The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Francois Hollande

  • EU leaders to discuss election fallout in Brussels

    EU leaders to discuss election fallout in Brussels

    European leaders are due to meet in Brussels to discuss the fallout of the recent EU elections, amid growing calls for changes to the union.

    French President Francois Hollande, whose party was beaten by the far right, wants more focus on the economy.

    UK PM David Cameron will try to pull power back from Brussels, after being beaten by the UK Independence Party.

    Despite the rise of anti-establishment parties, pro-European parties still won most votes overall.

    Yesterday’s informal summit is the first opportunity for all 28 leaders to discuss the way forward after the game-changing European Parliament elections.

    Many of those there will have faced a tough few days at home.

    Francois Hollande has described his domestic results as “painful”. The far-right National Front stormed to victory with a preliminary 25% of the vote, pushing Mr Hollande’s Socialists into third place.

    Mr Hollande – who has always been a champion of the EU – told French TV the union had become “remote and incomprehensible”, and that it had overcome the crisis in the eurozone “but at what price? An austerity that has ended up disheartening the people”.

    Mr Hollande said that at Tuesday’s meeting he would “reaffirm that the priority is growth, jobs and investment”.

    But National Front President Marine Le Pen said her party would use its electoral mandate to “defend France” and fight “crazy measures like votes for immigrants”.

    The BBC’s Matthew Price in Brussels says she made a direct challenge, not just to French politicians, but to Brussels too – saying it must listen to the people, and that the French had to protect their nation.

    Mr Cameron, whose Conservative party lost seven seats in the European Parliament, said it was clear voters were “deeply disillusioned” with Europe and that the message had been “received and understood”.

    In Germany, Angela Merkel – whose conservative Christian Democratic Union won a comfortable 35% of the vote – said it was now up to the established parties to win voters back by focusing on “improving competitiveness, on growth and creating jobs”.

    Despite the unprecedented Eurosceptic gains across the Union, Jose Manuel Barroso, outgoing president of the European Commission, insisted that the pro-EU blocs still had “a very solid and workable majority”.

     

  • France clamps down on tax evaders

    France clamps down on tax evaders

    THE French government plans to ease penalties on firms that come clean on taxable undeclared funds, the Finance Ministry has said, adding that a similar measure is targeting individuals reaps windfall gains.

    President Francois Hollande’s government is clamping down on tax evasion as it seeks to bring its public deficit in line with an European Union (EU)-agreed limit of three per cent of national income by next year, a target economists consider extremely difficult to meet.

    The new measure for companies would ease interest payments on taxes declared late, according to a Finance Ministry document laying out its strategy against tax fraud.

    “The penalties would not be the subject of discussions or negotiations,” Budget Minister Christian Eckert told journalists. “They will be subject to very clear rules as is the case with individuals’ assets.”

    The government has recovered 764 million euros ($1.04 billion) since it offered last year to cut fines and penalties on individual taxpayers with undeclared assets abroad who come clean. More is expected as other taxpayers come forward.

    “We can reasonably count on an additional 1 billion euros which can be used in 2014 … to finance new measures,” Finance Minister Michel Sapin said.

     

     

    The Finance Ministry now expects 1.8 billion euros in gains from taxpayers previously undeclared assets this year, up from 800 million euros flagged in the 2014 budget.

    The extra cash will be used to finance one billion euros in tax exemptions to low-income households announced in the run-up to Sunday’s European parliament elections.

    Taxpayers with cash stashed in Switzerland have made up 80 percent of the cases that have been regularized. Luxembourg followed with seven percent.

    Switzerland’s bank secrecy is gradually eroding away as foreign governments increasingly put pressure on the country to share information about their taxpayers who hold funds there.

    Last year, the government recovered 10 billion euros from cracking down on all forms of tax fraud, 1 billion euros more than the previous year.

  • Hollande protests: 250 arrested, 19 police officers injured

    Hollande protests: 250 arrested, 19 police officers injured

    Hundreds of arrests were made after 17,000 hit the streets of Paris to protest about President Francois Hollande’s leadership.

    Nineteen police officers were injured after what had been a peaceful demonstration turned violent, police said.

    Clashes erupted as the demonstration came to an end. Some of the protesters wearing ski masks and hoods threw bottles, firecrackers, and iron bars at police, local media reported.

    Interior Minister Manuel Valls condemned the violence “by individuals, varied groups from the extreme and ultra-right, whose only goal is to create unrest”.

    The number of detentions and injuries is higher than previous protests against Mr Hollande, whose handling of the economy has caused anger in France.

    Some 50 associations were involved in the initial protest, including conservative and far-right groups. But many of the larger groups opposed to his policies avoided the demonstration.

    The protests come as France’s former first lady Valerie Trierweiler visited India on her first public engagement since Mr Hollande announced on Saturday that he was splitting up with her following allegations he was having an affair with actress Julie Gayet.

    Mrs Trierweiler, a career journalist, travelled to Mumbai to fulfil a long-standing commitment to the trip highlighting the plight of malnourished children.

    She was pictured visiting a hospital paediatric ward where she cuddled and kissed children while speaking with mothers about nutrition, but did not mention her relationship with Mr Hollande.

    Ms Trierweiler was hospitalised last week with what aides described as shock following a tabloid’s publication of photos it said proved her husband was having an affair.

    Trierweiler’s chief of staff, Patrice Biancone, said that her office as first lady would be formally ended tomorrow.

    Asked about her future, she said: “I’ve got time to reflect. I’ve still got a few more years to live.”

     

  • Jonathan arrives Paris for peace summit

    Jonathan arrives Paris for peace summit

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday arrived in Paris, France, to join other world leaders participating in a summit on peace and security in Africa.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the president and his entourage arrived at a Military Airforce Base in Paris at about 10.30am.

    Jonathan was accompanied by the First Lady, Dame Patience and some Presidential Aides.

     

    He was received at the airport by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Nurudeen Mohammed, and the Nigerian Ambassador to France, Mr. Hakeem Suleiman.

    NAN reports that no fewer than 50 Heads of State and Government are participating in the Elysee Palace Summit being hosted by President Francois Hollande of France.

    The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, heads of European institutions and leaders of Africa’s sub-regional and continental organisations such as the African Union and ECOWAS are also participating in the summit.

    The summit is scheduled to discuss peace and security in Africa, economic partnership, sustainable development and climate change.

    Hollande and Mrs. Valerie Trierweiler are billed to host all heads of delegation to the summit and their spouses to a state dinner.

     

     

  • Jonathan, others invited to Paris summit

    Jonathan, others invited to Paris summit

    The French President, François Hollande, has invited many African presidents for the December 6 to 7 summit on peace and security in Africa, holding in Paris.

    PANA reported the summit on peace and security in Africa on Wednesday.

    The invited Presidents are – Goodluck Jonathan (Nigeria), Boni Yayi (Benin), Blaise Compaoré (Burkina Faso), Pierre Nkurunziza (Burundi), Paul Biya (Cameroon), José Pereira Neves (Cape-Verde) and Dr Ikililou Dhoinine (Prime Minister of the Comoros).

    Others are – Denis Sassou-Nguesso (Congo Republic), Joseph Kabila (Democratic Republic of Congo), Alassane Ouattara (Côte d’Ivoire), Ismail Guelleh (Djibouti), Hailemariam Desalegn (Ethiopian Prime Minister) and Ali Ondimba (Gabon).

    Also expected to attend are – John Mahama (Ghana), Alpha Condé (Guinea), Teodoro Mbasogo (Equatorial Guinea), Dr. Motsoahae Thabane (Prime Minister of Lesotho), Helen Johnson-Sirleaf (Liberia), Ali Zeidan (Libyan Prime Minister).

    Others are Ibrahim Keita (Mali), Mohammed VI (King of Marocco), Navinchandra Ramgoolam (Mauritius Prime Minister), Mohamed Abdel-Aziz (Mauritania) and Armando Guebuza (Mozambique).

    Presidents Hifikepunye Pohamba (Namibia), Mahamadou Issoufou (Niger), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Macky Sall (Senegal), James Michel (Seychelles), Dr Ernest Bai Koroma (Sierra Leone), Hassan Mohamoud (Somalia), Salva Mayardit ( South Sudan), Barnabas Sibisiso (Swaziland), Jakaya Kikwete (Tanzanian Prime Minister), Idriss Itno (Tchad), Faure Gnassingbe (Togo) and Moncef Marzouki (Tunisia) would also attend the summit.

    The Presidents of South Africa, Algeria and Angola will be represented by their senior government officials while Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Yahya Jammeh (Gambia) and Issayas Afewerki (Eritrea) would not attend, even though they were invited.

     

     

  • CAR crisis to dominate key France-Africa summit

    •As France sends more troops

    Some 40 African leaders gather in Paris this week for a French-led summit on improving security in the impoverished and unstable continent following France’s military mission in Mali and a new one in the Central African Republic.

    The biggest international summit by France’s Socialist President Francois Hollande since he took power is aimed at helping Africa tackle its security problems on its own with less and less Western backing from former colonial masters.

    It comes against the backdrop of French plans to send troops to the Central African Republic and during a time when Paris, which has thousands of troops garrisoned in Africa, is being dragged into action while it is trying to reshape its relations with the continent.

    The two-day summit starting Friday will be dominated by the latest unrest in the Central African Republic (CAR), where clashes between armed Muslim and Christian groups have raised fears of sectarian massacres.

    France has called a mini-summit on the CAR crisis on Saturday after the Africa conference and UN chief Ban Ki-moon and officials from the European Union are due to attend.

    The mini-summit will take place after the UN Security Council votes on France’s plan to deploy about 1,000 soldiers to take on an active fighting role alongside a flagging African-led “stabilisation mission” in CAR.

    The African force for CAR aims to have 2,500 troops but it has been hampered by a lack of funds, arms and training.

    Meanwhile some 200 French troops have arrived, with another 500 expected imminently.

    Some former rebel forces have reportedly been leaving the capital, Bangui, as the French troops arrived in the city.

     

    More than 10% of the 4.6 million population have fled their homes since Michel Djotodia seized power in March.

    He is the country’s first leader from the minority Muslim community. Muslim-Christian sectarian attacks have led to warnings of a genocide.

    Police vehicle in Bangui Bangui is relatively peaceful compared to the rest of the country

    CAR is rich in minerals but has suffered numerous coups, mutinies and conflicts since independence from France in 1960, leaving most of its people in poverty.

  • Freed French hostages leave Niger

    Four Frenchmen held hostage in the Sahara desert by al Qaeda-linked gunmen for three years left Niger on a French government plane on Wednesday morning.

    The men, who were kidnapped in 2010 while working for French nuclear group Areva and a subsidiary of construction group Vinci in northern Niger, were freed on Tuesday after secret talks.

    A Reuters’ correspondent at Niamey airport said the four men boarded the jet with two French ministers, including Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, dispatched to pick them up.

    “I am very happy. It was difficult, the ordeal of a lifetime,” said Thierry Dol, one of the freed men.

    Fabius said the men were in a state of shock, having been isolated for so long. “They slept well, but on the floor as they are not yet able to sleep on mattresses,” he said.

    The men’s release gave Francois Hollande a boost a day after a poll showed he had become the most unpopular French president on record.

    No details have been given on the circumstances of the quartet’s release but Niger’s President Mohamadou Issoufou said they had been retrieved from northern Mali.

    Thousands of French troops were dispatched to Mali’s desert north earlier this year to prevent Islamists and criminal gangs operating in the zone who occupied the region in 2012 from extending their reach further south.

     

  • French Open final hit by anti-gay marriage protest

    French Open final hit by anti-gay marriage protest

    French Open organisers defended their security arrangements after anti-gay marriage protesters, one letting off a flare and running on court, briefly interrupted the final between Spaniards Rafa Nadal and David Ferrer on Sunday.

    A police source told Reuters that seven people were formally detained on Sunday night, after the showpiece match was disrupted and protests broke out elsewhere at Roland Garros in Paris.

    Five others were released after initial questioning.

    A group called “Hommen” claimed responsibility for the protests on social-networking sites Facebook and Tumblr, describing themselves as “standard-bearers of the resistance against gay marriage”.

    French President Francois Hollande last month signed into law a bill allowing same-sex marriage, amid a series of large and sometimes violent demonstrations.

    Security guards were called into action during the final when two bare-chested men stood up in one of the front rows, at the end of the sixth game of the second set.

    One protester, wearing a white face mask, let off a flare and ran onto the court towards Nadal.

    He was brought down by a member of security staff before being dragged out with his accomplice, who did not get the chance to step onto the court.

    Earlier, four other protesters were evicted from the stadium by security, while six were removed from the neighbouring Court Suzanne Lenglen– where Legends matches were taking place.

    They were holding banners marked “Hollande Resign!” and accusing the government of trampling on the rights of children.

    “Twelve people have tried to disrupt the match. They have been caught by the security staff of the tournament and been handed over to the police,” a police source, who declined to be named, said.

    “They are being questioned by the police.”

    Tournament Director, Gilbert Ysern told reporters: “This kind of thing is regrettable but it has been taken care of remarkably by our security staff.

    “I apologise to the two players.

    “At the time, you are scared but we were quickly reassured. These people are good-for-nothings.”

    Nadal’s coach and uncle, Toni Nadal, told reporters he was not scared but runner-up Ferrer joked that his opponent had been affected.

    “It’s funny, Rafa was scared a little bit,” a smiling Ferrer said.

    “It’s strange but I did not lose my focus.”

    The first same-sex marriage was celebrated in Montpellier on May 29.

    This is not the first time the French Open final has been interrupted by a court invader. Four years ago, a fan tried to put a hat on Roger Federer’s head during his victory over Sweden’s Robin Soderling.

  • Hunt for French soldier’s attacker

    French police are hunting a man who attacked a soldier on patrol with two colleagues in the La Defense business district of Paris on Saturday evening, BBC reports.

    Private First Class Cedric Cordier was approached from behind and stabbed in the neck with a small-bladed knife.

    Defence Minister Jean Yves Le Drian told reporters that he had been targeted because of his profession.

    But President Francois Hollande refused to make any direct link with the murder of a soldier in London on Wednesday.

    Two men arrested on suspicion of murder at the scene of the London attack remain in custody in hospital in a stable condition. Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale were shot and wounded by police.

    On Saturday, British police arrested three other men on suspicion of conspiracy to murder the soldier, Drummer Lee Rigby, who was not on duty. A sixth man was arrested on Thursday.

    Meanwhile, the Kenyan government denied allegations that its security forces had abused Mr. Adebolajo, insisting he had never been there.

    Photographs of him in a courtroom in Kenya more than two years ago have been published. He is alleged to have been arrested for seeking training from the Islamist militant group, al-Shabab, in Somalia.

    In Saturday’s attack in Paris, Pfc Cordier was on patrol with colleagues from the 4e Regiment de Chasseurs de Gap and police officers at La Defense’s metro and train station, when he was approached from behind and stabbed in the neck with a knife or a box-cutter.

     

  • France legalizes gay marriage

    France legalizes gay marriage

    France’s president has signed into law a controversial bill making the country the ninth in Europe, and 14th globally, to legalise gay marriage.

    On Friday, the Constitutional Council rejected a challenge by the right-wing opposition, clearing the way for Francois Hollande to sign the bill, BBC reports.

    He said: “I have taken [the decision]; now it is time to respect the law of the Republic.”

    The first gay wedding could be held 10 days after the bill’s signing.

    But Parliamentary Relations Minister Alain Vidalies told French TV he expected the first ceremonies to take place “before July 1”.

    Mr. Hollande and his ruling Socialist Party have made the legislation their flagship social reform since being elected a year ago.

    After a tortured debate, the same-sex marriage and adoption bill was adopted by France’s Senate and National Assembly last month.

    The bill was quickly challenged on constitutional grounds by the main right-wing opposition UMP party of former president Nicolas Sarkozy.

    But the Constitutional Council ruled on Friday that same-sex marriage “did not run contrary to any constitutional principles,” and that it did not infringe on “basic rights or liberties or national sovereignty.”

    It said the interest of the child would be paramount in adoption cases, cautioning that legalising same-sex adoption would not automatically mean the “right to a child.”