President Sarkozy will not bully the Irish Government into a new referendum on the Lisbon treaty, and there will be no French arrogance on display when he visits Dublin today, his Foreign Minister assured The Times.

Bernard Kouchner, who gave dire warnings to the Irish before the referendum that they would be the first victims of a “no” vote, launched his diplomatic charm offensive in a review of his first year as the steward of Mr Sarkozy's relaunch of France on the world stage.

He also said that France supported Gordon Brown's push for the EU to impose tougher sanctions on Zimbabwe, which European foreign ministers are due to endorse tomorrow.

Dr Kouchner, one of the most popular political figures in France, has served in Socialist governments and was the UN administrator for Kosovo, but he is best known as a champion of humanitarian causes. This has led him to be dubbed the “conscience of the Government”.

The French President, the current chairman of the council of EU leaders, will spend four hours in Dublin on a delicate mission to gauge Irish feeling after voters rejected the treaty that was meant to revamp the EU's machinery. He and Dr Kouchner, whose warnings were used by the “no” campaign to whip up opposition, are keen not to repeat their error and want to quash the belief that they are bent on bouncing Dublin into a new referendum.

The left-wing star of Mr Sarkozy's crossparty Cabinet said: “We are going there as the French presidency of the Union and not as 'France, the giver of lessons'. We will listen to all sides.” Dr Kouchner acknowledged that Mr Sarkozy had talked of the option of a new Irish vote at a meeting with his parliamentarians last week. The President was quoted as saying that the Irish Republic could be given guarantees by Brussels, including a promise it would keep a permanent seat on the European Commission, which the Lisbon treaty aims to make smaller.

On Zimbabwe, Dr Kouchner said that France wanted to put more pressure on President Mugabe, as Mr Brown requested at a Europe-Mediterranean summit in Paris last week. “I agree, we have to make renewed threats of embargo. I think that we have already obtained a result now that Morgan Tsvangirai [the opposition leader] is candidate for becoming Prime Minister.”

He acknowledged that he often found it hard to reconcile the realities of power with a lifelong background as a campaigner, starting with his founding of Médecins Sans Frontières nearly four decades ago. “As Foreign Minister, you can't boil down international policy to the defence of human rights. They are necessary but they have their place. It's a very difficult thing for me to do,” he said.

Critics have wondered how he squares his conscience with Mr Sarkozy's pragmatic diplomacy, which has included rapprochement with Syria, friendship with Russia and a gentle approach to China on Tibet. He has been disowned by his own Socialist Party for joining the Sarkozy team.

“I have wondered whether I should stay,” he admitted. “But it is a fantastic, thrilling job.” Mr Sarkozy was a man from a new generation who had broken with the “majestic” ways of French Presidents, he said. Working for him was sometimes bumpy, but always rewarding.

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