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Comments

• [1] Berkley from New York City / Manhattan June 21, 2007 - 10:04AM

  Please ask your guset about this Sarkozy video.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uxb0JHqzlA

  More from BBC News.com

  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6747801.stm

  A Belgian newscaster has apologised for suggesting French President Nicolas Sarkozy was drunk during a news conference at last week's G8 summit.

  A clip of the incident, posted on the YouTube video website, has been watched hundreds of thousands of times.

  It shows Mr Sarkozy, who insists he is a teetotaller, appearing short of breath and euphoric before reporters.

  Belgian broadcaster RTBF said presenter Eric Boever asked the French embassy to convey his apologies to the president.

  Boever presented footage from the opening moments of Mr Sarkozy's news conference following a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the comment that "apparently he had more than just water to drink".

  In the clip, Mr Sarkozy offers apologies to journalists for being late and then pauses, as if on the verge of laughter, before inviting questions.

  'Bad taste'

  Boever said the remark was made in jest, and that he apologised "for the proportions that this is taking".

  "I obviously did not want to offend French national sensitivities, especially since I am also French through my mother," he added.

  A spokesman for the president declined to comment, saying "it is not common practice... to comment on bad taste jokes".

  Mr Sarkozy, who was making his international debut at the summit, says he does not drink alcohol and is a long-distance runner.

  
  
• [2] Alberto Vazquez from Forest Hills June 21, 2007 - 11:01AM

  Hi, I'm from Spain and we enjoy a very similar health care system as French do. I see that is misunderstood by americans and by your guest that health care is free when it is not at all. It is paid by all taxpayers!!!! That's the goal of taxes!!!

  
  
• [3] Taher Shafie from Croton on Hudson, NY June 21, 2007 - 11:11AM

  I believe that French will resist a diminution of their social safety net system.

  The French unlike America’s citizens are not docile, apolitical and utterly bamboozled.

  
  
• [4] Jocelyne Barque from New York June 21, 2007 - 11:57AM

  Jean Christophe Fromantin gave wrong information regarding the French Health care system. It's not free. Most medical interventions are relatively inexpensive compared to American Medicine but patients are required to pay a portion of their medical care. A visit to a general pratictian costs about $25. In fact, French Medicine is more expensive than it used to be.

  Jocelyne Barque.

  (pronounced Bark)

  
  
• [5] Marc Naimark from Paris June 23, 2007 - 04:22AM

  Oh dear... rather predictable that a right-wing businessman would lie about the French healthcare system. Certain aspects are poorly covered (eyeglasses, dental prosthetics, dentistry and orthodontia in general, mental health therapy...). Everyday medical care requires co-payment, which is often covered by private insurance. On the other hand, hospital care, and chronic illnesses, the bane of the American ill, are well-covered, and for free.