French Fries

Macron threatens to cut off social media, Australia pursues France in the Indo-Pacific, Right-wing parties take control of the EU, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni said France is an African colonial power

Jul 06, 2023

UPDATE: Emmanuel Macron is facing a backlash after threatening to cut off social media networks as a means of stopping the spread of violence during periods of unrest. The Élysée Palace insists the French president is not advocating a general blackout, but instead the “occasional and temporary” suspension of platforms as rioters use platforms to organise violence.

As Australia pursues its vision for the future of the Indo-Pacific, it must forge effective partnerships to align priorities, combine capabilities and coordinate action. France – a resident Indo-Pacific power with significant resources, sophisticated statecraft and global reach – is one such partner for Australia. In the broad, Australia should welcome and seek to shape a greater French contribution to the region’s stability, security and prosperity.

First, it was France, but Macron managed to defeat the right-wing. Then Italy and Giorgia Meloni followed by Finland and Greece. Spain could be next. Across Europe, governments are shifting right. In some places, far-right leaders are taking power. In others, more traditional center-right parties are allying with the right-wing fringes once considered untouchable.

In 2019, a video of Giorgia Meloni, Italy's new prime minister, accused France of using a "colonial currency" to "exploit the resources" of African countries. There have been recent tensions between the two countries over how to deal with African migrants. Italy refused to allow a migrant rescue ship to dock, France accused the Italians of "unacceptable behaviour".

Macron cuts social media

By Kim Willsher (edited)

Emmanuel Macron is facing a backlash after threatening to cut off social media networks as a means of stopping the spread of violence during periods of unrest. The Élysée Palace insists the French president is not advocating a general blackout, but instead the “occasional and temporary” suspension of platforms as rioters use platforms to organise violence.

The president’s comments came as ministers blamed young people using social media such as Facebook and Snapchat for organising and encouraging rioting and violence after the fatal shooting of a teenager during a police traffic stop in a Paris suburb last week.

“We need to think about how young people use social networks, in the family, at school, the interdictions there should be … and when things get out of hand we may have to regulate them or cut them off,” Macron told a meeting of more than 250 mayors, whose municipalities were hit by the violence, on Tuesday.

“Above all, we shouldn’t do this in the heat of the moment and I’m pleased we didn’t have to. But I think it’s a real debate that we need to have in the cold light of day,” Macron told the mayors in a video obtained by BFM television.

Fatima Ouassak, co-founder of the Front de Mères (Mother’s Front) collective representing parents in the working-class banlieues, said the issue was a distraction. “It’s a diversion tactic. Instead of debating the issue of police violence … we are diverting to the responsibility of the social media networks and parents,” Ouassak told BFM television. “It’s secondary and about the authorities avoiding their responsibility.”

An Elysée source insisted Macron had “at no moment said he envisaged cutting the network in the sense of a general blackout”. The president had made it clear he wanted a “calm and considered” debate about the role of social media on the recent unrest, the source said.

“The president thinks we should be reflecting about the use of the social media networks and what basis there could be for eventual bans or administrative measures.”Speaking after a ministerial meeting on Wednesday, government spokesperson Olivier Véran said a cross-party committee to look at a modification of a law on cybersecurity currently going through parliament would be set up. Véran said the government had made a “firm request” to social media platforms to take down materials encouraging violence as quickly as possible and remove the anonymity of those possibly breaking the law.

“A young person should know he cannot sit behind his screen and write, organise or do whatever he wants. Anonymity in terms of offences doesn’t exist. You have to understand this can have consequences and the consequences can lead to punishment,” Véran said. Asked if it meant suspending social media, the Véran added: “It could be something like suspending a function, such as geolocalisation.”

The government has battled riots and looting since a police officer fatally shot 17-year-old Nahel M during a traffic stop on 27 June, rekindling longstanding accusations of systemic racism among France’s security forces. A 38-year-old police officer has been officially put under investigation – the French equivalent of being charged – for voluntary manslaughter and is being held in custody.

As France reflects on how to avoid further social turbulence amid accusations of systemic racism in the police and in the wider society, one of the country’s most senior right-wing politicians was accused of “crass racism” by claiming those taking part in the riots had undergone “a regression to their ethnic roots”. Dismissing interior minister Gérald Darmanin’s report to the Assemblée Nationale that 90% of those arrested were French, Bruno Retailleau, who heads the mainstream right Les Républicains party in the Sénat, said this was not “their identity”.

“Unfortunately, for the second and third generations [of immigrants], there is a sort of regression towards their ethnic roots,” he told FranceInfo. Afterwards, Mathilde Panot, parliamentary leader of the hard-left La France Insoumise (LFI – France Unbowed) denounced the remark as “crass racism”. Another LFI MP, Clémentine Autain, added: “these people, oozing racism, dare give lessons about good republican behaviour.”

As the violence appeared to be dropping – with 17 arrests overnight Tuesday, seven in Paris – the transport minister, Clément Beaune, announced public transport services, halted at 9pm to persuade people to stay at home, would return to normal on Wednesday. In the Île-de-France region the damage to buses and trams, several of which were set alight, is estimated at about €20m.

French prosecutors have opened an investigation into the death of a 27-year-old man who was hit by a projectile during riots and pillaging in Marseille on Saturday. The man is believed to have died from a violent shock to the chest from a “flash-ball” used by riot police that led to a cardiac arrest. Flash-ball guns are designed to be non-lethal riot control weapons that do not penetrate the skin. Their use by police in France is disputed as the projectiles have led to the loss of eyes, head injuries and other trauma.

The EU justice commissioner, Didier Reynders, said that violence in France, by some police officers and demonstrators “poses a problem”, […] “It is striking” that a “very high level of violence” was seen in protests in France in recent years over cost of living, pension reform and last week’s police killing of a teen driver” […] “a certain number of police officers … [and] the behaviour of people who have the right to freely protest – that’s a fundamental right – but not to loot shops, to destroy stores, not to destroy public equipment”.

France in the Indo-Pacific

The Australia-France relationship is on a positive trajectory, with greater coordination and cooperation in the Indo- Pacific a core and growing element. However, with frictions from the September 2021 AUKUS announcement still fresh, now is an important time to develop a mature bilateral relationship with a clear understanding of how interests, priorities and capabilities intersect and diverge. As France looks to increase its presence and contribution in the Indo-Pacific, Australia should take a deliberate and active approach to managing risks and seizing on opportunities to work effectively with French counterparts.

There are already substantial ties and areas of mutual coordination, cooperation and interests between Australia and France across three regional theatres: the Pacific, Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. While Australia has a greater all-round presence in the Pacific than France, the balance is more even in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. At the same time, the breadth of Australia-France ties and the complicated nature of managing relationships with both metropolitan France and its Indo-Pacific territories (with varying degrees of autonomy), means that this relationship presents complexities for Australia to navigate.

In terms of the overarching bilateral relationship, the key risks and opportunities for Australia are: continuing to rebuild trust and mutual understanding with France post-AUKUS; developing an understanding of France’s strategic outlook and relative global priorities and how that affects its role in the Indo-Pacific; working with France to encourage a greater European contribution to the Indo-Pacific (especially on infrastructure); and boosting Australia’s capacity to engage France.

In the Pacific, Australia needs to consider greater coordination with France both bilaterally and in the context of other external actors with the aim ensuring
that contributions are complementary. Humanitarian responses are a well-established area of joint work with France, especially in the FRANZ arrangement with New Zealand, that could be further optimised. Meanwhile, Australia must be cognisant of how France is perceived in the Pacific and how this affects Australia’s own priorities – especially around a First Nations Foreign Policy.

While both Australia and France are significant actors in Southeast Asia in their own right, there is less scope for coordination, but Australian officials should be alert to opportunities to coordinate with French colleagues in forums such as the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting and to leverage France’s “third way” stance on strategic competition.

In the Indian Ocean, the positive momentum behind trilateral dialogue between Australia, India, and France is a welcome development to enable greater practical coordination, especially on maritime security. There are also opportunities for Australia to make a greater contribution in the western Indian Ocean with modest resourcing by working in partnership with France to align messaging and cooperate on issues such as maritime domain awareness and disinformation.

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Europe’s right swing radicalises EU

By Politico (edited)

First, it was Italy. Then came Finland and Greece. Spain could be next. Across Europe, governments are shifting right. In some places, far-right leaders are taking power. In others, more traditional center-right parties are allying with the right-wing fringes once considered untouchable.

Elsewhere, hard-right parties are securing more parliament seats and regional offices. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, already under surveillance for suspected far-right extremism, now outpolls Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats and just scored a watershed district election win — an alarming moment for a country conscious of its Nazi past.

The trend, of course, didn’t exactly begin with Italy and far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. But the last year has featured a series of eye-catching results for conservatives. And more could be on the way, as places like Spain and Slovakia seem poised to turn right in upcoming elections.

It’s a development that will inevitably reshape Europe, affecting everything from how climate change is handled, to parental rights, to who is welcomed into the Continent. And with the EU set to elect a new European Parliament next year, the rightward drift could also produce a more conservative Brussels for years to come — a period that will feature critical decisions on things like expanding the EU eastward, trading with China and policing the rule of law in EU countries.

“There has been a convergence of the center right and the far right over the past decade or so,” said Hans Kundnani, a European political analyst at the Chatham House, who traced the broader arc back to the surge of refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war for Europe. The shift, he added, “may have profound consequences for the EU.”

Europe’s shifting political landscape was on display in Brussels this week as EU leaders gathered for their regular summit. At the table was a fresh face — Petteri Orpo, Finland’s new prime minister, who leads the conservative National Coalition Party. His country’s political journey over the last year illustrates the rightward turn that has taken hold in parts of Europe. After four years of a left-leaning, five-party coalition government, voters abandoned Social Democrat Sanna Marin, leading to the establishment of the most right-wing government in Finnish history.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also arrived riding high on an election win. The 55-year-old center-right leader romped home in national elections on Sunday, notching a far bigger majority than his first time around. Spain is going to the polls next month and the country’s main center-right People’s Party (PP), is confident it will win back power after trouncing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s socialist party in local elections last month. As the campaign heats up, Sanchez is warning of a possible tie-up between the PP and the far-right Vox party, hoping the PP’s association with Vox may put off left-leaning, middle-class voters. But a return to power by the PP — as seems likely — would solidify Europe’s right-wing tilt.

“I think we are already seeing the Meloni effect,” […] “on migration, on climate, there has been a move towards the right, undoubtedly,” said one senior EU diplomat. The first signs that Meloni was being embraced, not isolated, was tacit support for her desire to have EU policy focus more on deterring migrants from even coming to Europe. A few months later, centrist Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and center-right European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, the EU’s top executive, were accompanying Meloni on a trip to Tunisia to try to curb migratory flows from the North African country — a show of cross-party unity.

The trip came only hours after EU countries clinched an Italy-friendly agreement on how to process and relocate migrants, which would give Meloni’s government greater leeway to send back rejected asylum seekers. The rightward drift could soon jump to the European Parliament and embolden the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) — already the Parliament’s largest political family. A strong conservative showing may also turn the farther-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group — featuring Meloni and Poland’s nationalist Law and Justice party — into kingmakers, with centrist and center-right lawmakers courting its votes to push their agenda.

That would mirror a growing feature of national politics — the willingness of traditional conservative parties to cozy up to the far right. From Sweden, where a conservative leader gets support from the far-right Sweden Democrats, to Finland, where the right-wing populist Finns Party is in power, more extreme parties are getting a chance to help govern, even if in diluted form. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola was the latest EPP leader to pay homage to Meloni, visiting her at Palazzo Chigi in Rome last week, following similar outreach by Manfred Weber, who helms the EPP.

Elsewhere, Poland’s Law and Justice — a hub of right-wing power in the EU — is leading in the polls ahead of a fall election, while Slovakia is braced for the comeback of populist leader Robert Fico in snap elections scheduled for September. Not all countries are following the trend — centrist governments in Ireland and Lithuania, for example, are facing electoral challenges from the left. And Germany, the EU’s most populous country, is still led by a social democrat. But even there, Olaf Scholz’s grip on power is wobbly, and the rival Christian Democrats and far-right AfD are surging in the polls. That said, any leftward breeze can’t compare — for the moment — to the jet stream headed the other way.

France’s Colonial Currency

BBC News (edited)

The video clip shows Ms Meloni claiming that "50% of everything that Burkina Faso exports ends up in... the French treasury". The video is from an interview given on 19 January 2019 on the private Italian TV channel La 7, when Ms Meloni was an MP and leader of the right-wing party, Brothers of Italy. Ms Meloni holds up a CFA franc bank note, describing it as a "colonial currency" that France prints for 14 African countries which, she claims, it uses to "exploit the resources of these nations". She then holds up a picture of a child working in a gold mine in Burkina Faso and claims that "50% of everything that Burkina Faso exports ends up in... the French treasury".

"The gold that this child goes down a tunnel to extract, mostly ends up in the coffers of the French state." The video clip ends with her saying "the solution is not to take Africans and bring them to Europe, the solution is to free Africa from certain Europeans who exploit it".

However, France does print currency - the CFA franc - for 14 African countries, including Burkina Faso. Participation in this currency is voluntary. The currency was created by France in the mid-1940s to serve as legal tender in its then-African colonies. At the time Ms Meloni made her claim in 2019, France required African countries using the CFA franc to pool 50% of their foreign exchange reserves (not their exports) with two African central banks which then deposited these with the French treasury, in return for a guaranteed exchange rate with the Euro.

They were free to access these reserves if they wanted to and France paid interest while holding them (at 0.75%). France didn't "demand 50% of everything Burkina Faso exports" either. According to World Bank data, France isn't even among the top five destinations for Burkina Faso exports in total value, the leading export being gold. In 2020, it exported nearly 90% of its gold to Switzerland.

In December 2019, reforms to the CFA West African zone - to which Burkina Faso belongs - were announced. This meant the central bank representing these countries no longer had to deposit 50% of their foreign currency reserves in France. France began the process of transferring these reserves back last year, according to news reports.

The IMF said in March this year that the account in France which held them had been closed, and that the Central Bank of West African States (which controls monetary policy for the eight countries in the CFA West Africa zone) now manages the reserves. It is free to deposit these where it chooses. The reforms don't apply to the six countries in the Central African CFA zone.

Critics of the CFA currency arrangement have called it a relic of colonialism, saying it has impeded economic development for the 14 African countries that are part of it. They also argue that they have no say in deciding monetary policies agreed to by European nations in the Eurozone.

An article for the US-based Brookings Institute last year said that while countries using the CFA franc had generally seen lower inflation, the CFA franc arrangement limits their policy options, particularly in dealing with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Other economists have pointed out that annual average GDP growth - the increase in the value of all goods and services produced - of CFA countries and other African economies has been fairly comparable over time.

France defends the currency system as ensuring a "stable economic framework" for the economies that are part of it, and as the currency is pegged to the Euro it says it provides better protection against economic shocks and helps control inflation. And countries are free to leave the zone, it adds.

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