Hungary's Orban ditches NATO summit to meet with Donald Trump

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has long admired Donald Trump

By Peter Aitken Fox News
Published July 11, 2024

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban departed the NATO summit in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to meet with former President Trump in Florida, a source familiar with the meeting told Fox News Digital.

The New York Times first broke the story, citing a Trump campaign official and a person close to the former president. The report did not indicate what the pair would discuss at this impromptu meeting, but Orban has crisscrossed the globe over the past week after assuming the role as president of the European Union.

Orban arrived in the U.S. this week to attend the multi-day NATO summit, which celebrates the 75th anniversary of the organization's founding and occurs at a time when members remain concerned about Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and what the future holds for the broader European Union.

Hungary’s presidency will last six months as part of a rotating leadership scheme for the bloc and does not provide much actual power, but Orban wasted no time in using that office to start holding discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping before his meeting with Trump.

Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban, left and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyi shake hands during a press conference in in Kyiv, Ukraine, on July 2. (Viktor Kovalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

Orban has long admired Trump, going so far as to invoke the former president with a quip that Hungary would "make Europe great again," and Trump met with Orban at Mar-a-Lago in Florida in March when trying to court foreign policy in the U.S.

During an interview with German journalist and author Paul Ronzheimer, Orban said that there is a "very, very high chance that the next American president will be not the same president who is today," and he refused to be drawn on questions about President Biden’s fitness for office.

The rest of Europe has remained less than enamored with Orban, though, especially in light of his foreign visit blitz in the past 10 days. An EU diplomat confirmed to Fox News Digital that a majority of member states already have considerably lowered the level of participation in the informal council meetings that will be held in Hungary during the presidency term.

President Trump, left, and Viktor Orban, Hungary's prime minister, walk in to the West Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 13, 2019. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In some capitals, also, officials have discussed how to use EU treaties to limit Orban’s impact. The diplomat argued that "EU institutions should not have fallen into Orban’s trap in the first place, and Hungary should not have been allowed to assume the role of the presidency."

"The EU legislation shall be used to protect the Union and the unity, not the imaginary idea of imagined unity," the diplomat said.

Orban’s visit to Russia shocked many of his peers, leading European Union Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell to rush out a statement stressing that Orban has no mandate from the union in discussions with foreign leaders and that he is "not representing the EU in any form" during the visits.




Russia's President Vladimir Putin, right, meets with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Kremlin in Moscow on Friday. (Valery Sharifulin/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo described Orban’s visit to Putin as "disturbing" news, writing on the social media platform X that the visit shows "disregard for the duties of the EU presidency and undermines interests of the European Union."

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis wrote on X that "Mr. Orban might be abusing the position of the EU presidency, but what he is certainly not doing is representing either NATO or the EU."

"He does not speak for my country or any country except his own," Landsbergis stressed.

A spokesman for the Trump campaign did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment by the time of publication.

U.S., NATO Allies Criticize Orban Amid Reports Of Trump Meeting

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (left) is seen during a visit to the Florida home of former U.S. President and expected Republican nominee Donald Trump in March.

WASHINGTON -- The United States and NATO allies criticized Viktor Orban’s secret meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month, as the Hungarian prime minister prepared to travel after the NATO summit to visit with the presumptive Republican nominee in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump.

Orban's unexpected visit to Russia, which in February 2022 launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine that NATO has opposed, was seen as a rogue move by the leader of a NATO country.

Orban's opposition to Ukraine's NATO bid has been watched closely during the summit, but allies said on July 11 that they did not see it denting Kyiv's eventual alliance membership.

The Hungarian leader, who took over the six-month rotating EU Presidency at the start of July, made a secret trip to Moscow to discuss with Putin an end to Russia's invasion of Ukraine without informing the bloc or NATO allies. The visit came on the eve of the July 9-11 NATO summit in Washington hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden.

“The U.S. position, the Biden administration position is: Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. So whatever adventurism is being undertaken without Ukrainians' consent or support is not something that's consistent with our policy or the policy of the United States,” Biden’s national-security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters July 11 on the sidelines of the summit.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis criticized Orban’s visit to Moscow, telling reporters at the summit on July 11 that the Hungarian leader does not represent the opinion of the European Union or NATO. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olah Scholz also expressed frustration with Orban. Macron said it was legitimate for Orban to travel to Russia as the Hungarian prime minister, but not on behalf of the European Union.

Orban, Landsbergis, Macron and Scholz were among the leaders and top officials from all 32 NATO countries taking part in the annual summit, where the main topic of discussion was military aid for Ukraine.

On July 10, Orban said he would not sign on to the so-called Ukraine Compact, a shared pledge among more than 20 NATO to support Ukraine both now and for the long-term.

In a video statement posted to his X account, the Hungarian prime minister said that NATO was "behaving more and more like a war organization," citing the alliance's military support for Ukraine.

Orban is reportedly flying to Florida after the summit to meet with Trump. The Republican contender has claimed that, should he win the election, he would negotiate a deal between Ukraine and Russia before his January 2025 inauguration. He has not given any details about his alleged peace plan.

The Hungarian leader, who recently met Trump in Florida in March, has made clear that he backs the Republican candidate in the 2024 election.

The possible return of Trump to the presidency has partially overshadowed the 2024 summit. During his four years in the presidency from 2017 to 2021, Trump repeatedly criticized NATO members for their failure to meet the defense spending target of 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and even raised the idea of pulling the United States out of the alliance.

During a campaign rally on July 10, Trump took pride in having grilled NATO members and spoke of his first days in office in 2017.

“I didn’t know what the hell NATO was too much before. But it didn’t take me long to figure it out -- like about two minutes. And the first thing I figured out was they were not paying. We were paying. We were paying almost fully for NATO. And I said that’s unfair,” he said.

Last month during a podcast interview, Trump blamed the war on Ukraine’s possible NATO membership, raising concerns that he may block the country from joining the alliance as part of a peace deal.

Hungary has also raised doubts about Ukraine's membership in the alliance, saying it risks open conflict with Russia.

"Ukraine's admission wouldn't strengthen but weaken the alliance's unity, as there are completely different viewpoints on their membership," Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on July 11.

In the communique reached during the summit, NATO members said that Ukraine’s path into NATO was “irreversible.” When asked about the potential Orban-Trump meeting, outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said it "doesn't undermine or reduce the importance of what we have agreed" at the summit.

Stoltenberg also said he did not think a change in leadership in Washington would result in the United States leaving the alliance, especially as the threat from China grows.

"The reality is that NATO makes the United States stronger and safer, and this is a strong argument for the United States to continue to support and remain a loyal and committed NATO ally," Stoltenberg said.

The NATO chief also said that Trump's biggest complaint -- that of allies' failure to meet defense spending targets -- has been significantly addressed, with 23 members now spending 2 percent or more of GDP. Just 9 members were at the target when Trump left office.

ONLY ONE?!

Iraqi court sentences wife of slain Islamic State leader to death for crimes against Yazidi women

An Iraqi court has issued a death sentence against one of the wives of the late brutal Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, alleging that she was complicit in crimes committed against Yazidi women captured by the militant group

Qassim Abdul-Zahra
1 day ago

Iraq Islamic State Leader Wife

An Iraqi court issued a death sentence Wednesday against one of the wives of the late brutal Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, alleging that she was complicit in crimes committed against Yazidi women captured by the militant group.

The ruling comes weeks before the 10-year mark since IS launched a series of attacks against the Yazidi religious minority in the northern Iraqi region of Sinjar in early August 2014, killing and capturing thousands — including women and girls who were subjected to human trafficking and sexual abuse. The United Nations said the campaign against the Yazidis amounted to genocide.

A statement by Iraq’s judicial council said the Karkh Criminal Court sentenced the woman for “detaining Yazidi women in her home” and facilitating their kidnapping by “the terrorist ISIS gangs in Sinjar district,” the state-run Iraqi News Agency reported. It also said the ruling was issued in accordance with Iraq’s anti-terrorism law and its “Yazidi survivors law."

The statement did not name the defendant, but two court officials identified her as Asma Mohammed, who was arrested in 2018 in Turkey. An Iraqi security official told The Associated Press Wednesday she was handed over to Iraqi authorities last year. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

Survivors of the IS attacks in Iraq have complained of a lack of accountability and have criticized the decision — made at the request of the Iraqi government — to wind down a U.N. probe into IS crimes, including the alleged use of chemical weapons.

At the same time, human rights groups have raised concerns about the lack of due process in trials of alleged IS members in Iraq and have particularly criticized mass executions of those convicted on terrorism charges. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have said the convictions are often extracted under torture and urged Iraq to abolish the death penalty.

On June 29, 2014, al-Baghdadi, known as one of the most ruthlessly effective jihadist leaders of modern times, declared the militant group’s caliphate in large swaths of Iraq and Syria.

In 2019, he was killed in a U.S. raid in Syria, dealing a major blow to the militant group which has now lost its hold on all the areas it previously controlled though some of its cells continue to carry out attacks.

Patriarch Kirill sidesteps bombing of children’s hospital, and praises Putin

byJONATHAN LUXMOORE

12 JULY 2024

CHURCH TIMES

ALAMY
Rescue workers on Tuesday clear rubble at the site of Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv, hit by Russian missiles the previous day

PATRIARCH Kirill of Moscow has lauded President Putin as a divine instrument for saving mankind, ignoring global condemnation of Russian missile attacks on a children’s hospital and other civilian targets in Ukraine.

“A restraining force is one capable of preventing the onset of total evil — an evil aimed at subjugating and destroying the human race,” the Patriarch said in Tikhvin on Tuesday.

“Our common task is thus to pray for and support our President, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. At this difficult time, the Lord has sent a man capable not only of sustaining blows, but also of mobilising our country to resist this total evil.”

The praise was given as efforts continued to recover dozens of Ukrainian civilians killed and injured in Monday’s missile and guided-bomb strikes, which partially wrecked the Okhmatdyt Paediatric Hospital, Ukraine’s largest, as well as a maternity facility near by.

A Vatican communiqué said that the Pope had expressed “deep shock at the escalation of violence”, while his Nuncio in Kyiv, Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, said that he had watched a video of the cruise missile striking the hospital’s dialysis unit, and was at a loss how people of conscience could justify attacks on “the weakest of the weakest”.

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Revd Professor Jerry Pillay, also denounced Moscow’s “disregard for international humanitarian law”, and said that those targeting civilians violated “the most fundamental principles of law, ethics, morals, and religion”.

President Zelensky requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in response to the continuing attacks, which left at least 42 dead and 140 injured as Western leaders reaffirmed support for Ukraine at a NATO summit in Washington.

In a statement on Monday, the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations, grouping Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant leaders, as well as Jews and Muslims, condemned Moscow’s “act of extreme cruelty and disregard for human life and God”, and urged governments worldwide to “avoid complicity in Russia’s war crimes” and provide Ukraine “with the necessary means to protect lives”.
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The Primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, said that the killing of children receiving kidney surgery and other lifesaving treatment was a “crime against humanity” and “sin crying out to heaven for vengeance”.

The Primate of the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Metropolitan Epiphany (Dumenko), warned in a post on social media that those “who can provide protection but do not” were complicit in “crimes witnessed by the whole world”.

International agencies, including the World Health Organization, say that hundreds of other hospitals and medical facilities have been attacked since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, placing doctors and patients at high risk.

In a statement this week, Christian Aid said that it had been “working flat out” to help to provide “emergency medical and other essential assistance”, and that it was “heartbreaking” to see such “small gains” ruined by Russia’s “heartless attacks on civilian energy and medical facilities”.

In a weekend message to Masoud Pezeshkian, the newly elected President of Iran, which is supplying Moscow with drones and rockets, Patriarch Kirill said that Russians and Iranians were “united by a desire to preserve their historical spiritual and cultural traditions, and a commitment to enduring moral principles”. He counted on “continued good co-operation” with Islamic leaders in Iran, he said.

AMERIKAN EXCEPTIONALISM

Paper, plastic or ammo? Company introduces ammunition vending machines at grocery stores

Machines require customers to present a photo ID for age verification and submit to a facial recognition scan to match their face with their ID

Graig Graziosi
(AP) JULY 11,2024

An American Rounds ammunition vending machine installed in a Fresh Value grocery store in Tuscaloosa, Alabama 

Shoppers at some grocery stores in the South can pick up their eggs and a box of ammunition in the same trip, thanks to a Texas company's bullet vending machines.

American Rounds, based in Richardson, Texas, developed machines — which the company prefers to call "automated retail machines" — that sell ammunition. The first of them was installed in an Alabama grocery store in 2023.

Since then, seven other machines have been installed in grocery stores in four states. Four have opened at Super C's Marts in Oklahoma, and two at Lowes Markets in Canyon City, Texas. According to the company's CEO Grant Magers, requests for his vending machines are on the rise, the Associated Press reports.

Magers told the AP that the company has "over 200 stores" that are waiting to receive a machine. He said interest in the machines has largely come from rural communities where ammunition retailers are in short supply.

The machines require customers to use a touch screen to select their ammunition and then verify their age using a photo ID. The scanner inside the machine is the same scanner that the TSA uses to verify photo IDs at airport security.

Once an ID is verified as belonging to someone 21 or older, facial recognition software checks the customer's face against the ID and prompts the customer to pay for their ammunition. Then a brand new box of ammunition drops from the machine.

Magers has insisted that his machines are not only a safe way to purchase ammunition, but that it's more safe than most other methods of buying rounds.

“It's the safest, most secure method of ammunition sales on the market, and it completely maintains the integrity of the Second Amendment. We don't store the consumer's data, we don't take their ID or their facial, it’s not stored on any cloud,” he told the broadcaster.

In some cases his machines are even stricter than federal law. The US requires buyers of rifle and shotgun ammunition to be 18 or older, but all of his machines require buyers to be at least 21 to purchase any type of ammunition.

“I’m very thankful for those who are taking the time to get to know us and not just making assumptions about what we’re about," Magers told the AP.

Despite his safety arguments, critics have voiced concerns about ammunition being available at grocery stores.

“Innovations that make ammunition sales more secure via facial recognition, age verification, and the tracking of serial sales are promising safety measures that belong in gun stores, not in the place where you buy your kids milk," Nick Suplina, a senior vice president for Everytown for Gun Safety, said in a statement.

An American Rounds ammunition vending machine is installed in a Fresh Value grocery store in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The machine requires customers to provide photo ID to verify their age and facial recognition technology matches their faces to their identification (screengrab/13 News Now)

Everytown describes itself as the "largest gun violence prevention organization in America."

The organization released a report in March showing that several major online ammunition retailers appeared to have failed to verify customer ages when they bought bullets.

Last year, online ammunition retailer Lucky Gunner settled a lawsuit with the family of 17-year-old Sabika Aziz Sheikh, a student killed in a 2018 school shooting in Texas. The lawsuit alleged that Lucky Gunner twice sold ammunition to the 17-year-old shooter Dimitrios Pagourtzis without verifying his age, the Nashville Tennesseanreports. The school shooting left 10 people dead on the campus of Santa Fe High School, approximately 35 miles southeast of Houston.

Magers believes his vending machines can offer safer ammunition sales than online retailers. “We are very pro-Second Amendment, but we are for responsible gun ownership, and we hope we’re improving the environment for the community,” he told the AP.

Mager said that he does not see any difference between offering ammunition in a vending machine at a grocery store and offering it at a counter in a big box store.

“People I think got shocked when they thought about the idea of selling ammo at a grocery store," Magers told the AP. "But as we explained, how is that any different than Walmart?”

PATRIARCHY IS FEMICIDE

Quick-fix measures will not stop men intent on harming women, campaigners warn

A mother and her two daughters were killed in their home by a man believed to be the ex-partner of one of the women.


THE REFUGE CHARITY HAS CALLED FOR A FOCUS ON TACKLING THE MISOGYNISTIC CULTURE IT SAYS IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS (JONATHAN BRADY/PA)

PA WIRE
AINE FOX

A misogynistic culture at the root of violence against women and girls must be addressed, a domestic abuse charity has said, in the wake of the crossbow killings of a mother and her two daughters in their home.

Refuge said while it welcomed the Government’s urgent consideration of whether tougher crossbow laws are needed after the deaths, the danger from such crimes stems from the perpetrator rather than the tools they use.

The End Violence Against Women Coalition echoed this, warning that “quick-fix” measures such as banning a weapon would not stop men intent on harming women.

The focus needs to be on tackling violence against women and girls more widely and addressing misogynistic culture that is the root cause

ABIGAIL AMPOFO, REFUGE

Triple-murder suspect Kyle Clifford is understood to have been the ex-partner of Louise Hunt.

The 25-year-old was found fatally injured with her sister Hannah, 28, and their mother, Carol Hunt, 61, at a house in Bushey, Hertfordshire, on Tuesday.

They are the wife and daughters of BBC 5 Live commentator John Hunt.

The latest data from the Office for National Statistics showed that the most common suspect for female homicide victims aged 16 years and above was their partner or ex-partner

The statistics, published in February this year and using the term homicide to cover manslaughter as well as murder, showed that in the year ending March 2023 in England and Wales, almost half (45%) of all adult female homicide victims were killed in a domestic incident.

Of those 70 victims, all but one were killed by a male suspect.

The ONS said that, in contrast, males were much less likely to be the victim of a domestic homicide with only 8% of male homicides being domestic-related in the year ending March 2023.

Refuge has called for more focus on tackling a misogynistic culture it said is the root cause of many such crimes.

Abigail Ampofo, interim chief executive at the charity said their thoughts are with the victims and their family and friends following the “devastating incident” this week.

She said: “It will be shocking to many that there is no registration or licence system for owning crossbows and it is right that the Government is considering if crossbow laws need to be tightened.

“Whilst we would support an outright ban on dangerous weapons like crossbows, we also need to be clear that the danger from crimes like this is from the perpetrator not the tools used to enact their violence.

“Sadly, we know in cases of domestic homicide perpetrators will use anything at their disposal as a weapon.

“The focus needs to be on tackling violence against women and girls more widely and addressing misogynistic culture that is the root cause.”

Andrea Simon, executive director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: “The horrifying murders of Carol, Hannah and Louise Hunt in their family home have once again put violence against women and girls on the public agenda.

“Our thoughts are with their surviving family members, community and all who are feeling the weight of the details being reported.

“Whenever we are confronted by shocking acts of male violence against women, there is a temptation to reach for ‘quick-fix’ measures like calls to ban a particular weapon, increasing CCTV coverage or providing more street lighting.

“But none of these measures will ever stop perpetrators intent on harming women, as they don’t get to the root cause of the issue, which is the normalisation of women’s inequality and the male entitlement, power and control it produces.”

Killed Women, a campaign network for the families of women killed by men, said: “We urge all those with the power to stop this tidal wave of violence to act with urgency. All women deserve to live free from threat, fear and violence. All those whose lives are taken deserve justice.

“Our hearts are with Carol, Louise and Hannah’s family and friends, whose lives, as our network knows only too well, will never be the same again.”

Anyone experiencing domestic abuse can contact Refuge’s National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.

France’s Right-Wing Tilt Will Further Alienate It From North Africa – OpEd

France's Marine Le Pen. Photo Credit: Marine Le Pen, X

 July 12, 2024  

By Arab News

By Zaid M. Belbagi

France is in the spotlight in a year filled with significant elections globally. The European Parliament elections in France in early June resulted in a decisive victory for the Jordan Bardella-led National Rally, as the far-right party won 31 percent of the votes. The next day, French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the National Assembly and announced snap parliamentary elections to curb the French right-wing.

Nearly a month later, the National Rally won a notable 33 percent of the votes in the first round of legislative elections. In the second round, the party and its allies came third, securing only 142 seats, while its centrist and leftist competitors performed better. Nonetheless, given that a quarter of the electorate voted for the National Rally and the party has grown significantly from the 89 seats it won in 2022, a right-wing tilt in French politics is clear.

The National Rally will not form the government this year, but its strong performance indicates that it will have a louder voice in the legislature and may come to power in the next elections. The party has often been accused of making Islamophobic statements. Its policies on minorities, immigrants and the preservation of French identity encourage what leading academic Olivier Roy has called a growing “authoritarian secularism” in France.

Macron himself has also been criticized for such policies, despite his centrist credentials. The modern history of France has been marred by tense relations between the government and ethnic and religious minorities. Its homegrown brand of secularism, or as the French would say, “laicite,” has increasingly been used to curtail the public participation of France’s significant Muslim population.

While France does not incorporate information on religious affiliation in its national census, it is estimated that close to 10 percent of the French population is Muslim. An overwhelming portion of this religious minority is of North African descent, with close to 3 million people having roots in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. This segment of the population has faced increasing marginalization in French society, with curbs on religious clothing and expressions of faith, stereotypes in public discourse and, most recently, a brutal crackdown by the authorities on pro-Palestinian protests in the country. Last year, in a forlorn recurrence of 2005, riots broke out in the banlieues of Paris following the death of a French teenager of North African descent in a police shooting. The uproar that followed cost the French economy more than $1 billion of material losses

A gradual shift to the right in French politics is therefore bound to increase tensions between the government and the French North African community. The National Rally has been worryingly clear about its intention to create a more assertive national identity and citizenship, which will effectively shrink the space for religious minorities in the French social fabric. Its program includes, but is not limited to, restrictions on immigration and asylum, the eradication of Islamist networks from France, reduced external spending to fund domestic tax cuts and more immunity for security forces. The party also seeks to increase scrutiny of dual nationals in applications for sensitive government jobs.

It is worth noting that the majority of immigrants in France hail from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The National Rally has often securitized these communities by alleging their links to militant activity in France.

Bardella’s stated “feeling of becoming a foreigner in one’s own country … (due to) the Islamization of my neighborhood” has in turn led to a political praxis that has made French Muslims foreigners in their own country.

However, contrary to its views on North Africans within France, the National Rally has recognized the importance of economic, diplomatic and security relations between North Africa and France. It argues that French support in counterterrorism and economic development in the region can curb the number of North African migrants heading to France and, according to the party, exerting pressure on French resources.

The National Rally’s views on immigration, counterterrorism and multiculturalism in the domestic sphere will, however, impact its external relations with a region that is forever entwined with France through their historical ties. Further, its advocated cuts on external spending may reduce the flow of French development aid, which is a key pillar of France’s relations with North Africa.

In France, the president is the chief architect of foreign policy and the country’s representative on the international stage. However, the inherent checks and balances in the French parliamentary system mean that parliamentarians also have a voice in shaping France’s foreign policy priorities and budgetary decisions. The anticipated pluralistic legislature implies that there will be a stronger representation of the right-wing in policy debates. While this will be offset by other parties, given that French-North Africa relations have deteriorated under Macron’s centrist leadership, it is unlikely that the incoming government will significantly improve French ties with the region.

This will come at a time when French influence in North Africa is at its lowest ebb, along with strained relations across Francophone Africa. Recent coups d’etats in the Sahel have shared a common anti-French sentiment, with ruling juntas severing military, diplomatic and cultural ties with France and removing French diplomats and troops stationed in the region.

In North Africa, there is a growing preference for English as the language of business and higher education instead of French. The region is also gaining new international partners in the West and the Global South to form an independent international position. Thus, a growing space for the National Rally’s right-wing ideals in French politics now or in the future will further weaken France’s influence and soft power in North Africa.

• Zaid M. Belbagi is a political commentator and an adviser to private clients between London and the Gulf Cooperation Council region.

Arab News

Arab News is Saudi Arabia's first English-language newspaper. It was founded in 1975 by Hisham and Mohammed Ali Hafiz. Today, it is one of 29 publications produced by Saudi Research & Publishing Company (SRPC), a subsidiary of Saudi Research & Marketing Group (SRMG).

 

A surprise victory and a reprieve from the far-right in France

11th July 2024Leave a Commenton A surprise victory and a reprieve from the far-right in France

“This is a spectacular reversal of the situation meaning we have gone from the threat of a far-right stranglehold on the state apparatus to a relative left-wing majority in the Assembly”

The Nouveau Front Populaire (New Popular Front) has secured 182 seats in the French National Assembly, surpassing the Rassemblement National (RN) and President Macron’s camp, shifting the political landscape towards a left-wing majority, writes Léon Crémieux

The Nouveau Front populaire (New Popular Front), a coalition built in just a few days by the left-wing parties (whereas they remained splintered at the recent European parliamentary elections), has just won 182 deputy seats in the French National Assembly, beating the Rassemblement national (RN) and its allies, with 143 seats, and the camp of President Macron with 168 seats.

This is a spectacular reversal of the situation meaning we have gone from the threat of a far-right stranglehold on the state apparatus to a relative left-wing majority in the Assembly, elected on a programme of rupture with neoliberal policies. This reversal cannot be understood without looking at the massive mobilisation in recent weeks of the activist forces of the workers’ and democratic movement in the face of the far right, leading first to the formation of this New Popular Front (with la France insoumise (LFI), Europe Ecologie Les Verts (EELV), the Socialist Party (PS), the Communist Party (PCF) and others including the Nouveau parti anticapitaliste (NPA)), then to a major mobilisation at the ballot box and a very broadly supported vote to reject the RN.

Following on from its 31.34% result in the European elections on 9 June, the RN obtained more than 33% of the vote in the first round of legislative elections on 30 June, and everything suggested that it would obtain a very large number of deputies in the second round, with all the polls giving it well over 200 deputies and possibly even an absolute majority of 289 seats.

In France, MPs are elected in a first-past-the-post system in the country’s 577 constituencies. Basically, if no candidate obtains 50% of the votes cast in the 1st round, there is a second round the following Sunday, in which candidates who obtained more than 12.5% of the votes cast in the 1st round may stand. Candidates may also withdraw spontaneously within two days of the 1st round. 76 M.P.s were elected in the 1st round. Of the remaining 501 constituencies, only 191 were automatically duels, as the other candidates fell below the 12.5% threshold. But three or even four candidates remained in the running in 310 other constituencies. The RN and its allies from Les Républicains (around Éric Ciotti, President of the LR) had won 39 seats in the 1st round and were leading in the 260 remaining constituencies.

There was therefore a good chance that, in the event of a three-way tie, the RN would win a large majority of these seats. On Sunday evening, the Nouveau Front populaire announced in a single voice that it was withdrawing its candidates wherever it was in third place, to prevent the election of far-right candidates. Throughout Sunday evening and Monday, the Macronist camp dithered, explicitly refusing to call for a barrage against the Rassemblement National, with several voices, such as that of former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and National Assembly President Yaël Braun Pivet, maintaining a parallel rejection of the RN and LFI. Finally, on Tuesday evening, under pressure, 81 of the 95 third-placed Ensemble candidates withdrew, bringing the total number of withdrawals against the RN to 221.

Above all, in the days following the 1st round, there was a clear upsurge of activist forces, trade unions and associations from the workers’ and democratic movement, to block the RN and prevent it from taking power. This has manifested itself in appeals, demonstrations and, particularly on social networks, a spectacular denunciation of the reality of the RN, a far-right force that has its roots in French fascist currents and, like its European equivalents in the “Identity and Democracy” group, is developing a racist policy that undermines social and democratic rights.1 

RN activists and officials were a little too quick to relax between the two rounds, confident of victory, and the veneer of respectability they had been brushing for months in the media began to crack. Racist comments and attacks increased in towns and neighbourhoods, and the RN declared that it would wage its first battle against French citizens with dual nationality, saying that they were ineligible to hold office. For example, Hollande’s former education minister, Najat Vallot-Belkacem, should never have held the post in the first place, in their view, as she is Franco-Moroccan. Similarly, social networks and independent media have revealed the reality of dozens of RN candidates displaying Nazi symbols, responsible for violent actions or making openly racist comments.

In just a few days, Gabriel Attal, the outgoing Prime Minister, had to make a 180° turn. After stigmatising the NFP, criminalising la France insoumise as “anti-Semites refusing to call Hamas terrorists”, after calling for a rejection of “the extremes”, he had to clearly call for the RN candidates and the “threat of the far right” to be defeated everywhere.

The reality of the RN, a force that represents a danger not only to the rights and security of the racialised working classes, but also to the rights and security of women, LGBTQ+ people, democratic freedoms and all social rights, became clear. The profound anti-Semitic and anti-social nature of the RN was forcefully denounced, breaking with a climate of resignation and benevolence distilled in particular by the 24-hour news media in the hands of a few French billionaires.

If Macron and his candidates had appeared to be the only alternative to the RN, this groundswell would never have happened. Moreover, Macron was already positioning himself as the “heroic” president standing up to a government of the RN after having himself created the possibility of such an accession. The dynamic of rejection was made possible by the existence of the NFP, which emerged as an alternative to the RN, and the consolidation of the NFP was itself made possible by the dynamic of the social movement, particularly the CGT trade union federation. On the evening of the announcement of the early parliamentary elections, Sophie Binet, Secretary of the CGT, called for the creation of a popular front against the extreme right. This social mobilisation was reflected in an inter-union joint call from the CGT, CFDT, FSU, Solidaires and UNSA unions for people to vote against the far right.

The movement to vote against the RN candidates on 7 July exceeded all the forecasts and opinion polls, with withdrawals not leading to a drop in turnout and vote transfers largely to the detriment of the RN. The far right is still massively rejected in the country, and a majority of voters were not prepared to let them come to political power.

But even down to 143 MPs, the RN bloc nevertheless represents a very significant increase for this party, by more than 50 MPs, which is below its electoral weight, having only 25% of the seats after having obtained 33% of the vote.

The NFP is therefore the leading group in the National Assembly and together with the various left-wing parties represents around 190 seats. Nothing is settled, however.

The NFP has a legitimate claim to the post of Prime Minister, as the President of the Republic must, in accordance with institutional practice since 1958, appoint a representative of the group that came out on top in the legislative elections. This should not be open to challenge but, as always, Macron does not want to acknowledge his political failures, arguing that the NFP does not have an absolute majority in the Assembly, with the left having only 190 seats. Yet he himself has governed since June 2022 with a relative majority of 250 seats, imposing his policies with decrees and 49-3 articles that avoid a vote in the Assembly.2 

The Macronists would therefore like to stand in the way of the NFP by acting as if they themselves had a majority, by seeking to build, ex nihilo, out of odds and ends, a new fictitious coalition, with variable geometry according to different hypotheses put forward by the leaders of the Macronist party, Ensemble – an alliance of Ensemble (163 seats) with the small group of the LR (Les Républicains, 66 seats), or also the hypothesis of a centre-right and left front without LFI, with socialists and ecologists, allied with the Macronists.

Clearly, Macron is currently blocked in the National Assembly, but there is also a general seizure, due to the institutional functioning of the French Fifth Republic, created to avoid parliamentary coalitions and to weld majority camps around the president, based on the single-member constituency ballot. Since 1958, the Gaullist system has rejected the parliamentary alliances with which the Fourth Republic functioned, imposing majorities built around the presidential party. Then, from 1986 onwards, the system had to evolve, accepting “cohabitations” between a left-wing or right-wing president and opposing parliamentary majorities. But the system has never allowed coalitions formed by several parties negotiating around a government programme, relegating the President of the Republic to a secondary role. Moreover, Macron still imagines organising a pseudo majority in which he would remain the conductor of the orchestra. On Monday morning, he reappointed Gabriel Attal as Prime Minister. Having lost nearly 100 seats, a loss that would have been much greater without the carryover of votes from the left in the second round, Macron would like to appear victorious in these elections without acknowledging his own defeat. We’ll see how this tug-of-war plays out in the days ahead.

The New Popular Front Resists

Until now, the NFP parties have resisted the centrifugal forces that led to the break-up of the NUPES alliance a year ago. This is the result of pressure from the social movement and the threat from the RN. Despite all the efforts of the media devoted to Macron’s regime, the representatives of the four parties forming the backbone of the coalition have been speaking with one voice for the last fortnight and avoiding any discordant initiatives. Clearly, in the coming days, maximum pressure is going to be brought to bear on the leaders of the PS, EELV and even the PCF, and on figures from LFI such as François Ruffin, to try to break this front.

Until now, the leaders of both the PS and EELV have understood that giving in to the siren calls of social liberalism or a dubious agreement with Macron would mean falling back into the ruts that made the far right flourish and led to the crisis of certain Green parties at the European level.

François Hollande’s presence as an NFP deputy has not changed the nature of this. Without being a programme for breaking with capitalism, the NFP programme focuses on social demands on wages, prices and public services, in particular, which are an extension of the mobilisations of recent years and correspond to the demands of the social movement and the needs of the popular classes in the face of the damage caused by neoliberal capitalism. This is what the vast majority of the components of this social and trade union movement have understood, even its most radical components, and it is also the meaning given by the NPA to its participation in the NFP, with the candidacy of Philippe Poutou in the Aude. For reasons of identity, groups like Lutte ouvrière, the POID, Révolution permanente and the NPAR have placed themselves on the margins of the movement in recent weeks, but this did not correspond to a widespread posture in activist circles, even radical circles who understood the urgency and did not mix up the stages. This was the case, for example, with the position of the Union communiste libertaire.

The NFP said that if it were able to form a government, its first decisions would be to raise the minimum wage (SMIC) from 1400 to 1600 euros net, increase civil servants’ wages by 10%, index wages to prices, repeal the pension reform and increased retirement age of 64 imposed by Macron a year ago, introduce a freeze on essential prices, and increase housing benefit by 10%. This would obviously be a positive step.

No one can predict what the weeks ahead will bring in terms of government or new twists and turns.

On the other hand, certain points are important, starting with the maintenance of the Popular Front as a unified political coalition around a political project and a programme to break with the system, even if this programme is limited in its proposals to challenge the system (nothing, among other things, about public ownership of key sectors of the economy). Similarly, there will be no social advances and no resistance to all the blockages that will be put in place by the neoliberal forces if the NFP does not extend beyond the electoral framework to a rally, a political front in the towns and neighbourhoods, particularly where the RN has succeeded in deceiving the popular classes by claiming to be the defender of their living conditions.

The social movements will also have to continue to play a direct political role and help build a common front of political and social forces capable of thwarting the RN’s advance. Of course, the RN’s advance has been halted in the Assembly, but that doesn’t mean that its influence in society has diminished. Anti-fascist action, anti-racist mobilisation and denunciation of the real nature of the RN are essential in the months ahead, but uprooting the RN from its popular base will require a political and social project based on social needs to be built, heard and organised to combat the ideas of neoliberal capitalism and the neoliberal, security-oriented and racist policies on which the far right thrives in France and Europe. If an anti-neoliberal, anti-capitalist alternative does not make itself heard among the popular classes, there will be no lasting barrier to the Rassemblement national.

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• This article was originally published by International Viewpoint on 11 July, 2024.
• The Labour Outlook Editorial Team may not always agree with all of the content we reproduce but are committed to giving left voices a platform to develop, debate, discuss and occasionally disagree.

France's unions call for protests to pressure Macron into naming leftist government


Newly elected CGT union secretary general Sophie Binet attends a demonstration on  in Paris. In an interview Thursday July 11, 2024 with France Inter broadcaster, Binet has called for massive protests against what she says is President Emmanuel Macron's denial of legislative elections results that produced no outright majority in the National Assembly, France's lower house of parliament. 

(AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)© The Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — With just 15 days before the start of the Olympic Games in Paris, a major French union on Thursday called for mass demonstrations and possible strikes to pressure President Emmanuel Macron into “respecting the results” of recent legislative elections and allow a left-wing coalition to form a new government.

France has been at the brink of a governing paralysis since Sunday's vote for the National Assembly resulted in a legislature split among three political groupings: the New Popular Front leftist coalition, Macron’s centrist allies and the far-right National Rally of Marine Le Pen.

The New Popular Front won the most seats but fell short of an outright majority to govern on its own. The alliance's three main parties, the hard-left France Unbowed, the Socialists and the Greens, have urged the president to turn to them to form the new government.

Sophie Binet, the general secretary of the influential hard-left CGT union, said in an interview with French broadcaster LCI Thursday that if Macron did not respect the results of the election, “he risks once again plunging the country into chaos.”

Binet said the president should allow the New Popular Front to form the new government, although the leftist alliance has not yet proposed a candidate for prime minister because of internal divisions. She called on union members to take to the streets and “join rallies to put the National Assembly under surveillance.”

Related video: French left blasts Macron after his open letter (France 24)

Duration 2:11   View on Watch

Binet didn’t rule out strikes during the Olympics. Asked about strikes that could disrupt the biggest event France has ever organized, she said: ‘’At this stage we don’t plan a strike during the Olympic Games. But if Emmanuel Macron continues to throw gasoline cans on the fires that he lighted … ’’

CGT has an open call for potential strikes by public service workers from July through September. The Olympics run July 26-Aug. 11.

Macron has asked his prime minister, Gabriel Attal, to continue handling day-to-day affairs, despite Attal’s offer of resignation. On Wednesday, Macron said he will wait for the country’s political parties to build a broad consensus at the National Assembly before he can decide on a new prime minister, infuriating the leftist coalition and the unions.

The new legislature’s inaugural session is scheduled for July 18.

CGT railway workers called for nationwide rallies on July 18 in front of the prefectures and near the National Assembly in Paris to demand the New Popular Front be allowed to form a government, according to the union’s statement.

The leader of the center-left CFDT union, Marylise Léon, also expressed concern about Macron’s reluctance to name a new prime minister whose government could start addressing workers’ problems.

“The expectations of workers around purchasing power and working conditions have not disappeared,” Léon said in an interview with broadcaster France Inter Thursday. “To strike is sometimes the only way to be able to unblock a situation.”

She said the union would not rule out strikes during the Olympics “in certain sectors if social dialogue breaks down,” including in private security and at the Paris airports. However, she added, “the goal of CFDT is not to block the Olympics.”

Last year, unions organized mass protests to try to stop Macron's government from raising the retirement age.

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The beautiful railway line in Wales at the heart of a row over its future

Councillors have backed a motion calling for more investment in the rural service and a review of service cuts which are planned for December


By Richard Youle

Local Democracy Reporter

 11 JUL 2024

A train on the Heart of Wales Line (Image: Transport for Wales)

Councillors in Carmarthenshire have criticised a reduction of services on a rail line named as one of the best in Europe, fearing its long-term future could be in jeopardy. The Heart of Wales Line runs from Swansea to Llanelli, where the train reverses and then heads north. The 121-mile route winds through Carmarthenshire, Powys and Shropshire, terminating at Shrewsbury. It is popular with tourists and also used by commuters.

Operator Transport for Wales (TfW) has said services will reduce from five to four per day from December this year, along with the removal of two late evening services to Llandovery and Llandindrod Wells. Bus options, said TfW, were being explored.

A motion backed by Carmarthenshire councillors claimed the Heart of Wales Line had suffered from under-investment for decades and that this, along with service reductions, could jeopardise its long-term future. It said the level of rail investment in Carmarthenshire was "in stark contrast" to the money being funnelled into South-East Wales, and it called on the Welsh Government to review TfW's decision.

Independent Llandeilo councillor Edward Thomas, who brought the motion to full council with Plaid Llangadog councillor Andrew Davies, felt it was "the start of a slippery slope". He said: "Residents along the line are experiencing delays, cancellations, no replacement buses and a lack of information." This meant onward connections, he said, were being missed. Cllr Thomas said there were very few days in the last five months when all the trains were on time. He said one constituent described the rolling stock as "clapped-out British Rail 153 Sprinter trains which are over 40 years (old) and have a poor service record". Cllr Thomas said transport professor and consultant Stuart Cole, of the University of South Wales, had also expressed concerns about the service reductions and that a Heart of Wales Line passenger group was lobbying for a reversal of the decision.

Labour councillor Kevin Madge said two years ago the Welsh Government pledged there would be 30% more rail services in Wales by 2025 compared to 2018, benefiting from £800 million of new rolling stock. "More money has gone into the services," he said. Further funding of £125 million in TfW, he said, was announced last autumn. According to Cllr Madge, Wales has received 1.5% of UK rail investment via Westminster despite having 5% of its population, whereas Scotland - with 8% of the population - has had 8% of the investment. He said the motion would be supported by Labour councillors because of the Heart of Wales Line's importance to the area, but he said a fair funding formula was needed and that he hoped things would improve now that Labour was in power in London.

Labour group leader, Cllr Deryk Cundy, said no-one wanted the line to be lost. "A few years ago I understood they were going to expand it - I don't know what's changed," he said. Independent councillor Rob James said rail services had to be reliable, affordable and frequent, and that less frequent services meant fewer passenger numbers. "What the Welsh Government needs to be doing is increasing services, getting people more on the trains and actually impacting the climate change agenda," he said.

Plaid councillor Alun Lenny said Wales was not being funded according to its needs. "Until we get power in Wales over the two great economic levers of energy and natural resources I'm afraid that very little will change, but during this honeymoon period I will give my Labour colleagues the benefit of the doubt," he said.

The Heart of Wales Line was named by travel experts, the Lonely Planet, as among the 10 best train rides in Europe. "Expect a spectrum of scenery, alternating from the sand-edged estuaries of South Wales, via bucolic farming towns and tracts of forest and hill country you probably never knew existed, through to one of England’s prettiest medieval cities," it said.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted the Welsh Government and TfW, which referred to the announcement in April to reduce Heart of Wales Line services - a decision which took into account changing passenger demand. The timetable review is also leading to more services and longer trains along some routes.

Speaking at the time, TfW planning and performance director Colin Lea said: "The proposed new timetables will provide us with more resilience in the winter period and meet changed travel demands post Covid. Nearly every service that TfW operates requires public subsidy, and as a responsible operator it’s imperative for TfW to balance the needs for a regular, robust and reliable service with available budgets to deliver value for taxpayers and more sustainable transport."