page_title: Nicolas Sarkozy
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Nicolas Sarkozy / Controversies / Alleged Libyan agent of influence / Background
caption_attribution_description: العربية: العقيد مُعمَّر القذَّافي في المؤتمر الثاني عشر للإتحاد الأفريقي في مدينة أديس أبابا عاصمة أثيوبيا، يوم 2 فبراير / شُباط سنة 2009م. English: Muammar al-Gaddafi at the 12th AU summit, February 2, 2009, in Addis Abeba. Français&#160;: Mouammar Kadhafi au 12e sommet de l'UA, le 2 février 2009 à Addis-Abeba Русский: Муаммар Каддафи на 12-м саммите Африканского Союза в Аддис-Абебе. 2 февраля 2009 года. Українська: Муаммар Каддафі на 12-му саміті Африканського Союзу в Аддис-Абебі. 2 лютого 2009 року.
context_page_description: Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa is a retired French politician who served as President of France and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra from 16 May 2007 until 15 May 2012.
  Born in Paris, he is of 1/2 Hungarian Protestant, 1/4 Greek Jewish, and 1/4 French Catholic origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine from 1983 to 2002, he was Minister of the Budget under Prime Minister Édouard Balladur during François Mitterrand's second term. During Jacques Chirac's second presidential term he served as Minister of the Interior and as Minister of Finances. He was the leader of the Union for a Popular Movement party from 2004 to 2007.
  He won the 2007 French presidential election by a 53.1% to 46.9% margin to Socialist Ségolène Royal. During his term, he faced the late-2000s financial crisis, the Russo-Georgian War and the Arab Spring. He initiated the reform of French universities and the pension reform. He married Italian-French singer-songwriter Carla Bruni in 2008 at the Élysée Palace in Paris.
  In the 2012 election, François Hollande, candidate of the Socialist Party, defeated Sarkozy by a 3.2% margin.
context_section_description: Shortly after Sarkozy's inauguration as President of France in 2007, he invited Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to France over the objections of both the political opposition, and members of his own government. The visit marked the first time Gaddafi had been to France in more than 35 years and, during it, France agreed to sell Libya 21 Airbus aircraft and signed a nuclear cooperation agreement. Negotiations for the purchase of more than a dozen Dassault Rafale fighter jets, plus military helicopters, were also initiated during the trip.
caption: The government of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi allegedly paid €50 million to Sarkozy in exchange for access.
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