Foreign Correspondent in France, Katie Fox, explains the country’s latest strikes and outlines why people have decided to protest the government’s pension reform plans.
Macron
Franco-Germany Treaty: More from Macron & Merkel?
On 22nd January, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel signed a treaty of friendship in the German city of Aachen (Aix la Chapelle). This was exactly 56 years after the Elysée Treaty of 1963, which marked the end of Franco-German animosity and began a new era of mutual support and friendship. This […]
Gilets Jaunes Protests: What’s Happening?
Riots instigated by the so-called “Gilets Jaunes” (yellow vests) in Paris won’t have failed to attract considerable attention recently; they’ve almost consistently been in daily headlines for nearly three weeks. Images circulating on the internet and television show a Paris that hasn’t been seen for a while: smoke-filled crowds, disintegrated cars, the Champs Elysées practically […]
Racism, Revolution and Resistance: France’s current political turmoil
The cleansing wave of ‘Pasokification’ (the process whereby traditional European social democratic and conservative/Christian democratic parties lose their support base) crashed in France in the 2017 election, leaving three populists on the shore with their heads above the water. Macron, the election winner and self-declared ‘Jupiterian’ sun-king, was a populist only in loose terms. He […]
The United States Has Withdrawn from the Iran Deal: What Next?
When Donald Trump tweeted in early 2016, “the Iran deal is terrible”, few took him seriously. A little over two years on, Twitter is a medium for diplomacy, Donald Trump is President, and America is withdrawing from the Iran Deal. This should not come as a shock. Not a single Republican supported the Obama-era accord, […]
France’s state of emergency- the new normal?
Earlier this year, French president Emmanuel Macron announced that the state of emergency would be extended to the 1st November 2017, and as the latest lapse of the regime is being renewed, has this really become the “new normal”? Firstly, a little bit of context. The state of emergency was introduced in France as far […]
French Election- Macron vs Le Pen
Sunday 23rd of April, was the first round of the French election. For the first time ever, the competition was extremely tight between four candidates: the right candidate François Fillon, the far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Emmanuel Macron and his independent movement ‘En Marche’ and finally the far-right candidate Marine le pen. All four candidates had […]
What is happening in France?
After the French army liberated Mali in 2013, the Malian people offered President Hollande a camel in thanks. Attempting to avoid an awkward photo-op back home, Hollande donated the animal to a Malian family. The family promptly turned it into camel soup. The story epitomises the outgoing President’s woes. Five years ago he was “Mr […]