Malta is fantastic, Sarkozy says

A calm, warm but assertive French President-elect yesterday told journalists he decided to come here for his holiday because "Malta is fantastic".

Interrupting a jog in the hot midday sun, with sweat trickling down his face, Nicolas Sarkozy said: "I like Malta. You have beautiful seas and sun and fantastic views".

Before extending his strong handshake, Mr Sarkozy defended his right to be on a holiday, arguing the French Constitution allowed him to rest for eight days.

"I am not yet President and I am entitled to a holiday after five years of hard work and six months of a tough Presidential campaign. It is my right to be here. I do not have to apologise because I am having a good time. I need it. My family needs it and deserves it," he said.

Mr Sarkozy said his trip to Malta will not be costing French tax payers a single cent.

"Vincent Bolloré (the yacht owner) has been inviting me for 20 years. I have now accepted. Mr Bolloré is a successful French businessmen and I wish big businessmen would come back to invest in France," Mr Sarkozy said, adding that Mr Bolloré had no business with the French state and was only involved with the private sector.

Asked why he did not go to Corsica, Mr Sarkozy said it would have been "a security nightmare".

"I am not trying to go to Corsica now. I like Corsica but you can imagine what a security headache it would have been to go there. I will go there but to work, not on holiday."

Government sources confirmed Mr Sarkozy spoke to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi over the phone yesterday afternoon expressing his thanks for the security arrangements that were made and saying he really enjoyed the visit. He also expressed hope that he'd be able to return. Mr Sarkozy also said he looked forward to meeting Dr Gonzi at the EU council.

Mr Sarkozy spent most of the morning on the boat off Delimara and at about midday he came ashore and went for a long jog, accompanied by members of his security personnel and members of the police Special Assignment Group.

The police cordoned off the area and members of the press could not pass beyond certain points with officers saying they had orders not to allow members of the press beyond certain points "for security reasons". Farmers were allowed access and, rather strangely, even hunters wielding guns could be seen moving about, making members of the French media wonder whether security was the real issue. Indeed, at one point, Mr Sarkozy jogged past two hunters sitting by the roadside with their guns in their pockets lying on the ground at their feet.

In the afternoon, the super yacht Paloma left Delimara and ended again towards Mgarr ix-Xini, in Gozo, the place where Mr Sarkozy swam on Tuesday. It later cruised back to Malta, entered the Grand Harbour at about 7.30 p.m. and berthed at the drydocks.

Mr Sarkozy's party left for the airport's VIP lounge from Ghajn Dwieli, bypassing the waiting press expecting the boat to return to Manoel Island, from where the trip started on Monday afternoon.

Mr Sarkozy's party left Malta just after 8 p.m. on the same Falcon private jet he arrived on.