Always him, the Economist. The prestigious English economic weekly, which just couldn't stand Silvio Berlusconi, does not seem to be reserving the same fate for its transalpine alter ego Nicolas Sarkozy. And after having downloaded the leader of the Italian centre-right, even defining him in a 2011 cover “The man who screwed an entire country” (The man who screwed over an entire country), and enthusiastically greeted the arrival of Mario Monti, would instead like the latest French president to be confirmed at the Elysée.
In these times of crisis, in which markets and economic newspapers take a second to line up against the current heads of state to invoke technical governments or renewals closer to the will of the financial powers, it is no mean help for an increasingly lonely and underdog Sarkozy in the polls.
It will be for his unbreakable friendship with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, but his confirmation at the helm of France is seen by the cult newspaper of the financial community as far more desirable than that of the socialist challenger François Hollande, openly devoted to an open confrontation with Berlin and therefore considered even "dangerous" by the Economist.
On the number coming out on Saturday, with a special dedicated to French presidential election (Sunday 6 May the ballot will elect the winner between Sarkozy and Hollande), The Economist places the leader of the left on the cover in a somewhat bewildered image, defining him precisely "dangerous for France and for Europe because he is against austerity ”. Which instead is considered by the British weekly to be a necessary condition, however painful, to satisfy the markets which in fact have already become quite agitated after the results of the first round which saw the socialist candidate take the lead over Sarkozy. "The survival of the euro is at stake", argues the Economist who sees in Hollande the danger of a European revolt, in the wake of his eventual (and probable) triumph, in which many countries could follow his line aimed primarily at growth rather than debt containment and in general at the financial rigor imposed by Brussels, Frankfurt and Berlin.
The editorial then closes with an unsuspected apology for Sarkozy: “We sincerely supported him in 2007 as well, and we congratulate him for having softened the 35 hours of the socialists and raised the retirement age. He simply had the misfortune to govern France in the worst years of the crisis”. And the slight anti-Europeanism (read also protectionist and anti-immigration attitude) shown in recent times? In order to support Sarko, the Economist also justifies that: "he did it to win over the voters of Le Pen". So is he the perfect president? "No, but you have to vote for him to keep Hollande away," finally admits the English magazine. The least worst therefore, but necessary to satisfy Angela Merkel and the markets. 10 days before the ballot, a not bad assist for Nicolas Sarkozy.
