Free Republic

This week the appeal trial of Marine Le Pen and her co-defendants accused of misusing European Parliament funds. Last year Le Pen convicted and sentenced to four years in prison with a five-year ban on running for public office. That effectively prevents her from running for President next year... On Wednesday there were attempts to censure the government of President Emmanuel Macron following the EU approval of the free trade deal with MERCOSEUR that angered French farmers. The proposals of La France Insoumise on the Left and the National Rally on the Right fell short...

Brigitte Bardot buried Wednesday following a funeral service in the southern French city of St. Tropez. Her cause of death cancer revealed by her husband Bernard d'Ormale known as a supporter of the National Rally (formerly the National Front). She had cancer and had undergone two surgeries prior to her death... On Thursday protesting farmers rolled into Paris to drive home their opposition to the European Union's free trade deal with the MERCOSEUR nations of South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay). But even though France voted "No" on Friday most...

To sum up the week in French politics one sees the struggle of Emmanuel Macron to maintain political power to keep dragging out the political process out as long as possible. His latest designated Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu named a cabinet last Sunday night to a storm of rejection a symbolic if not literal middle finger. By Monday in the face of certain rejection in the National Assembly Lecornu...

France’s government has collapsed -- again. With the resignation of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, the fragility of European politics is once more on full display. Trapped between party deadlock, eco-socialist dogma, and a reform-weary public, France offers the blueprint for what could soon become the next Eurozone crisis. After Lecornu’s abrupt resignation Monday morning -- just hours after being sworn in -- President Emmanuel Macron must once again find a new head of government. By now, Macron is well-practiced at this ritual: this marks his third attempt in a single year to form a stable cabinet. Only a month earlier,...

France's Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has resigned, less than a day after his cabinet was unveiled. "The conditions were not fulfilled for me to carry on as prime minister," Lecornu said on Monday morning, and criticised the unwillingness by political parties to reach compromises. The Elysée palace made the announcement after Lecornu met President Emmanuel Macron for an hour on Monday morning. The shock move comes only 26 days after Lecornu was appointed prime minister following the collapse of the previous government of François Bayrou. Parties across the board in the National Assembly had fiercely criticised the composition of Lecornu's...

France may have a new Prime Minister but officially it does not have a cabinet. Sebastien Lecornu delayed appointment of cabinet ministers for more than two weeks leaving the outgoing ministers serving with limited powers. Many powers left to judicial-administrative parts of the government. Yesterday Mr. Lecornu saying he will have a cabinet... President Emmanuel Macron speaking to the UN General Assembly and recognizing the State of Palestine. Macron also calling for release... "I see an American President who is mobilized, who says 'I want the Nobel Peace Prize'. The Nobel Peace Prize is only possible if you stop this...

French President Macron late Tuesday appointed Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu as France’s new prime minister and tasked him with immediately trying to get the country's fractious political parties to agree on a budget for one of the world's biggest economies. Lecornu, 39, was the youngest defense minister in French history and architect of a major military buildup through 2030, spurred by Russia’s war in Ukraine. A longtime Macron loyalist, Lecornu is now France's fourth prime minister in barely a year. A former conservative who joined Macron’s centrist movement in 2017, Lecornu has held posts in local governments, overseas territories and...