HOT MONTH OF JUNE

June 2016 was a memorable month in France, and not for the best of reasons.

FLOODS

Zouave at Pont de l'Alma

It started with severe floods that caused great hardship and extensive material damage to numerous départements after weeks of incessant rain. Four lives were lost and 24 people were injured. In Paris the Seine rose to a high of 6.10 meters, second highest ever measured, overflowing its banks, closing many roads and underground garages, as well as the Louvre and Quai d'Orsay museums which hurriedly moved their treasures from lower floors. The famous Zouave, the statue flanking the Pont de l'Alma by which Parisians measure the crest of the Seine, was immersed nearly up to his waist. The Chateau de Chambord became an island, inaccessible to visitors, and many small towns and villages were cut off by floods, forcing the evacuation of all inhabitants.


EURO 2016

On June 10th, before all floodwaters had receded, the month-long Euro 2016 football championship opened at the Stade de France north of Paris (with a four-day strike of Air France/KLM pilots starting on opening day) amid heavy security and a terrorism threat. French security forces (police, gendarmes and military), on red alert throughout the continuing state of emergency, are being assisted by a contingent of German riot police as well as private security guards at some of the match venues in ten different host cities.

"Fans" in Marseilles

It was not enough to prevent bloody clashes between English and Russian football fans in Marseilles, when Russian hooligans took on their drunken English counterparts in the Old Port area where things quickly turned violent and riot police had to use dogs, tear gas and water cannons to break up the fights. Bottles, rocks, and chairs were used as projectiles and opponents were viciously beaten when caught. In all, 35 people were injured, and three English fans remain hospitalized in serious condition, one with brain damage. The violence boiled over into the match (score 1-1), where Russian fans threw flares and charged into the English section, sending the English fleeing. Witnesses have reported that the Russians were very well organized and clearly came to fight, easily overwhelming the English who had been drinking all day prior to the evening match. Police detained 63 people, three Russians were given jail sentences for violence against English fans and 20 were expelled from France. Police were given the power to ban alcohol at and near future high-risk matches.

Following these disturbances the UEFA has handed Russia a suspended disqualification from the Euro 2016 and a €150,000 fine for "the offences of crowd disturbance, use of fireworks and racist behavior inside the Velodrome stadium in Marseilles" on June 11. Any further incidents of crowd disturbance inside the grounds at future Russian matches will see the suspension lifted with immediate effect of the disqualification.

It is a sad day when a popular sports contest is completely overshadowed by violent incidents that cause serious bodily harm and leave a trail of destruction, while extensive media coverage of this violence displaces the reportage of the actual matches. Moreover, an overworked and thinly stretched police force could have been put to better use than battling overheated crowds of fans in Marseilles for three days in a row, especially during the state of emergency. 

POLICE UNDER PRESSURE

President pinning Légion d'Honneur to caskets

Aside from the frequent charge of police brutality at instances of crowd control, the police corps has been badly affected by a recent murder in their midst. On June 13, Jean-Baptiste Salvaing (42), a young police commander in the Yvelines area near Paris, was stabbed to death in front of his own house by an Islamist extremist. The attacker then entered the house and killed the officer's partner, Jessica Schneider (36), an administrative officer, by cutting her throat, leaving their 3-year-old son unharmed. Before being shot to death by police several hours later, the terrorist, 25-year-old Larossi Abballa, posted a message on Facebook saying he had killed the infidel police couple by knife during Ramadan, as instructed by ISIS to whom he had pledged allegiance. Abballa was known to police and had been radicalized in jail, but he appeared to pose no immediate threat according to the national-security police who had him under surveillance.

Jean-Baptiste Salvaing and Jessica Schneider

A deeply shaken but ramrod contingent of police officers attended the homage to the victims at the Préfecture in Versailles where President Hollande awarded them a posthumous Légion d'Honneur, calling them everyday heroes who sought no glory and simply did their duty in dangerous times. A number of red-eyed colleagues of the popular couple were overcome by emotion and had to be led away. President Hollande, aware that some 500 officers have been injured in the confrontations of the past months and recognizing the vulnerability of police in the face of today's extremists, declared that henceforth police officers will be allowed to keep their weapon when off-duty and that new rules will guarantee anonimity to those carrying out arrests.

MORE DISTURBANCES

This tragedy did not stop the CGT union from holding another demonstration in Paris on June 14th against the new labor law that is currently winding its way through the Senate for a final vote on July 25th. After costly actions such as blocking oil refineries and nuclear-energy centers in May, the CGT, joined by six other labor unions, claims that one million people participated this time, while local authorities put the number closer to 80,000. As always, outside rioters infiltrated this march which degenerated quickly into violent attacks against government buildings, banks, restaurants and anything with large windows at street level, including the Necker Children's Hospital where 15 bay windows were shattered and extensive damage was done to the ground floor. This time, a red line had been crossed and the hospital filed suit.

Casseurs at work

Even though most violent acts are committed by hooligan-type rioters ("casseurs") who mingle with protest marchers for the sole purpose of destroying property and provoking the police, it is near impossible to charge them with specific acts since they are careful to cover their heads with hoods or balaclavas. Following the hospital incident the government blamed the march organizers for allowing hooligans to join, while the organizers blame the government whose job it is to police these events. In the June 14 CGT march, 29 police officers and 11 demonstrators were injured, while 18 rioters, including two Germans, were arrested and all but two of them sentenced.

Martinez (L) and El Khomri

Given the increasing violence and the hostility of the demonstrators toward the police, the government then threatened to ban any future demonstrations if public safety cannot be guaranteed. The announcement was met with outrage from the extreme left at this denial of democracy, while the right responded mostly in favor. A private meeting at the Elysée Palace between Labor Minister Myriam El Khomri and CGT leader Philippe Martinez failed to bring the parties any closer, and Martinez immediately called for two more days of demonstrations on June 23 and June 28. In response, Minister of the Interior Bernard Cazeneuve proposed a "static" demonstration at the large Place de la Nation which is easier to control, but the CGT considers that an interference with their rights and counter-proposed two somewhat shortened marches through Paris.

[FLASH:  The government just announced that the permit for tomorrow's march has been withdrawn and the demonstration prohibited for lack of police.  6/22 at 11:00 A.M.]

Driven by their sense of entitlement and their perceived power over a weak government, the strikers want what they consider their due, regardless of a difficult context. No state of emergency, no Euro 2016, no threat of terrorism or an extenuated police force will deter them.
This is no negotiation, it is a temper tantrum. 

As the upcoming Tour de France looms (July 2-24) with its attendant security challenges, the Air France/KLM pilots have just announced another four-day strike for June 24-27.  Sigh...

FEAR AND LOATHING ON THE STREETS OF FRANCE

FEAR AND LOATHING

On this perfect day in the holiday-sprinkled month of May, my view from a sunny terrasse in the old city center is one of peace and well-being all around:  it's warm but not hot, the severely cut-back plane trees of winter are sprouting their lush foliage again, soon to form the cooling green canopy over the beautiful Cours Mirabeau where people-watching while sipping a drink at a sidewalk cafe is one of the many simple pleasures of this city of Aix-en-Provence. From a quiet corner of my favorite café, enjoying a little muscat, all seems well with the world, at least this world I have chosen for myself. And yet…

 

Just beyond earshot lurks la gronde, the muffled sound of one of the longest protests I have known here that shows no sign of abating. What is it that seems to motivate the marchers not to give an inch this time, and instead harden their position against President Hollande who has said he would never back down from the El-Khomri labor law that he passed by decree after two months of negotiations and more than 400 amendments? Students were the first to take to the streets in protest against the use of the "undemocratic" article 49.3 of the French Constitution that allows a law to be passed without parliamentary approval. Their Nuit Debout movement soon grew to include adults and finally seven labor unions of various political stripes. Today the CGT, biggest and oldest of the unions, with an important membership in the public sectors of transport and energy, has taken the lead in demanding the recall of the hated new labor law, backing those demands with blockades of oil refineries and walkouts at nuclear power plants. Result after 8 days of action: 20% of all gas stations are dry and electricity production is down by 7%. Collateral damage: disruption of rail and air traffic, hotel and holiday cancellations, and growing violence between police and demonstrators with victims on both sides.

Even though the CGT represents only 8% of French employees, it speaks for all those who fear the new labor law. This includes a majority of the French, who instinctively resist any change even though many of them would agree that labor reform is necessary and overdue. Spurred on by this public support and aware of the unpopularity of a beleaguered President Hollande facing re-election in 2017, the CGT has vowed to keep the strikes going until the new labor law is withdrawn, while Prime Minister Manuel Valls has declared that such withdrawal is simply out of the question. Who will be the first to blink?

After it moves through the Senate, the El Khomri law will return to the National Assembly on June 14 for final deliberation and adoption by the end of July. The government, weakened by a significant defection in its own socialist party, has just given a timid hint at the possibility of re-discussing a particular point of the already watered-down law while categorically refusing to repeal it or alter its intent. The CGT union wants nothing less than a total retraction. For now it's a standoff, with more travel disruptions and shutdowns announced for the coming week.

Myriam El Khomri, Minister of Labor

If the strikes continue they are bound to affect the month-long European football championship starting on June 10th, which is expected to draw two million visitors and world-wide press coverage. Police and security forces have been on high alert since the November terrorist attacks in Paris and the state of emergency will be maintained until after the UEFA Euro Cup. Securing the various match venues will be a challenge for the police, and handling simultaneous strikes would be an added problem for the government.

If, however, the labor dispute is not resolved when schools begin to close in June and millions of people drive south for the summer holidays, public support of the strikers is likely to turn into opposition. Unions know that demonstrations and holidays are incompatible. The government clearly hopes for a public turnaround against the strikers.

Introducing reforms in France has always been difficult and at least three earlier governments have also failed in their attempts at reform. The problem then and now: the generous social benefits that France can no longer afford today. Originated or expanded in the post-World War II period of uninterrupted growth that lasted 30 years and made the country rich, the welfare state bloomed and gave birth to universal health care, generous family allowances, paid vacations that grew from two weeks in 1946 to five weeks in 1982, and more. As the economy started slowing down with the oil crisis of 1975, and the burden of these public expenditures grew as a percentage of France's GDP, efforts were made to control and reduce some of these benefits. The violent protests that followed made it clear that the original "acquired rights" were considered life-long entitlements and would not be relinquished without a fight. Touche Pas! became the battle cry of the well-protected French workers, deaf to the government's pleas for greater competitiveness, and ill-disposed to make way for young job seekers who are strung along on short-term contracts, if they are lucky, with little hope for a career. Companies are not hiring longer-term employees because it is too expensive to fire them. Hence the greater flexibility in the hiring and firing rules of the new law, aimed at job creation and reducing unemployment which stagnates at 10% (24% for youngsters).

Even though the past two months have seen a slight decrease in the unemployment level suggesting that his employment policies may begin to bear fruit, Hollande's approval rating remains at an all-time low and his next move will be closely watched. If he holds firm against the unions, he may gain support from the center right that favors the labor reforms, but if he gives in to the CGT he will lose the last bit of credibility he has.

May the next few weeks bring him counsel.

And may the violent protests soon calm down, the stinking tire burnings stop, the blockades be lifted and cool heads prevail…   
Oops, I must have dozed off and started dreaming.

In times of social upheaval the French tend to seek refuge in the long-gone days of France's grandeur, still present in her glittering palaces and halls of mirrors that reflect a thousandfold her kings' power and achievements, and the reach of French refinement and culture across the world. As if desperately trying to find answers in this glorious past they face the brash new world of money with a certain trepidation, ill equipped to battle it out for market share and economic dominance. They would rather be covered with esteem than with money.

Where in America being rich may be seen as a sign of success, in France it is rather seen as a sign of greed. Having pots of money is "not done" here. It will be up to the next generation to change this perception, while the older ones make the best of what is left of a welfare state that finds itself increasingly under pressure.

In the meantime, this beautiful country still offers an enviable quality of life today; let's hope it lasts.  And, of course, we'll always have Versailles.

Palais de Versailles

NUIT DEBOUT; HOLLANDE; NAVAL VICTORIES; HIGH TIMES FOR HIGH TECH

Nuit Debout, Place de la République

A new wind is blowing across the land and it is blowing at night. Nuit Debout (Up All Night) is a movement that started in Paris on March 31 as a protest against a pending new labor law (El Khomri) that would make hiring and firing easier for companies and potentially affect job opportunities, especially for the young. Those young walked out of high schools and universities and were soon joined by working people who would come and demonstrate after work. As they grew in numbers they began to occupy large public squares such as the Place de la République, where reporters and television cameras relayed their every claim and protest to the prime-time evening newscasts.  

Interestingly, many of these young protesters are at least ten years away from their first job, and their anger over a proposed new labor law looks like a pre-emptive strike against a reduced job market when they finish school. Once in a while they are joined by musicians, and to some it may look like they are out having fun at night, happy to skip school for a good cause, and soon to fade away like so many protests before. But against all expectation, the movement did not run out of steam and people continue to gather nightly even after hooligans tried to disrupt the protest by throwing rocks at police, breaking windows and setting fires. So Nuit Debout continues and has now spread to other cities, although the tone is shifting from protest to gabfest where anyone present can speak up and be heard for three minutes. So far, so unthreatening.

And yet, an undercurrent is being felt that is reminiscent of the Stéphane Hessel effect of a few years ago. In late 2010 German-born and French-nationalized Stéphane Hessel, concentration camp survivor, resistance fighter, former French diplomat who helped draft the Declaration of Human Rights, and man of letters, published Indignez-Vous! (Time for Outrage!), a pamphlet-sized book that was an instant success and sold 4.5 million copies in 35 countries. I attended his conference in Aix-en-Provence in October 2010 where the then 93-year-old Hessel brought the audience to its feet with a passionate call for non-violent action against growing social and economic inequality worldwide. The key words were Resistance and Human Dignity.

Stéphane Hessel

Though this was no call for revolution, the seed was planted and sparked the Occupy Wall Street movement in the US and Los Indignados in Spain. Hessel died in 2015 at age 95, but his message of peaceful protest against the indignities of today's neoliberal market-driven system still resonates in the left-wing Spanish movement Podemos, a direct outgrowth of Los Indignados.  Podemos (We Can) was founded in March 2014 and today is Spain's second-biggest party, with 69 seats in Parliament. Last week its leader, political scientist Pablo Iglesias, turned down an invitation to form a coalition government with Prime Minister Rajoy's center-right People's Party. Even if Podemos does not join the coalition, its rapid growth is evidence that sustained protest may well spawn a political party with a real voice in government.

Pablo Iglesias, leader of Podemos

It is highly unlikely that the French Nuit Debout movement will grow into a political force, but the extreme dissatisfaction with President François Hollande (whose approval rating is down to 14 percent in the polls) is such that this cannot be excluded. Even his own camp is divided, and Economics Minister Emmanuel Macron has just announced in an interview that he is dissatisfied with today's Socialist Party. Earlier this month he founded his own movement, En Marche, and rumor has it that he may run for the presidency in 2017.

Following the defeat in Parliament of his bill to revoke French citizenship from convicted terrorists, and his current difficulties in getting the El Khomri labor law adopted, President Hollande went on national television on April 14 for a "Dialogue with Citizens". In a 2-hour interview by two journalists and four citizens, the dialogue soon turned into an exercise of self-justification and a detailed listing of his minor successes. Nothing about the high rate of unemployment which he claims to be combatting with a number of measures (derisively referred to as "mesurettes" in the press) that are clearly not working. And nothing in the way of concrete answers to the four citizens about their particular concerns (bloated paperwork, jihadism at home, rise of the right). To one and all, Hollande's response was: things are better today than when I took over. "Are you joking?" said one of the journalists.

In the stuttering manner that is his style Hollande failed to reassure anyone, and the next day the newspapers pulled no punches, calling this missed opportunity his Waterloo, a catastrophe for the socialists, a gain for the extreme-right Front National, and proof that he cannot be re-elected in 2017.
If today he is widely seen as a failed president at home, he nevertheless has a strong record abroad.

He has never looked more presidential than in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo killings in January 2015, when he gathered dozens of foreign leaders around him in a solemn march against religious extremism. Similarly, he found the right tone in his response to the Paris attacks of last November and immediately launched French airstrikes against ISIS strongholds in Raqqa, Syria.
In 2013, he was the only European leader to support an international military strike in Syria (which had to be aborted when the US and the UK backed out), and that same year, he led a successful military intervention against Al Qaida in Mali, where he maintains a military force to secure the Sahel region.

Pity that this is not perceived as strong leadership at home, where he continues to be seen as weak and out of his depth. Fighting wars is simpler than passing reforms in France.

So where is the good news?
Try this: 

Shortfin Barracuda submarine

−  Just this morning it was announced that French shipbuilder DCNS has won a $40 billion contract to build 12 submarines for the Australian Navy, beating bids from Germany and Japan. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the news and said that the Shortfin Barracuda subs will be built in Adelaide.

− Earlier this month the Italo-Swiss shipping company MSC Croisières ordered four large cruise ships from shipbuilder STX France in Saint Nazaire for a total cost of €4 billion. This in addition to an earlier €3 billion order by MSC for four passenger ships, i.e. a total commitment by MSC of €7 billion in two years.

−Today STX is putting the finishing touches on the Harmony of the Seas, largest cruise ship in the world, built for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. It is expected to be delivered next month. With a full order book and commitments until 2025, things are going swimmingly for STX France.

− Perhaps more surprising is that France is experiencing a boom in high-tech startups. The difficult job market at home has caused a brain drain of young people to banking jobs in London and elsewhere, but others have been motivated to start their own business, especially in new technologies.

This year, the important annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas counted no less than 128 French high-tech companies, and France is today "the high-tech pioneer in Europe" according to John Chambers, CEO of Cisko, who is ready to invest €200 million in French startups. Microsoft's CEO agrees and is investing €83 million in French startups, while Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is opening an Artificial Intelligence research lab in Paris this year. Not bad for a country with a Labor Code of 3000 pages.
Whoot-whoot for the young techies!

As we suffer another nationwide railworkers' strike today with shutdowns or slowdowns on most regional and high-speed networks in France causing misery for commuters, it is good to look at the bright side and find reason for optimism.
Not easy for the French, who tend to see the glass as half empty.
But even if they may find pleasure in pouting, as someone has claimed, they will surely want to raise a toast to these recent commercial successes. So here's to France and its technological know-how - with a glass of wine that is half full.

TERROR IN BRUSSELS

On Tuesday March 22nd, my husband and I were scheduled to take an evening flight from Brussels to Marseilles, missing by hours the terrorist attack on Zaventem airport where two suicide bombers blew themselves up in the crowded departure hall earlier that day. About an hour later a bomb exploded on a Metro train near the European Union headquarters in the city center. In all, 35 people were killed and more than 300 wounded. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State (IS), presumably in reprisal for the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, implicated in the November 13 attacks in Paris (blog 11/21/15), who was finally tracked down and arrested in Brussels a few days earlier after four months on the run.

Fortunately we were alerted in time to try to catch a return flight from Amsterdam but found no available seats until early the next morning. Having already gone through a very strict security check we decided to stay overnight at a hotel inside Schiphol airport, and spent much of the afternoon in search of a quiet corner to pass the time. A sign drew us to a Meditation Room where we found three men kneeling in prayer on mats facing Mecca, doing their five-times-daily religious duty. The room did not seem to serve any other purpose and we withdrew quietly but unable to resist a comparison between this private faith and the murderous fervor in Brussels, all in the name of the same religion.  

As we try to absorb yet another deadly attack, close to home and committed by people living among us, our initial shock and sadness quickly mix with anger and impatience. What is being done about this? Weren't the authorities supposed to find ways to prevent this and work together to ensure our safety? Yes, they were, and no, they didn't.

Zaventem airport, heavily damaged

Immediately following the airport bombing the Belgian government put the city on highest alert, which includes a total shutdown of all transportation systems. Yet, when a Metro car exploded an hour later the shutdown order had not yet gone out.

Belgium has the highest number of home-grown jihadists in all of Europe who were trained in Syria or Iraq, and the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek houses a well-organized radical islamist cell that planned and executed the November attacks in Paris. Yet, after those attacks, Molenbeek resident Salah Abdeslam, one of the participants, managed to return to his Brussels base where, despite a massive manhunt and a total lockdown of the city, he remained undetected for four months.

Another disturbing fact:  a day after the Brussels airport attack President Recep Erdogan of Turkey revealed that airport bomber Ibrahim Bakraoui had been arrested last July near the Syrian border and expelled from Turkey on suspicion of being a radical militant. Turkish authorities alerted their Dutch and Belgian counterparts but this alert was not passed on by Belgian diplomats to their security forces at home. The alert was later found in a pile of mail on an officer's desk in Brussels.

Suicide bombers Khalid and Ibrahim Bakraoui and Najim Laachraoui 

Belgian-born Ibrahim Bakraoui had a criminal record and in 2010 was sentenced to nine years in prison for shooting at police in an armed robbery. He was released on parole after having served less than half of his sentence. Since then, he has been able to travel abroad and was never pursued for skipping parole.

Khalid Bakraoui, Ihrahim's brother, blew himself up in the Brussels Metro, killing 20 people and injuring more than 100. He too was known to police for criminality but not suspected of having terrorist links. However, Interpol had issued a "red notice" for Khalid that stated that Belgian authorities wanted him in connection with terrorism, which those authorities seem to deny today. Both brothers, it turns out, had direct connections to the Paris terrorists.

The second airport bomber has been identified as Najim Laachraoui who was born in Morocco but raised in Belgium. He had studied electromechanical engineering in Brussels and was known to be an IS bomb maker. He may have acquired those skills in Syria in 2013. His DNA was found on explosives used in the Paris attacks and in an apartment in Brussels where bomb-making materials were found in December.

Following these revelations the Belgian ministers of justice and of the interior offered their resignation, which was refused by the Prime Minister. A parliamentary inquiry will look into the missed clues and intelligence failures.

It is not surprising that terrorists choose Belgium to prepare their attacks. According to Peter Müller of Der Spiegel, they do so because it is easy. "When it comes to the country's security apparatus, Belgium is essentially a failed state," he writes. Brussels has a Byzantine structure of 19 municipalities and six police departments. Add to that a certain rivalry between French- and Flemish-speaking politicians and you have a recipe for inefficiency.

As always, poverty and a lack of integration of the immigrant population play their part in creating an unemployed, disenchanted, younger generation that is open to radicalization, especially in neighborhoods like Molenbeek and Schaerbeek where jihadist cells have been able to develop and flourish undisturbed.

Similarly, France's notorious cités, those suburbs of towering apartment blocks with a large population of immigrants, high unemployment and widespread delinquency, are fertile ground for islamist recruiters. This is where some of the Paris attackers holed up and were sheltered until they fled or were killed. After those November attacks, investigators found that a number of the terrorists had traveled from France to Syria, crossing back into France without a problem. Securing Europe's open borders seems near impossible, and only now are EU governments beginning to share intelligence with foreign services. Up to a point.

The Passenger Name Record (PNR), for instance, widely used in international air travel, is still not adopted in Europe. Ever since it was first discussed in the European Parliament in 2011, the use of a PNR has repeatedly been rejected by the European left (socialists, liberals and greens) on fears of invasion of privacy. After the Paris attacks in November, a furious Bernard Cazeneuve, France's Interior Minister, took his own party representatives to task and insisted that the PNR issue be put back on the Agenda of the European Parliament where, in the plenary session of March 7th, the measure was voted down again. Even though three of the French socialist deputies had finally voted in favor, four did not attend and five abstained. 

Brussels pays homage to terrorist victims

In a hopeful sign after the Brussels tragedy, six suspected terrorists have been arrested this past week in Belgium, two in Germany and one in France. The arrest in France has led to the discovery yesterday of a French national in Rotterdam who, Dutch police say, was planning to commit a terrorist attack in France. Close cooperation between European police forces paid off and in one week's time managed to make a significant dent in the terrorist network in Europe.

Meanwhile, the planned March Against Fear on Easter Sunday in Brussels was cancelled by local authorities who said their thinly stretched police force could not ensure the crowd's safety. Nevertheless, people spontaneously drifted to the Place de la Bourse where masses of flowers and candles had been left in homage to the victims. Sadly, the respectful gathering of mourners was rudely interrupted by about 100 hooligans and extreme-rightists who trampled the flowers and shouted anti-immigrant slogans. The police used water canons to disperse them. It was a sickening scene.

Flags at half-staff at EU headquarters 

Two days after the Brussels attacks an Extraordinary Meeting of the EU Ministers for Justice and for Security was held in Brussels "to set out measures to enhance our collective capacity to combat terrorism". About time, methinks. Given the cautious tone, however, I will allow myself some doubt.

If ever our fragile European Union needed a strong leader, it is now. One captain in command of the unwieldy ship of 28 nations, who speaks with one voice for the greater good and has the wisdom and courage to make the difficult choices.

If it were possible, Pope Francis would be my candidate.