=Le Figaro |date=16 August 2023 |language=French}} Sarkozy said that Ukraine should remain "neutral" and not join NATO or the EU; that France and Russia "need each other"; and that Macron should "renew dialogue" with Putin.{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Roger |title=A Former French President Gives a Voice to Obstinate Russian Sympathies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/27/world/europe/former-french-president-voice-russia.html |work=The New York Times |date=27 August 2023}} In the same interview, Sarkozy called for Ukraine to accept the Russian occupation of Crimea as well as other contested territory, describing the return of Crimea to Ukraine as "illusory".

He condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine but insisted that "Russia will remain our neighbour whether we like it or not. We must find ways and means to re-establish neighbourly, or at least calmer, relations" and "take into account Russia's historic fear of being encircled by unfriendly neighbours." Critics have reproved his comments as "shameful" and "shocking", and others have accused Sarkozy of being a "Kremlin influencer".{{Cite news |date=19 August 2023 |title='Shameful' Nicolas Sarkozy under fire for defending Putin |newspaper=The Observer |url=https://theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/19/shameful-nicolas-sarkozy-under-fire-for-defending-putin |last1=Willsher |first1=Kim }} Sarkozy has also received support from others for his position, arguing that it presents a "diplomatic way out" of the war.{{Cite web |date=31 August 2023 |title=Sarkozy vilified for speaking uncomfortable truths about Ukraine |url=https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2023/08/31/sarkozy-vilified-for-speaking-uncomfortable-truths-about-ukraine/}}

• President of the French Republic: 2007–2012.
• Member of the Constitutional Council of France: since 2012.

Governmental functions

• Minister of Budget and government's spokesman: 1993–1995.
• Minister of Communication and government's spokesman: 1994–1995.
• Minister of State, minister of Interior, of the Internal Security and Local Freedoms: 2002–2004.
• Minister of State, minister of Economy, Finance and Industry: March–November 2004 (resignation).
• Minister of State, minister of Interior and Land Planning: 2005–2007 (resignation).

Electoral mandates

European Parliament

• Member of the European Parliament: July–September 1999 (resignation). Elected in 1999.

National Assembly of France

• Member of the National Assembly of France for Hauts-de-Seine (6th constituency): 1988–1993 (became minister in 1993) / 1995–2002 (became minister in 2002) / March–June 2005 (became minister in June 2005). Elected in 1988, reelected in 1993, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2005.

Regional Council

• Regional councillor of Île-de-France: 1983–1988 (resignation). Elected in 1986.

General Council

• President of the General Council of Hauts-de-Seine: 2004–2007 (resignation, became President of the French Republic in 2007).
• Vice-president of the General Council of Hauts-de-Seine: 1986–1988 (resignation).
• General councillor of Hauts-de-Seine, elected in the canton of Neuilly-sur-Seine-Nord: 1985–1988 / 2004–2007 (Resignation, became President of the French Republic in 2007).

Municipal Council

• Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine: 1983–2002 (resignation). Reelected in 1989, 1995, and 2001.
• Deputy-mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine: 2002–2005 (resignation).
• Municipal councillor of Neuilly-sur-Seine: 1977–2005 (resignation). Reelected in 1983, 1989, 1995, and 2001.

Political functions

• President of The Republicans: 2015–2016.
• President of the Union for a Popular Movement: 2004–2007 and 2014–2015 (resignation, became President of the French Republic in 2007). Reelected in 2014.
• President of the Rally for the Republic: April–October 1999.
• General secretary of the Rally for the Republic: 1998–1999.
• Deputy general secretary of the Rally for the Republic: 1992–1993.

; Legion of Honour

: 40px Grand Cross (2007—automatic when taking office)

: 40px Knight (2004)

; ex officio

: 40px Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (2007—automatic when taking office)

: File:Ribbon bar of Order of Glory.png Grand Cross of the Order of Glory (Armenia) - 2011{{Cite web|url=https://mediamax.am/en/news/politics/2771/|title=Serzh Sargsyan awards Nicolas Sarkozy Order of Glory|website=mediamax.am}}

: 40x40px Commander of the Order of Leopold (Belgium) - 2004{{Cite web|url=https://www.gettyimages.fi/detail/uutiskuva/french-finance-minister-nicolas-sarkozy-is-honoured-with-a-uutiskuva/51743724|title=French Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy

|website=gettyimages.fi|date=15 November 2004

}}

: 40x40px Grand Collar of the Order of the Southern Cross (Brazil) - 2009{{cite web |url = http://g1.globo.com/Noticias/Mundo/0,,MUL1293839-5602,00.html |title = G1 > Mundo – NOTÍCIAS – Lula e Sarkozy reforçarão associação militar entre França e Brasil |access-date = 30 December 2016 |archive-date = 7 April 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140407102544/http://g1.globo.com/Noticias/Mundo/0,,MUL1293839-5602,00.html |url-status = live }}

: 40x40px Member 1st Class of the Order of the Balkan Mountains (Bulgaria) - 2007{{cite news |url = http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=86027 |title = France's President Sarkozy Awarded Bulgaria's Highest State Order |website = Novinite.com |agency = Sofia News Agency |access-date = 30 December 2016 |archive-date = 30 December 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161230231934/http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=86027 |url-status = live }}

: 40x40px Recipient of the St. George's Order of Victory (Georgia) - 2011{{cite web |url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15euFo0Q5KE |title = President Saakashvili Awards French President |website = YouTube |date = 11 August 2008 |access-date = 20 January 2012 |archive-date = 25 September 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130925120220/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15euFo0Q5KE |url-status = live }}

: File:GRE Order Redeemer 1Class.svg Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer (Grèce) - 2008{{Cite web|url=https://www.legiondhonneur.fr/sites/default/files/presse_dl/dp_decorations_presidentielles.pdf|title=D'une République à l'autre. Décorations présidentielles & diplomatie|website=legiondhonneur.fr}}

: 40x40px Grand Cross of the National Order of the Ivory Coast (Ivory Coast) - 2012{{Cite web|url=https://news.abidjan.net/photos/83075-en-visite-detat-en-france-le-couple-presidentiel-ivoirien-au-diner-detat-offert-par-sem-nicolas-sarkozy|title=En visite d'Etat en France: Le couple présidentiel ivoirien au Dîner d'Etat offert par SEM Nicolas Sarkozy|website=abidjan.net}}

: 40x40px Recipient of the Order of the Golden Eagle (Kazakhstan) - 2009{{Cite web|url=https://en.trend.az/azerbaijan/politics/1553525.html|title=French President to be awarded Altyn Kyran Order|website=trend.az|date=6 October 2009 }}

: 40x40px Collar of the Order of Mubarak the Great (Kuwait) - 2009{{Cite web|url=https://www.alamyimages.fr/le-president-francais-nicolas-sarkozy-recoit-la-medaille-du-grand-moubarak-al-kebir-de-sa-cheikh-sabah-al-ahmed-al-jaber-al-sabah-au-palais-bayan-a-koweit-le-11-fevrier-2009-le-president-nicolas-sarkozy-effectue-une-visite-officielle-de-deux-jours-en-oman-au-bahrein-et-au-koweit-photo-de-christophe-guibbbaud-abacapress-com-image398011691.html?imageid=AD3A966C-56C7-437E-B1D7-802AF842A644&p=1366776&pn=1&searchId=15daa55ba6ae76d426c3075ac8e5d6ca&searchtype=0|title=Le président français Nicolas Sarkozy reçoit la médaille du Grand Moubarak Al Kebir de sa Cheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah au Palais Bayan à Koweït|website=alamyimages.fr}}

: 40x40px Extraordinary Class of the Order of Merit (Lebanon) - 2009{{Cite web|url=https://www.alamyimages.fr/le-president-francais-nicolas-sarkozy-pose-avec-des-medailles-remises-par-le-president-libanais-michel-sleiman-a-l-elysee-a-paris-en-france-le-16-mars-2009-michel-sleiman-est-en-france-pour-une-visite-d-etat-de-trois-jours-axee-sur-l-aide-militaire-et-economique-francaise-au-liban-alors-que-son-pays-a-ouvert-aujourd-hui-sa-toute-premiere-ambassade-dans-l-ancien-courtier-en-puissance-syrien-et-prepare-des-elections-legislatives-en-juin-2009-photo-d-abd-rabbo-mousse-abacapress-com-image398028893.html?imageid=B6E84912-5761-4D55-AC69-46385EC9F419&p=1366776&pn=2&searchId=f13485f44aae563e34df5ef1553c12ae&searchtype=0|title=Le président français Nicolas Sarkozy pose avec des médailles remises par le président libanais Michel Sleiman à l'Elysée à Paris|website=alamyimages.fr}}

: File:Ribbon Bar of None.svg Collar of the Order of Muhammad (Morocco) - 2007{{Cite web|url=https://www.alamyimages.fr/le-roi-mohammed-vi-du-maroc-remet-le-cadeau-de-wissan-mohammad-au-president-francais-nicolas-sarkozy-lors-d-une-reception-au-palais-royal-de-marrakech-au-maroc-le-22-octobre-2007-photo-de-ludovic-pool-abacapress-com-image401368037.html|title=Le roi Mohammed VI du Maroc remet le cadeau de Wissan Mohammad au président français Nicolas Sarkozy lors d'une réception au palais royal de Marrakech|website=alamyimages.fr}}

: 40x40px Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint-Charles (Monaco) – 25 April 2008{{cite web |url = http://www.legimonaco.mc/Dataweb/jourmon.nsf/100ab120e52ceb84c12568ce002f2909/3d792baf2ae397cac1257439002c17be!OpenDocument |title = N° 7857 du VENDREDI 25 AVRIL 2008 * Ordonnance Souveraine n° 1.622 du 25 avril 2008 portant élévation à la dignité d |access-date = 30 December 2016 |archive-date = 30 December 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161230232434/http://www.legimonaco.mc/Dataweb/jourmon.nsf/100ab120e52ceb84c12568ce002f2909/3d792baf2ae397cac1257439002c17be!OpenDocument |url-status = live }}

: 40x40px Collar of the Order of the Independence (Qatar) - 2008{{Cite web|url=https://www.alamyimages.fr/l-emir-cheikh-hamad-bin-khalifa-al-thani-du-qatar-recoit-le-president-francais-nicolas-sarkozy-au-palais-emiri-de-doha-au-qatar-le-14-janvier-2008-a-l-occasion-de-la-deuxieme-etape-de-sa-visite-dans-la-region-du-golfe-arabo-persique-photo-par-eric-hadj-pool-abacapress-com-image398778347.html?imageid=03227922-A9A1-4CDD-9262-55C8F8E24DA2&p=1366776&pn=1&searchId=5c9bc0a9a22a08eae26ffdb71ddbe91d&searchtype=0|title=L'émir cheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani du Qatar reçoit le président français Nicolas Sarkozy au Palais Emiri de Doha, au Qatar|website=alamyimages.fr}}

: 40x40px Collar of the Order of Abdulaziz Al Saud (Saudi Arabia) - 2008{{Cite web|url=https://www.alamyimages.fr/le-president-nicolas-sarkozy-pose-apres-avoir-recu-la-medaille-du-roi-abdelaziz-a-la-residence-du-roi-a-riyad-en-arabie-saoudite-le-13-janvier-2008-photo-par-ammar-abd-rabbo-abacapress-com-image398777852.html?imageid=98379F46-2395-434D-91BB-BD83D417AB12&p=1366776&pn=1&searchId=e070ea975918156c4b122ac9ffc10bfd&searchtype=0|title=Le président Nicolas Sarkozy pose après avoir reçu la médaille du roi Abdelaziz à la résidence du roi à Riyad, en Arabie Saoudite|website=alamyimages.fr}}

: 40x40px Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Spain) – 2011{{cite web |url=http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2011/11/25/internacional/1322232120.html |title=El Rey concede el Toisón de Oro a Sarkozy |date=25 November 2011 |work=El Mundo |access-date=25 November 2011 |archive-date=25 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111125182217/http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2011/11/25/internacional/1322232120.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url = https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2011-18623 |title = BOE.es – Documento BOE-A-2011-18623 |website = BOE.es |access-date = 30 December 2016 |archive-date = 23 October 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161023212407/https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2011-18623 |url-status = live }}

: 40x40px Knight of the Collar of the Order of Charles III (Spain) – 2009,{{cite web |url = https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2009-6944 |title = BOE.es – Documento BOE-A-2009-6944 |website = BOE.es |access-date = 30 December 2016 |archive-date = 23 October 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161023212215/https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2009-6944 |url-status = live }} Grand Cross – 2004{{cite web |url=https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2004-538 |title=BOE.es – Documento BOE-A-2004-538 |website=BOE.es |access-date=30 December 2016 |archive-date=23 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023201813/https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2004-538 |url-status=live }}

: 40px Grand Cordon of the Order of the Seventh of November (Tunisia) – 28 April 2008{{cite web |url = http://www.legislation.tn/sites/default/files/fraction-journal-officiel/2008/2008F/041/TF20083134.pdf |title = Décrets et arrêtés |access-date = 23 February 2019 |archive-date = 24 February 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190224173437/http://www.legislation.tn/sites/default/files/fraction-journal-officiel/2008/2008F/041/TF20083134.pdf |url-status = live }}

: 40x40px Member 1st First Class of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (Ukraine) – 2010[http://zakon1.rada.gov.ua/cgi-bin/laws/main.cgi?nreg=934%2F2010 Указ Президента України No. 934/2010 від 6 жовтня 2010 року «Про нагородження орденом князя Ярослава Мудрого»]{{in lang|uk}}

: File:Ribbon bar of the Order of Zayed.svg Collar of the Order of Zayed (United Arab Emirates) – 2008{{Cite web|url=https://www.alamyimages.fr/le-president-des-emirats-arabes-unis-sheikh-khalifa-bin-zayed-al-nahyan-recoit-le-president-nicolas-sarkozy-au-palais-presidentiel-d-abu-dhabi-aux-emirats-arabes-unis-le-15-janvier-2008-la-france-et-les-eau-ont-signe-divers-accords-mais-le-plus-important-est-la-mise-en-oeuvre-d-une-base-militaire-francaise-dans-le-golfe-la-premiere-du-genre-photo-de-ludovic-marin-pool-abacapress-com-image398778895.html?imageid=D0130CEB-6DCC-4067-B61B-B04CD8848D57&p=1366776&pn=1&searchId=fc57066c5b1eba80692ea0c98811667e&searchtype=0|title=Le président des Émirats arabes Unis, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, reçoit le président Nicolas Sarkozy au Palais présidentiel d'Abu Dhabi, aux Émirats arabes Unis|website=alamyimages.fr}}

: 40x40px Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (United Kingdom) – 2008{{cite news |url = http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23439015-663,00.html |title = Queen hosts French President Nicolas Sarkozy and wife Carla |date = 27 March 2008 |access-date = 9 March 2010 |website = News.com.au |archive-date = 4 September 2012 |archive-url = https://archive.today/20120904071841/http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23439015-663,00.html |url-status = live }}

: {{Flag|Holy See}}: Proto-canon of the Papal Basilicas of St. John Lateran and St. Peter's (2007–2012; the post is held ex officio by the French Head of State){{cite web |url = http://www.vicariatusurbis.org/?page_id=188&ID=674 |title = Ente – Santissimo Salvatore e Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano |publisher = Vicariate of the Diocese of Rome |language = it |access-date = 7 August 2008 |archive-date = 9 November 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131109075647/http://www.vicariatusurbis.org/?page_id=188&ID=674 |url-status = live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.vicariatusurbis.org/?page_id=188&ID=675 |title=Ente – San Pietro in Vaticano |publisher=Vicariate of the Diocese of Rome |access-date=18 June 2014 |language=it |archive-date=9 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109163326/http://www.vicariatusurbis.org/?page_id=188&ID=675 |url-status=live }}

: {{Flag|Italy}}: Premio Mediterraneo{{cite web |url = http://www.denaro.it/VisArticolo.aspx?IdArt=528878&KeyW= |title = A Sarkozy il Premio Mediterraneo Istituzioni |language=it |website=Denaro.it |date=13 March 2008 |access-date=20 January 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110724083340/http://www.denaro.it/VisArticolo.aspx?IdArt=528878&KeyW= |archive-date=24 July 2011 }}

• Robert Bourgi

{{NoteFoot}}

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{cite book | first = Nicolas | last = Sarkozy | year = 1994 | title = [Georges Mandel]: le moine de la politique | publisher=B. Grasset | location = Paris | isbn = 978-2-246-46301-6 }}
• {{cite book | first = Ghislaine | last = Ottenheimer | year = 1994 | title = Les deux Nicolas: la machine Balladur | publisher=Plon | location = Paris | isbn = 2-259-18115-5 }}
• {{cite book | first1 = Nicolas | last1 = Sarkozy |first2 = Denisot |last2 = Michel | year = 1995 | title = Au bout de la passion, l'équilibre | publisher = A. Michel | location = Paris | isbn = 2-226-07616-6 }}, interviews with Michel Denisot
• {{cite book | first = Anita | last = Hauser |year=1995 | title = Sarkozy: l'ascension d'un jeune homme pressé | publisher=Belfond | location = Paris | isbn = 2-7144-3235-2 }}, Grand livre du mois 1995
• {{cite book | first = Nicolas | last = Sarkozy | year = 2003 | title = Libre | publisher=Pocket | location = Paris | isbn = 2-266-13303-9 }}, subject(s): Pratiques politiques—France—1990–, France—Politique et gouvernement—1997–2002
• {{cite book | first = Aymeric | last = Mantoux | year = 2003 | title = Nicolas Sarkozy: l'instinct du pouvoir | publisher = First Éd. | location = Paris | isbn = 2-87691-783-1 }}
• {{cite book |last=Mayaffre |first=Damon |author-link=Damon Mayaffre|date=2012 |title= Nicolas Sarkozy: Mesure et démesure du discours (2007-2012)|trans-title= |url= |language=French |location=Paris |publisher=Presses de Sciences Po |isbn=978-2-7246-1243-1}}
• {{cite book | first = Catherine| last = Nay | year = 2007 | title = Un pouvoir nommé désir | publisher = l'Archipel | location = Paris | isbn = 978-2-84187-495-8 }}
• {{cite book | first = Anita | last = Hauser | year = 2003 | title = Sarkozy: itinéraire d'une ambition | publisher = Grasset | location = Paris | isbn = 978-2-246-68001-7 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/unpouvoirnommdsi0000nayc }}
• {{cite periodical | year = 2003 | title = Sarkozy, l'homme (trop) pressé |periodical=Le Canard enchaîné | location = Paris | issn = 0292-5354 |volume = 89 }}
• {{cite book | first = Nicolas | last = Domenach |year=2004 | title = Sarkozy au fond des yeux | publisher=Jacob-Duvernet | location = Paris | isbn = 2-84724-064-0 }}
• {{cite book | first = Antoine | last = Blocier | year = 2004 | title = Voyage à Sarkoland | publisher = le Temps des cerises | location = Pantin | isbn = 2-84109-449-9 }}
• {{cite book | last = Cabu | year = 2004 | title = Sarko circus = | publisher=le Cherche Midi | location = Paris | isbn = 2-7491-0277-4 }}, subject(s): Sarkozy, Nicolas (1955–)—Caricatures et dessins humoristiques
• {{cite book | first = Béatrice | last = Gurrey| year = 2004 | title = Le rebelle et le roi | publisher = A. Michel | location = Paris | isbn = 2-226-15576-7 }}, Grand Livre du mois 2004, subject(s): Chirac, Jacques (1932–), Sarkozy, Nicolas (1955–), France—Politique et gouvernement—1995–
• {{cite book | first1 = Nicolas | last1 = Sarkozy |author2= Verdin, Philippe |author3= Collin, Thibaud | year = 2004 | title = La République, les religions, l'espérance: entretiens avec Thibaud Collin et Philippe Verdin | publisher = les éd. du Cerf | location = Paris | isbn = 2-204-07283-4 }}, subject(s): Laïcité—France—1990–, Islam—France—1990–
• {{cite book | first = Michaël | last = Darmon | year = 2004 | title = Sarko Star | publisher = Éd. du Seuil | location = Paris | isbn = 2-02-066826-2 }}
• {{cite book | first = Jean-Pierre | last = Friedman | year = 2005 | title = Dans la peau de Sarko et de ceux qui veulent sa peau|publisher = Michalon | location = Paris | isbn = 2-84186-270-4 }}
• {{cite book | first = Victor | last = Noir | year = 2005 | title = Nicolas Sarkozy, le destin de Brutus | publisher = Denoël | isbn = 2-207-25751-7 }}
• {{cite book | first = Philippe | last = Reinhard | year = 2005 | title = Chirac Sarkozy, mortelle randonné | publisher = First Éd. | location = Paris | isbn = 2-7540-0003-8 }}
• {{cite book | first = Serge | last = Sautreau | year = 2005 | title = Nicoléon, roman |publisher = L' Atelier des Brisants | location = Paris | isbn = 2-84623-074-9 }}

{{Wikiquote}}

{{Commons}}

• {{in lang|fr}} [http://www.elysee.fr/ President of France]
• {{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20150521010650/http://www.u-m-p.org/ Website of the UMP, Sarkozy's party]
• {{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20041111231836/http://www.sarkozy.fr/ Official personal website]
• {{in lang|fr}} [http://lafranceforte.fr/ 2012 campaign website]
• {{in lang|en|fr}} [https://www.un.org/ga/63/generaldebate/france.shtml Address to the General Assembly of the United Nations] during the General Debate of the 63rd Session, 23 September 2008. Nicolas Sarkozy addressed the Assembly both as President of France and as President of the European Union

• [http://www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/110/article_2809.asp Radio France International feature] Sarkozy's 90-minute address to the nation, 6 February 2009
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090702144537/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article2959989.ece "Hosing Sarkozy"] an article in the [http://www.the-tls.co.uk TLS] by Sudhir Hazareesingh, 28 November 2007
• [http://www.lefigaro.fr/english/20070607.WWW000000541_interview_with_french_president_nicolas_sarkozy.html Interview after One Month in Office] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111214181125/http://www.lefigaro.fr/english/20070607.WWW000000541_interview_with_french_president_nicolas_sarkozy.html |date=14 December 2011 }} Le Figaro, 7 June 2007
• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4048917.stm Sarkozy takes over Chirac's UMP party] (BBC News)
• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3673102.stm Profile: Nicolas Sarkozy] (BBC News)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160804112548/http://www.globalpolitician.com/articleshow.asp?ID=713&cid=3&sid=9 Nicolas Sarkozy: French Choose the American Way?] by David Storobin
• [http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SuzanneFields/2006/09/18/vive_this_difference Vive this difference] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503081026/http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SuzanneFields/2006/09/18/vive_this_difference |date=3 May 2012 }} by Suzanne Fields
• [http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9005216 France's chance], The Economist, 12 April 2007
• [https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/04/23/070423fa_fact_kramer Letter From Europe- Round 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111004900/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/04/23/070423fa_fact_kramer |date=11 November 2013 }} Jane Kramer, The New Yorker, 23 April 2007
• [http://vacarme.eu.org/article1507.html On the so-called "rupture" by Sarkozy], Mathieu Potte-Bonneville & Pierre Zaoui, Vacarme n°41, Winter 2007
• [http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/20100707-bettencourt-scandal-cranks The Bettencourt/L'Oréal scandal] Radio France Internationale in English
• [http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/20100708-french-politics-no-stranger-scandals French politics no stranger to scandals] Radio France Internationale in English
• [http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/20100708-will-bettencourt-scandal-help-far-right L'Oréal, scandals and the far right] Radio France Internationale in English
• [https://www.theguardian.com/world/nicolas-sarkozy Articles and Coverage] (Guardian UK)

• {{in lang|es}} [http://www.cidob.org/es/documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/europa/francia/nicolas_sarkozy Extended biography by CIDOB Foundation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503100428/http://www.cidob.org/es/documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/europa/francia/nicolas_sarkozy |date=3 May 2012 }}
• {{in lang|fr}} [http://www.sondages-en-france.fr/sondages/Popularit%C3%A9/Nicolas%20Sarkozy Sarkozy's opinion poll tracker] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101024034847/http://www.sondages-en-france.fr/sondages/Popularit%C3%A9/Nicolas%20Sarkozy |date=24 October 2010 }}
• {{in lang|fr}} [http://www.lescitations.net/citations/auteurs/Nicolas_Sarkozy.html Some of Sarkozy's quotations]
• {{IMDb name|0765324}}
• {{C-SPAN}}

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{{s-ttl|title=President of France|years=2007–2012}}

{{s-aft|after=François Hollande}}

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{{s-ttl|title=President of Union for a Popular Movement|years=2004–2007}}

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Jean-Pierre Raffarin
François Fillon
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{{s-ttl|title=President of The Republicans|years=2015–2016}}

{{s-aft|after=Laurent Wauquiez}}

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{{s-ttl|title=Honorary Canon of the Papal Basilicas of
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