If you cannot convince them, confuse them

Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France and current holder of the EU Presidency, is finally in the press for the right reasons. He was credited with ‘brokering’ a ceasefire between Russia and Georgia last week; a ceasefire which Russia seems to have no intention of honouring. Nevertheless, Sarkozy seems keen to capitalise on his role in the Georgia-Russia negotiations in order to push on with the agenda of the French Presidency of the EU, writes Laura Kelleher. In an opinion piece in Le Figaro, Sarkozy attempted to draw a link between the ailing Lisbon Treaty and the crisis in South Ossetia. He argued that ‘had the Lisbon Treaty, which is in the process of being ratified, already been in force, the European Union would have had the institutions it needs to cope with international crises’. The attempt to link the situation in... [read full story]