Sunday, January 02, 2022
Right-wing politicians are foaming
European flag on the triumphal arch sparked a dispute
It should only be a small gesture to mark the start of the EU Council Presidency. But the European flag, which hangs under the triumphal arch in Paris for two days, heats the minds of conservatives and right-wing extremists. Presidential candidate Le Pen speaks of an “assassination attempt”.
A European flag that briefly flew on the triumphal arch in Paris sparked a dispute between the French government and the opposition. After allegations by right-wing politicians that the blue flag was offensive to the fatherland, the flag was dropped on Sunday night. According to a spokesman for the Élysée Palace, this schedule was planned anyway. The aim was to symbolically mark the beginning of the French EU Council Presidency on December 31 and January 1.
The extreme right-wing presidential candidate of the Rassemblement National (RN), Marine Le Pen, booked the European flag on Twitter as a “nice patriotic victory” after a “massive mobilization” of her camp. She had expressed massive criticism of the gesture in advance. “Replacing the French flag with the European one is an assassination attempt on the identity of our fatherland, an insult to those who died for the fatherland,” she said on Twitter.
The right wing presidential candidate Éric Zemmour also spoke of an “insult”. The conservative Republican candidate, Valérie Pécresse, demanded that the tricolor should hang next to the European flag. “We owe that to all our fighters who shed their blood for them.”
The government’s Secretary of State for Europe, Clément Beaune, was combative today. He was proud that the flag was now hanging on the triumphal arch, he wrote on Twitter. “Do not worry, as planned there will be European blue all over France in the coming days, which will make our cities and our monuments shine.”
Currently, important monuments in France – such as the Eiffel Tower – are illuminated in blue in the evenings. At the turn of the year, France took over the rotation of the Council of Ministers in the European Union. At the same time, the country is in the election campaign, as the presidential elections are due in April.