By Dr. Halim Gençoğlu The Libya scandal is perhaps the most severe accusation against Sarkozy’s moral integrity. Prosecutors claimed his 2007 campaign received €50 million from Gaddafi’s regime, facilitated by intermediaries such as Ziad Takieddine funds allegedly rewarded with diplomatic favors like Gaddafi’s 2007 Paris visit and arms deals. Evidence such as Libyan diaries, cash transfer records, and witness testimonies ...
France is struck in a deep political and social crisis. Prime Ministers are resigning, losing votes of confidence, while the population is engaged in protests on the streets. We asked Rodrigo Arenas, French member of parliament from the France Insoumise (France Unbowed) on what’s going on. Arenas had indicated that the government crisis would continue, and his statements in the ...
By Ali Rıza Taşdelen The previous French government failed to finalize the 2026 budget and eventually collapsed. The newly formed Lecornu administration now faces the same fundamental challenge. So far, any government formed seems incapable of producing a budget that doesn’t rely on “austerity measures” as the solution. Yet they are up against a massive public outcry. French workers and ...
By Odile Mojon-Cheminade While Germany has been Europe’s economic engine in recent decades, France has traditionally been its political, cultural, and military heart. Political because of the balancing role it used to play, plus as a permanent member of the UN Security Council; cultural because of its universalist vision; and military because of its status as a nuclear power. However, ...
French President Emmanuel Macron and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, spoke by phone for the first time since September 2022. The call took place amidst escalating tensions in the ongoing war in Ukraine and after the “12-day war” between Iran and Israel ended. We asked Odile Mojon-Cheminade, political analyst from the Schiller Institute about the reason for this critical meeting ...
By Ali Rıza Taşdelen Over the past five years, France has seen no major mass movements or widespread protests in response to social and economic crises. The last significant wave of popular mobilization was the Yellow Vests movement, which began in October 2018 and peaked in 2019 with mass demonstrations against pension reform. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021, followed by ...
By Onur Sinan Güzaltan Donald Trump’s efforts to strike a deal with Russia and his parallel policies of distancing himself from the current governments in Europe have accelerated the search for a new direction on the continent. Developments in French politics constitute an important example to understand this European-wide search. France’s polarization reflecting Europe’s uncertainty The current President of France, ...
In the second part of the interview, Jacques Cheminade, the leader of the Solidarity and Progress (Solidarité et Progrès) answered our questions about militarization in France, the latest situation in Syria and Jean-Marie Le Pen. Cheminade emphasizes that solving France’s problems is tied to cooperation with the “Global South” and the “global majority”, as well as breaking free from dependence ...
France has been going through a turbulent period politically, economically, and in terms of parliamentary stability. The fact that the country still hasn’t been able to draft a budget for 2025 is quite telling. With massive debt, austerity measures facing backlash from popular movements like the Yellow Vests, and ongoing struggles to form a stable government, the question of where ...
By Ali Rıza Taşdelen After Donald Trump’s election, European leaders gathered in Budapest on November 7 for the 5th Summit of the European Political Community, established two years ago by Emmanuel Macron. Throughout the summit, the shadow of Trump loomed. During his campaign, Trump declared he would end the war in Ukraine and raise tariffs on European goods. His election ...