Sarkozy: France Has Too Many Immigrants

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who will seek re-election on the second round of presidentials Saturday and Sunday, has made a new attempt at courting far-right voters.

In an interview for a French radio Tuesday, ahead of a large May 1 and pre-election rally, Sarkozy said he thought the number of immigrants in France is too high.

During the first round April 21-22, Sarkozy landed second (27.18%), just a tiny bit behind main rival, socialist Francois Hollande (28.63%).

Third with a convincing showing was radical rightist leader Marine Le Pen from the National Front, who garnered 17.90%

The votes of the National Front are expected to be decisive during the second round, but Le Pen is not expected to support either candidate, seeing them as inauthentic copies of each other.

Tuesday when asked in a radio interview whether he thinks there are too many immigrants, Sarkozy replied with a "yes."

"Our system for integration is not working. Why? Because even before we have succeeded integrating already accepted immigrants, new foreigners arrive to France," said the incumbent.

All the same, Sarkozy stressed that he does not support a "closed France with zero immigration."

During the second round, his rival Hollande can count on part of the votes for communist candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who ended fourth with 11.1%

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