François Hollande perceives Angela Merkel as “a strong personality, but not difficult” and, “contrary to what is said”, his relations with her are “not bad”, according to excerpts of the material to be published Saturday by the French weekly magazine Marianne, reports AFP. “I quickly understood her personality: strong but not difficult. You know what she wants and she has a sense of compromise, but maintaining her position,” said French President about the German Chancellor for the weekly magazine.
“Contrary to what is being said, our relations are not bad,” he adds. According to Hollande, during the European summit in Brussels on 28-29 June, the German Chancellor “played a valuable role”. “She understood that we must act on Italy and Spain”, said the president of France.
In respect to the U.S. President, Barack Obama, Hollande said: “he is very constructive, very knowledgeable, but above all an American who is very aware of United States’ power”. He said that Obama supported French position in the EU, because he needs economic growth in Europe for the recovery in his own country”.
At the international summits, the French president called for measures aimed at economic growth in Europe, especially during the G8 summit at Camp David (U.S.) in May. Recalling life in the Elysée Palace, the weekly magazine notes that the new French president has “reorganized” the office, to make it more friendly. “It takes time to go near such a place. It is difficult to customize it,” said Hollande, who chose to continue to live in the apartment in Paris that he shares with his partner Valérie Trierweiler.
“After installing myself here, I knew two things that were confirmed. Firstly, the aspiration for international. In a good way. I did not ignore the fact that I had to live an intense foreign sequence, but I had no idea how exciting it was,” the president confessed. “Most of the presidential schedule is European and international. We gain prestige, but this creates a distance and could cause a feeling of abandonment among French,” admits Hollande, who campaigned on a “normal presidency”, close to citizens.
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