Free Republic

This week in France the justice system cracking down following the killing of a Nationalist on the Right during a fight with Leftists in Lyon on February 12th. Quentin Deranque's murder triggering a cataclysm with massive media attention devoted to the case. The first round of municipal elections is just 22 days away a delicate political balance... By Thursday the Public Prosecution Service had seven suspects they wanted to charge in the death of Quentin Deranque including Jacques-Elie Favro. Favro worked as an aide to... President Emmanuel Macron critical of Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after she denounced the killing...

France advancing bill to criminalize anti-Zionism. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announces government will back bill to ban anti-Zionist phrases. 'Calling to destroy Israel is calling for genocide.' French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced the country's intention to make anti-Zionism a criminal offense. She made the statement during a speech at the annual meeting of the Council of Jewish Institutions in France. Speaking at the annual gathering of the French Jewish Institutions Council, Lecornu clarified that the government would no longer settle for simply imposing penalties for classic antisemitism, promising, "In April, we will bring to Parliament a bill that...

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced the country's intention to make anti-Zionism a criminal offense. She made the statement during a speech at the Speaking at the annual gathering of the French Jewish Institutions Council, Lecornu clarified that the government would no longer settle for simply imposing penalties for classic antisemitism, promising, "In April, we will bring to Parliament a bill that criminalizes anti-Zionist expressions." He explained, "To define oneself as anti-Zionist is to question Israel's right to exist. It's a call for the destruction of an entire people under the guise of ideology." .....

This week French President Emmanuel Macron distanced himself from US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace and seized an oil tanker of Russia's 'shadow fleet' demonstrating notions of French independence and power. The decision on not joining the "Board of Peace" by Mr. Macron explained in terms of respecting 'international law' over 'arbitrary action'. There was concern not fully expressed that the "Board of Peace" was really a mechanism to go around the United Nations in Gaza and other places like Ukraine... At one point US President Donald Trump published texts Mr. Macron sent him in an apparent effort to...

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...