10月12日，法国内政部长尼古拉·萨尔科齐与其新女友宣布，他们将状告公开他们恋情并泄露女方身份的法国数家新闻媒体。在《法兰西晚报》首先将萨尔科齐女友曝光后，内政部长的新恋情成了法国各媒体近日争抢的新闻。

    据《卫报》10月13日报道，萨尔科齐和女友的律师Chatel表示：“媒体的报道严重损害了我当事人的隐私权。我已受到委托，将对两位当事人采取必要的法律保护。”

    《法兰西晚报》11日爆出猛料———法国内政部长萨尔科齐与《费加罗报》记者安妮·富尔达有“罗曼蒂克式的关系”。在《法兰西晚报》公开富尔达身份后，法新社迅速将消息转载。一时间，法国众媒体将不炒作公众人物私人情感生活的行规抛之脑后，把50岁的萨尔科齐，这位有望成为2007年法国总统的政坛重要人物的新恋情炒得火热。

    但有意思的是，萨尔科齐似乎比媒体更急于将自己的私生活公之于众。在过去的3年里，他曾在诸多杂志上谈及他与妻子塞西莉亚的婚姻生活。今年5月，萨尔科齐在电视上承认，8年的婚姻出现危机，并声称准备通过100天的努力来挽救。但不久之后，法国时尚杂志《巴黎竞赛》公开了47岁的塞西莉亚和新男友Attias的照片。随后，萨尔科齐与塞西莉亚离婚。

    萨尔科齐的新女友安妮·富尔达是《费加罗报》的高级记者，曾撰写过一本关于希拉克总统的书，还负责报道过萨尔科齐担任法国人民运动联盟主席的日常工作。 其实，在《法兰西晚报》将富尔达的身份公开之前，萨尔科齐的新恋情已成为法国新闻界和政界公开的秘密，但富尔达的名字始终未曾泄露。

    尽管萨尔科齐曾经试图隐瞒这段恋情，但11日，当《费加罗报》集中精力报道萨尔科齐出访英国时，《法兰西晚报》却不惜花费整整一个版面公开他的新恋情，并称隐瞒萨尔科齐新女友的身份是虚伪的做法，因为富尔达“有朝一日可能成为法国第一夫人，仅凭这个原因，法国民众就有权知道她的事情”。

    France's interior minister and would-be president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and his new partner, a political journalist on the conservative daily Le Figaro, said yesterday they planned to sue French news media who had revealed the woman's identity.

    Marking a further break with the media's traditional discretion concerning the private lives of political figures, the tabloid France Soir named the minister's girlfriend on Tuesday. The national news agency AFP picked up the story.

    "These articles plainly violate the right to privacy of my clients," said the couple's lawyer, Olivier Chatel. "I have received instructions to take all legal measures necessary, including recourse to the courts, to protect the privacy of both of them."

    Until recently, French journalists have avoided reporting politicians' amorous adventures. A veil has been drawn over President Jacques Chirac's affairs, referred to by his wife in a book two years ago, while Fran?ois Mitterrand's adulterous relationship with Anne Pingeot, and the existence of their daughter Mazarine, were kept quiet until a year before his death.

    Ironically, Mr Sarkozy himself has done much to break the taboo, promoting his marital bliss with his wife Cecilia in gossip magazines over the past three years.

    The tables were turned this summer when Paris Match published pictures of Cecilia, 47, with her lover, Richard Attias. Mr Sarkozy was reportedly livid. The Sarkozys are now separated. His new partner is a political correspondent who until recently followed the minister's UMP party. She has now changed beats to avoid a conflict of interests.