The Other Half of the World: Paul Magnette's Views on Nationalism, Immigration, and Macron

2024-01-05 11:58:14

Paul Magnette, mayor of Charleroi, was the guest of France Inter this Friday morning as part of the release of his book “The Other Half of the World” (Editions La Découverte).

A national tribute was paid to Jacques Delors, spiritual father of the modern European Union, this Friday at Les Invalides, in the presence of many political figures, notably the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, one of the leaders of the nationalist camp in Europe.

“I don’t know what Jacques Delors would have thought, but nationalism is the scourge that the European Union is suffering. The far right thrives in all the lands where we have seen jobs disappear, where public services are weakened. It is the cancer of Europe. This is extremely dangerous and worrying. These far-right entrepreneurs understood that there was disarray among the population, in formerly prosperous lands like Wallonia, where competition caused job losses and disarray.

And to continue: “Leaders like Viktor Orban or Marine Le Pen, but also the extreme right in Flanders, exploit this dismay, and the whole responsibility of the left is to provide another response”. Magnette believes that we must not reject Europe but change it so that it protects citizens against unbridled international competition and tax fraud, in order to recreate solidarity.

France Inter
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Criticism of Macron

The president of the PS, candidate for the post of Prime Minister in 2024, also spoke on the immigration law which was adopted in France by the government majority, addressing a challenge to Emmanuel Macron.

“It’s true that Emmanuel Macron’s journey is difficult to follow because we don’t know very well how quickly he follows the direction of the wind, but the way in which he seems to align completely with the proposals of far right is very disconcerting. It offers an ideological, political and moral victory to the far right and it is extremely serious. A few days later, he claimed the heritage of Jacques Delors, social dialogue and socialism. It is still either a form of cynicism or flippancy which is deeply hurtful”.

And to conclude: “Macron completely betrays the trust of the people who voted for him to block the far right. It’s still extremely cruel.”