Sarkozy seeks European support in land of his fathers
BUDAPEST (AFP) — French President Nicolas Sarkozy made a visit to his ancestral homeland of Hungary on Friday as part of a bid to improve ties with central Europe.
Sarkozy's trip to Budapest was the first stop in a tour of Europe which will see him or his prime minister, Francois Fillon, visit all EU capitals between now and July 1, 2008, when France takes over the EU presidency.
The French leader said Hungary was a "special country" for him because he is the son of a Hungarian immigrant. Sarkozy's father Pal left Hungary after World War II.
"I do not forget that this the birthplace of my father. And after all, it's not everyday that there is a president of the republic who is half-Hungarian," Sarkozy joked at the press conference with Hungary's socialist prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany.
Although Sarkozy speaks no Hungarian and has had little contact with the country, many Hungarians are proud that the son of a Hungarian emigre made it all the way to the Elysee Palace.
One of Sarkozy's last distant relatives in Hungary, his 92-year old great-aunt Mariann Sarkozy, was invited to see him give a speech in parliament although they were not scheduled to meet.
While Sarkozy himself emphasised his immigrant origins during the French presidential campaign -- saying it was his work ethic that helped him rise to the top of French politics -- he is reportedly not keen on exhibiting his Hungarian roots.
French daily Le Figaro, citing an unnamed Hungarian diplomat, reported Friday that Sarkozy had insisted that no special attention be given to his Hungarian origins during his visit.
During a trip to Budapest in 2004, when he was economy minister, Sarkozy was presented with archives of his family history, translated in French, which he left in his hotel room, according to Le Figaro.
The focus of the trip is meant to be improving relations with Central Europe that became tangled by French opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq. Many former eastern European communist nations contributed troops.
"If I wanted to start my visit in Hungary, in the heart of central Europe, it is to clear up a misunderstanding. For France there is no old and new Europe. There are no major and minor countries," Sarkozy said in his speech to parliament.
"There are not ones that have the right to speak and others that have the right to keep quiet," Sarkozy said.
Previous French president Jacques Chirac said in 2003 that the former Soviet bloc countries, now in the EU, had "missed a good opportunity to keep quiet" when they lined up to support the US attack.
Sarkozy said he considered Hungary a "strategic partner". And Hungary's socialist prime minister shares the French leader's drive to reform the EU.
"We need a strong Europe and for this we need a host of changes in the European Union. These changes are about how to harmonize responsibility and solidarity," Gyurcsany told the press conference with Sarkozy.
Despite their many differences, Hungary and France are both faced with challenges to modernize their economies in order to stay competitive.
Both need to tackle bulging bureaucracies and ageing social security systems.
Sarkozy also met with President Laszlo Solyom and he was later scheduled to see the leader of the main right-wing opposition party, Viktor Orban, and to attend a wreath-laying ceremony in memory of the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising.
