All posts tagged: Jospin

The week in pictures: Massive daytime attack on Ukraine, ‘No Kings’ and France’s adieu to Jospin

The week in pictures: Massive daytime attack on Ukraine, ‘No Kings’ and France’s adieu to Jospin

Published by Sam Flores

Home Europe France held its national tribute to former prime minister Lionel Jospin, Russia launched one of its largest daytime attacks on Ukraine, and protesters across the US and some world capitals held a third round of “No Kings” mass protests against President Donald Trump: here’s a look back at the week’s most striking images. Issued on: 29/03/2026 – 15:26Modified: 29/03/2026 – 16:34 2 min Reading time Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi published this picture after a Russian strike hit on the historic centre of the city in western Ukraine on March 24, 2026. © Handout / TELEGRAM /@andriysadovyi/AFP Family members mourn as they take part in the funeral of two first aid responders and a third person the day after they were killed in an Israeli air strike in the southern city of Nabatieh on March 25, 2026. © Abbas Fakih, AFP French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during a national homage ceremony to late French prime minister Lionel Jospin at the Invalides monument in Paris, France, Thursday, March 26, 2026. © Thibault Camus, …

Lionel Jospin (1937-2026): ‘Highly respected moral and intellectual figure among left wing’ – Spotlight

Lionel Jospin (1937-2026): ‘Highly respected moral and intellectual figure among left wing’ – Spotlight

Published by Sam Flores

François Picard is pleased to welcome Damien Lecomte, political scientist and researcher at CRPS-CESSP, Paris Pantheon-Sorbonne University. According to Dr. Lecomte, there is a persistent tension between unity and fragmentation in French politics, and the legacy of Lionel Jospin illustrates this paradox: a figure of moral integrity and intellectual rigour who successfully governed a broad left-wing coalition, yet was ultimately defeated by a divided electorate on the left. Jospin died on Sunday at the age of 88. For Dr. Lecomte, what emerges from both historical reflection and recent French municipal elections is a deep structural challenge. The left remains anchored in urban strongholds, but struggles to reconcile its moderate and radical components, while the right faces similar pressures in balancing traditional conservatism with the gravitational pull of the far right. Meanwhile, the National Rally continues its steady territorial implantation, particularly outside major cities, reshaping the political landscape not through dramatic victories but through cumulative local gains. This produces a fragmented political field in which no camp easily achieves coherence. Electoral dynamics are increasingly shaped by geography, …

Former French PM Lionel Jospin dies at 88 – POLITICO

Former French PM Lionel Jospin dies at 88 – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Jospin, a defender of traditional parties, had criticized President Emmanuel Macron for making them obsolete and the French president’s “hubris” in a book published in 2020. Macron praised Jospin as “a great French figure” in a social media post Monday. “Through his rigor, courage and ideal of progress, he embodied a lofty vision of the Republic,” Macron wrote on X. Jospin, who successfully united the left camp during his tenure as the party’s leader in the 1990s and became prime minister in 1997, supported the left-wing alliance uniting the Socialists, the Greens and far-left France Unbowed during the 2022 legislative election campaign. But he cautioned against France Unbowed leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s disruptive political strategy shortly after the election, warning of its potentially destructive effects on the broader left in an interview with Le Monde. Jospin’s death was announced the morning after local elections that are setting the scene for the 2027 presidential race, at a time when the left is weakened by deep divisions among moderates over whether uniting with a dominant but increasingly toxic Mélenchon is inevitable — or …

Lionel Jospin, Former French Prime Minister Defeated by the Far Right, Dies at 88

Lionel Jospin, Former French Prime Minister Defeated by the Far Right, Dies at 88

Published by Sam Flores

PARIS, March 23 (Reuters) – At 8 p.m. on April 21, 2002, voters learned the shock first-round results of France’s presidential election. For the first time in the Republic’s history, a ⁠far-right candidate – ⁠Jean-Marie Le Pen – would advance to the runoff. Minutes later, Lionel Jospin addressed his supporters. The leading ⁠candidate of the left, who many had believed would be the next president, said he took full responsibility for the unexpected defeat. As cries rose from the crowd, Jospin – pale but composed – announced that he was withdrawing from political life. The ​Socialist prime minister would never again hold elected office. Asked years later about that career-ending poll, he said: “One may regret not having had the chance to prove oneself when there was a single step left to climb, and one stumbled before that step.” It was a typically restrained reflection from a politician often viewed as austere. Jospin, who was unable to convert his leadership of France’s ‌government at the turn of the century into a winning presidential bid, has …