The current furor was fanned by Mitterrand's vocal support for filmmaker Roman Polanski, wanted in Los Angeles by authorities who want him to serve a sentence for his 1977 conviction for having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Mitterand told TF1 he was "too emotional" when he denounced Polanski's arrest in Switzerland as "horrifying."

Mitterand said that he may move to a more congenial environment, such as Ireland, in the near future.