Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy presented a certain voice of sanity within Europe during his interview with Le Figaro on Aug. 12 published on Aug. 16. Sarkozy spoke to Le Figaro about his forthcoming book, Le Temps des Combats (The Era of Struggle), a memoir of his presidency from 2007-2012, due for release on Aug. 22. (https://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/nicolas-sarkozy-nous-avons-besoin-des-russes-et-ils-ont-besoin-de-nous-20230816)
Sarkozy told Le Figaro that Ukraine “must remain” a bridge between Europe and Russia, and said that forcing it to choose between the East and the West “seems to me contrary to the history and geography of this complex region.” He further said that “diplomacy, discussion, and talks” are “the only ways” to resolve the crisis in Ukraine.
Sarkozy then noted the political pressures on current President Emmanuel Macron regarding Ukraine, saying that whereas Macron’s earlier “intuition was right,” he failed to follow up, in part “due to pressure from Eastern Europeans” on the issue of resolving the crisis. “Russia is a neighbor of Europe and will remain so,” Sarkozy said, so the EU needs to get out of the current impasse because “in this regard, European interests are not aligned with American interests. We cannot stick to the strange idea of ‘fighting a war without fighting.’ ”
“Without compromise, nothing will be possible and we run the risk that the situation will degenerate at any moment. This powder keg could have frightful consequences,” he said. Part of that compromise would involve recognizing Crimea as part of Russia, because Sarkozy continued, “when it comes to this territory, which was Russian until 1954 and where a majority of the population has always felt Russian, I think any step back is illusory.” Ideally, he went on, there ought to be a referendum “organized under strict control of the international community,” to ratify the current state of affairs. The same would apply to “disputed territories of eastern and southern Ukraine,” Sarkozy said, depending on what happens on the ground.
