General

In xenophobic awakening aimed at far-right voters, Sarkozy realizes France “has too many foreigners”

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is campaigning for re-election in next month’s ballot, bluntly addressed France’s immigration issues yesterday by stating that the country simply “has too many foreigners,” reports the BBC. If elected to a new five-year term on Apr. 22, Sarkozy added, he will cut “by half” the number of immigrants allowed to relocate in France.

The president is trailing Socialist candidate François Hollande in the polls and is believed to be courting the fart-right to overcome his flagging support. But this is not the first time the son of a Hungarian immigrant expresses contempt for foreigners. He’s also not the only member of the government to openly dismiss immigrants. Last Friday, Interior Minister Claude Guéant criticized the Socialists’ proposal that immigrants be allowed to vote in local elections, saying, “we don’t want foreign town councilors making Halal food obligatory in canteen meals …. Or regulating mixed bathing in swimming pools.”

 

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