On the occasion of the summit of the European Union (EU) which began this Thursday, March 10 in Versailles, the European flag made its return under the Arc de Triomphe. A first since the controversy aroused on December 31, then to mark the launch of the French presidency of the Council of the EU.
The starred flag will remain until tomorrow Friday, the closing day of the summit, said the Elysée.
President Emmanuel Macron indeed welcomes from this Thursday at the end of the afternoon the leaders of the 26 other countries of the EU for a summit intended to lay the foundations of a more sovereign Europe after the Russian invasion in Ukraine. .
As in December, the placing of the European flag under the Arc de Triomphe was again accompanied by some controversy, more to the right of the political spectrum.
Emmanuel Macron likes to humiliate the French nation. The proof: he does it again. pic.twitter.com/HOaLT2eI6t
— Eric Zemmour (@ZemmourEric) March 10, 2022
“Emmanuel Macron likes to humiliate the French Nation. The proof: he does it again”, notably published on Twitter Eric Zemmour, the candidate of Reconquest.
Macron “proud” of this “symbol of peace”
The polemicist had already criticized the first installation of the starred flag, at the end of last year.
At the time, Marine Le Pen, Valérie Pécresse and Jean-Luc Mélenchon had also expressed their indignation.
Some had thus denounced an unpatriotic act and wished that a French flag be added above the tomb of the unknown soldier.
Emmanuel Macron then denounced “a bad controversy” and said he was “proud” of this “symbol of peace” which, according to him, had been placed under the monument at a time when “there was nothing”, c ie no tricolor flag.
Several other monuments, like the Eiffel Tower, had remained lit in blue for a week to mark the French presidency of the EU.