The flag of discord.
Deployed under the Arc de Triomphe to celebrate the start of the French presidency of the European Union, the European flag was the subject of the first controversy in 2022. Its presence under the building, without the French flag, aroused the indignant reactions of three presidential candidates: Marine Le Pen, Éric Zemmour and Valérie Pécresse.
“To
preside over Europe yes, to erase the French identity no!
I solemnly ask Emmanuel Macron to restore our tricolor flag next to that of Europe under the Arc de Triomphe,
”the latter had notably tweeted.
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On RTL, Monday January 3, the candidate LR in the presidential election returned to this controversy. According to her, this debate was "
revealing of three political lines
". That of the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron whose Europe is "
the horizon (...) at the risk of erasing the national identity
". That of "
the extreme right which began to shout 'horror we put the European flag, it must be removed and put back the French flag'
". And finally, his. “
What I'm saying is that the two (flags) are combined. I am a patriot and a European and I want a strong France in a powerful Europe
, ”she explains.
Valérie Pécresse took the opportunity to recall that when Nicolas Sarkozy had chaired the European Union in 2008, the two flags were deployed "
because the two identities combine, and that is our strength
".
"Macron has a problem with the history of France"
Guest of the
RTL-Le Figaro-LCI Grand Jury on
Sunday
, Eric Ciotti, finalist of the LR congress won by Valérie Pécresse, also mentioned this controversy.
For him, forgetting to put the French flag on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier "
is somewhere an offense for all those who have fallen
".
And to add that according to him, Emmanuel Macron
"does not like France"
.
For the presidential candidate, the President of the Republic “
has a problem with the history of France
”.
"
He went to Algeria to say that we had committed crimes against humanity, he went to an Anglo-Saxon media to say that he wanted to deconstruct the history of France, and today, this history of flags
", she laments.
After the controversy, the European flag was finally withdrawn under the Arc de Triomphe, on the night of January 1 to 2.
Sunday, the Elysee denied having accelerated its withdrawal and ensured that the flagging of the Arc de Triomphe was planned only for the days of December 31 and January 1.