The new French government, headed by Michel Barnier and which will be the most conservative of the last 12 years, got underway on Monday in an atmosphere of urgency threatened by an imminent motion of censure by the forces that have not wanted to join it: the New Popular Front (NF), the alliance made up of left-wing parties, and Marine Le Pen’s ultra-National Rally (RN). The general feeling is that it will be brief, there is no time to lose. The ministerial meeting was short and the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, asked for “courage” and “commitment” from the 39 ministers, deputy ministers and secretaries of state sitting around the table in the Elysée. What was relevant, however, was the declaration of intentions of each new minister upon taking possession of his portfolio. The most significant, and most anticipated, was that of the new Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau.
The former leader of the Republicans (LR) in the Senate, elected to replace Gérald Darmanin, launched a harsh and conservative speech on his vision for the portfolio. A quick and direct message to the RN and its electorate. “I will never give in to anything, I will not let any attack or insult pass or tolerate it,” he launched at the start in relation to the clash between the police and the inhabitants of some suburbs of France. “Shame on those who distil hatred towards our law enforcement in their speeches, it is unworthy,” he continued. “We must have the courage to be firm,” he proclaimed, assuring that the French want more order, “order in the streets, order at the borders.”
Retailleau, in case there were any doubts about his political leanings, and between evocations of Prime Minister George Clemenceau (who governed at the beginning of the century), summed it up thus: “I have three priorities: restore order, restore order, restore order. I believe in order, as a condition of liberty. When there is no order, liberty is threatened,” he repeated in the courtyard of the Hôtel de Beauvau, headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior.
The minister dwelt a little longer on the conservative newspaper The Figaroto outline his ideas in his first exclusive interview. On immigration, he was also as clear as the current legal framework allowed. “My conviction is clear, and has been for a long time: immigration, when it is not controlled, is not an opportunity for anyone, neither for France nor for immigrants. The real problem is the number. Too many is too many. Last year, if we count the first residence permits and asylum seekers, France welcomed 470,000 additional foreigners, the equivalent of the city of Toulouse, not counting illegal entries. Who can seriously believe, faced with such an influx, that good integration is possible, when we fail to provide decent housing or adequate education?”
Retailleau, a practising Catholic with a political record that includes his refusal to include the right to abortion in the Constitution – not even Marine Le Pen opposed it – and to same-sex marriage, advocates strict border controls and compares his plan to what is already being applied by “the Danes, the Italians and the Swedes”. “Even the Germans, who are reinforcing their border controls, are now showing firmness on immigration. France cannot be the most attractive country in the field of immigration! My aim is to stop illegal entries and increase exits, especially for clandestine immigrants, because one should not remain in France when one has entered by force. In the coming weeks, I will have the opportunity to present concrete proposals.”
The new minister also warned that he would not tolerate discrimination based on beliefs, especially, he stressed, against the Jewish community. He also assured that the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, had guaranteed him “a complete break” in the approach to security and immigration issues. The problem for Retailleau is that many of the decisions he wants to take will also depend on the Ministry of Justice, in the hands of a left-wing politician like Didier Migaud. One of the first meetings he will hold, he announced, will be with him.
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