All posts tagged: French politics

A year before the French election, De Gaulle remains politically fashionable

A year before the French election, De Gaulle remains politically fashionable

Published by Sam Flores

‘De Gaulle: Resistance’, is released in cinemas in France on June 3, the first part of a two-parter on Charles de Gaulle, the French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces against Nazi Germany and Vichy France. The much anticipated films took director Antonin Baudry and his team six years to make, with a budget of nearly 80 million euros. But even beyond the silver screen, with a year to go until the presidential elections, De Gaulle has perhaps never been so politically fashionable. Keywords for this article Source link

Hundreds arrested in Paris after football revelry turns ugly – POLITICO

Hundreds arrested in Paris after football revelry turns ugly – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said seven officers were injured in clashes across the country. He called the disorder “absolutely unacceptable.” Far-right leader Marine Le Pen wrote on X: “Only in France does a football club’s victory spark riots. Only in France does everyone feel compelled to lock themselves in their homes on the evening of a victory to avoid being confronted with violence,” she said. Valérie Pécresse, leader of the Île-de-France region, which includes Paris, called for sanctions against those causing violence. “The brainless thugs who think they can smash everything are tarnishing the image of Paris and France!” Pécresse wrote in a post on X. “We must be able to celebrate on victory nights peacefully in Paris and the Île-de-France region!” Similar riots took place in Paris last May after Paris Saint-Germain’s victory at the previous Champions League final, resulting in more than 500 arrests and two deaths and drawing widespread political condemnation. Paris Saint-Germain defeated Arsenal in a dramatic final in Budapest after a 4-3 shoot-out following a 1-1 draw after extra …

Attal highlights break with Macron in first rally in French presidential bid – POLITICO

Attal highlights break with Macron in first rally in French presidential bid – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

His campaign mirrors the very successful campaign of centrist liberal Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten in October 2025, which focused on optimism about the future and prioritizing the young generations, while exalting a sense of national pride. “My first promise is that we will once again become Europe’s leading power within six years. That is our rank, our place, our destiny,” he said, also vowing to make France the leading European country in artificial intelligence. Attal is following incumbent French President Emmanuel Macron as the presidential candidate of the centrist liberal Renaissance party, which he heads. After almost 10 years of Macron governments and dwindling popularity, Attal is seeking to distance himself from Macron to frame his candidacy as one of change and reform. The 37-year-old politician served as prime minister under Macron from January-September 2024. He was the youngest prime minister in French history and the first openly gay. The latest polls put Attal in fourth place at 13 percent of popular vote, preceded by far-right French Rally candidate Jordan Bardella, center-right Édouard Philippe, …

A year ahead of the French presidential election, where do candidates stand?

A year ahead of the French presidential election, where do candidates stand?

Published by Sam Flores

The first round of the French presidential election is just a year away, and a new poll gives an idea of where things stand. French far-right Jordan Bardella comes in a comfortable first, while far-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon and right-wing Edouard Philippe tie in second place. The race is very much tightening for whoever will face the National Rally in the second round. FRANCE 24’s Marc Perelman tells us more. Keywords for this article Source link

French poll sees far-right Bardella winning, far-left Mélenchon surging in 2027 election – POLITICO

French poll sees far-right Bardella winning, far-left Mélenchon surging in 2027 election – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Mélenchon qualifying for the two-candidate runoff next year is seen as a nightmare scenario by most of France’s political center-right and center-left, because polling predicts he would lose heavily to the far right. The Odoxa poll showed the leader of France Unbowed winning 16 percent of the vote in the first round, up from 12 percent in a similar poll conducted last month. The poll placed him virtually level with Philippe, who slipped to 17 percent from 21 percent. Mélenchon was also the most popular left-wing politician among left-wing voters, ahead of rivals such as former President François Hollande and MEP Raphaël Glucksmann. Some 49 percent of left-wing voters supported Mélenchon, compared to 43 percent for Hollande and 36 percent for Glucksmann, the poll said. “For Édouard Philippe, this poll in May is sounding alarm bells, with a double hit … that shows him dropping behind Bardella in the second round and within range of Mélenchon,” wrote Odoxa head Gaël Sliman. An Odoxa poll published in November projected that the National Rally leader would beat …

The French far right’s weak spot: Economic incoherence – POLITICO

The French far right’s weak spot: Economic incoherence – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

While Bardella has enjoyed success courting the titans of industry — especially those executives belonging to CAC40, the index of France’s largest listed companies — Le Pen’s more recent attempts at engagement with business have been rockier. Politicians from rival parties are wasting no time in seeking to score points from the ideological schism at the heart of the nationalist, anti-immigration National Rally. “There’s the new generation National Rally that’s courting CAC40 executives, companies and business leaders … and the old guard that is pro-spending, pro-nanny state,” Édouard Philippe, the conservative main challenger to the far right, said this month. “You can count on me to condemn their posturing and U-turns.” Éric Zemmour, leader of the far-right Reconquest party, accused Bardella of going to “great lengths” to make it look as if the National Rally were right-wing while the party hierarchy — most notably Le Pen — had leftist economic instincts and wanted to hike taxes. Noting the divisions between Bardella and Le Pen, members of the far-left France Unbowed party said their presidential candidate …

France bans Israel’s Ben-Gvir from entry – POLITICO

France bans Israel’s Ben-Gvir from entry – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

The activists have since said they have been mistreated at the hands of Israeli soldiers, describing beatings, tasers and attack dogs. Israel has denied mistreatment, calling the allegations “false and entirely without factual basis.” With his statement, Barrot joined a growing chorus of European leaders who are calling for EU sanctions against Ben-Gvir. “Like my Italian colleague, I call on the European Union to also impose sanctions on Itamar Ben-Gvir,” Barrot said in the social media post. But Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka on Wednesday vowed to block sanctions on Israeli government ministers, which require unanimity among the EU’s 27 member states. Last year Ben-Gvir was sanctioned by the U.K., Canada, Australia, Norway and New Zealand over what those governments described as his repeated incitement of violence against Palestinians. Source link

French presidential hopeful de Villepin probed over gifts received as foreign minister – POLITICO

French presidential hopeful de Villepin probed over gifts received as foreign minister – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

An investigative report that aired on French public television last month claimed that De Villepin had received two statuettes of Napoleon worth thousands of euros from Robert Bourgi, a French lobbyist who has worked closely with African officials in former French colonies. One of the pieces had allegedly been given to Bourgi by Blaise Compaoré, who was president of Burkina Faso from 1991 to 2010. Bourgi allegedly received the other from Italian businessman Gian Angelo Perrucci. “Financial prosecutors will have no trouble getting to the bottom of this case, and Dominique de Villepin is calm and ready to cooperate with the investigation,” said a member of the former foreign minister’s team. Earlier this month, de Villepin said accepting the gifts from Bourgi had been a “mistake” but downplayed the significance of the allegations. Following a long absence from domestic politics after a failed presidential run in 2012, de Villepin launched his own political party, Humanist France, last year. He has since laid the groundwork to run in next year’s race to replace current President Emmanuel …

French presidential contender Édouard Philippe targeted by embezzlement probe

French presidential contender Édouard Philippe targeted by embezzlement probe

Published by Sam Flores

French investigators are probing allegations of embezzlement involving high-profile presidential candidate Édouard Philippe over the allocation of a digital hub contract in the northern port city of Le Havre where he is mayor, prosecutors have said. The 55-year-old centrist, an ex-prime minister seen as one of the strongest contenders in next year’s election to replace President Emmanuel Macron, denies the accusations. Polls suggest that Philippe, a centrist with his Horizons party, could successfully take on the far right and win the vote. Read moreFrench far right wins towns, loses in cities as mayoral vote kicks off race to succeed Macron His team said that he took note of the probe and would “answer the questions put to him by the judiciary as he has always done in a very serene manner”. Contacted by AFP, his lawyer did not wish to comment. A former senior official with the local authority has accused Philippe of possible misconduct over the awarding in 2020 of the management of a digital hub in Le Havre to an association presided by …

Bolloré’s Way | Harrison Stetler

Bolloré’s Way | Harrison Stetler

Published by José Betancourt

Even in a country that has made a pastime of its declamatory public letters, this one seems to stand out. It’s not every day that a list of signatories includes such unlikely comrades as Virginie Despentes—the punk feminist author of King Kong Theory, the Vernon Subutex series and, most recently, Dear Dick Head—and Bernard-Henri Lévy, the dean of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, or what’s left of it. Despentes and Lévy were among the more than 130 writers who on April 16 announced that they were breaking ties with Grasset, a 119-year-old publishing house known for its sober yellow covers and its deep back catalog of classic literature and prestige contemporary titles. Their mass departure has sent tremors across France’s literary and publishing world, which finds itself increasingly under the thumb of the hard-right media mogul Vincent Bolloré, owner of the vast Hachette group, of which Grasset is a flagship subsidiary. “We don’t want our ideas or our work to become his property,” reads the writers’ press release. “Today, we have one thing in common: we refuse to be …