Analysis - Merkozy fights to prevent Merkollande
(Reuters) - Things must be getting desperate if Angela Merkel is intervening in French politics to try to save Nicolas Sarkozy from defeat.
The normally cautious German chancellor is taking a big risk by planning campaign appearances in support of the French leader ahead of the April 22 first round of a presidential election, starting with a joint television interview on Monday.
If, as all opinion polls suggest, Socialist challenger Francois Hollande defeats the conservative Sarkozy in a May 6 run-off, Merkel will have to rebuild the Franco-German European leadership duo from scratch with a man she has snubbed.
She had a similarly awkward start with U.S. President Barack Obama after refusing him permission to hold a rally at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate - a Cold War landmark and backdrop for a famous 1987 Ronald Reagan speech - while a presidential candidate.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/02/06/uk-eurozone-merkozy-idUKTRE8150DA20120206
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