French President Quotes

[Charles de Gaulle] has been abysmally careless, like a man running a bus over mountains, who forgot to equip it with good brakes.

When I am with French people, I am not aloof because I belong to them. My view is that the French president belongs to the French people, because he emanates from them. What I do is this: I am putting an end to the cronyism between politics and the media. For a president, constantly speaking to journalists, constantly being surrounded by journalists, has nothing to do with closeness to the people. A president should keep the media at arm's length.

Mrs Thatcher tells us she has given the French President a piece of her mind... not a gift I would receive with alacrity.

I'm still the same. Take the fight against terrorism: after the attacks of September 11, I was the first to side with US President [George W.] Bush. And now, after the attacks in Paris, I have done the same with the President of France,[Oliver] Hollande. Terrorism threatens us all.

We can all admit that [Charles] De Gaulle is one of the biggest sons of bitches who ever straddled a pot.

Following the attacks in Paris, French President François Hollande has a completely different set of concerns. France needs more police, more security personnel and a greater emphasis on integration. He says that security is more important than the Stability Pact.

I like Macron a lot and I very much welcome him - particularly the fact that he made Europe one of the main topics of the election debate.

When I was elected to head the German government, I was fortunate enough to find a partner in Francois Mitterrand.

De Gaulle was more responsible with his troublesome interventions into our domestic politics, for unifying our country than we will ever give him credit for.

Francois Hollande is the president of France. He got all sorts of accolades for his leadership in France after the Paris attacks.