Nicolas Sarkozy

French Minister of the Interior, Internal Security and Local Freedoms. Potential Candidate for French Prime Minister!

Sarkozy often mentions his heritage. His father is Pal Nagy y Sarkozy, an aristocrat who fled Hungary in 1944 and acquired French citizenship. Pal always considered himself Hungarian and, as a result, Nicolas speaks the mother tongue fluently.

Everyone in France is sure that Sarkozy will one day become president. A graduate in public law and political science, Nicolas Sarkozy is a barrister by profession. In 1987, he was responsible at the Ministry of the Interior for action to combat chemical and radiological risks.

He has become a very popular figure nicknamed "Sarko." Since coming to office, Mr Sarkozy has put more policemen on the streets than ever before, cracked down on drugs, crime and terrorism, and two thirds of the voters say they think he is great. This former Chirac Protege may soon vie for France's highest office.

Nicolas Sarkozy entered politics in 1977, at the age of 21, when he was elected mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine as a member of the RPR's Central Committee. He was National delegate for young RPR party members from 1978 to 1979, and then became chairman of the national committee for young people supporting Jacques Chirac in the 1981 presidential election. He became a member of the Ile-de-France Regional Council from 1983 to 1988, and then member of the executive bureau and Vice-Chairman of the Hauts-de-Seine General Council (1985-1988). He was elected National Assembly Deputy for Hauts-de-Seine for the first time in 1988, re-elected in 1993, 1995 and again in 1997 when he became a member of the National Assembly finance committee. Sarkozy sat as an MEP (Union for Europe) from July to September 1999. He gave up his seat as an MEP to Brice Portefeux, Chairman of the Rassemblement pour la République's (RPR) Hauts-de-Seine Department Committee. Sarkozy became Minister for the Budget in 1993 and was Government Spokesman from March 1993 until July 1994. He was also acting Minister of Communication in the Balladur Government from January to April 1995. He has been a member of the RPR's political bureau since 1995, and is its Spokesman. As Secretary-General from 1998-1999, he was also its acting chairman. He is married with two children.