HOLLANDE AND MALI
President François Hollande has been having bad press for a
while but the war in Mali has given him an unexpected boost. His decisive and
rapid action in the face of a serious jihadist threat in Mali earned him approval
at home and abroad. After his television address of January 11th, the Journal
du Dimanche expressed it most succinctly with its headline: Finally President! Until then, Hollande had generally been
perceived as soft and hesitant, but his strong response to the terrorist threat
in Mali changed all that. At least initially. As time went by and absent any
significant aid from European partners and little more than verbal support from
the US, warning voices began to be heard about a potential French Afghanistan,
an "unwinnable war" and one too costly to be entered into in the
current economic climate. Yet, as the French Minister of Defense reminded us, the
Malian government had urgently requested help from France against an advancing
army of Islamic extremists that had already occupied the sparsely populated north
of the country and was two days away from overrunning the capital of Bamako in
the south. The rapid spread of Islamic extremism from the east toward Northern
and Western Africa concerns us all, he said, and needed to be stopped.
With the death of Osama Ben Laden his terrorist network has taken a blow, but some of its forces have regrouped and moved westward where various cells have been operating in Yemen, Somalia, and now Mali. The AQIM cell (Al Qaida in Maghreb) is well-equipped with modern weapons taken from the well-stocked arsenals of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya and has been applying Sharia law along its path while kidnapping westerners for ransom, among them many Frenchmen who work for large companies in the area such as nuclear giant Areva with interests in uranium mines. While looking for a political solution involving the UN Security Council as well as local and international participants, France, helped only by some Togolese troops and a poorly trained Malian army, is fighting a lonely battle.
FRANCO-GERMAN
CELEBRATION
On 22 January 1963 General de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer met
in Paris to sign the Elysée Treaty
which officially sealed the Franco-German reconciliation, and fifty years later
President François Hollande joined Angela Merkel in Berlin to commemorate its
birthday. As treaties go, this one has held up longer than General de Gaulle might
have expected when he said that treaties are like young girls and roses: they
have but a short bloom.
Throughout history the two countries have repeatedly been at war with each other and even today they have their pronounced political and cultural differences. But together they form the engine of Europe and they do need each other. So here's to the Elysée Treaty and its continued flowering.
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| 50 years of Franco-German friendship |
Throughout history the two countries have repeatedly been at war with each other and even today they have their pronounced political and cultural differences. But together they form the engine of Europe and they do need each other. So here's to the Elysée Treaty and its continued flowering.
BIG STINK
As President Hollande was in Berlin on January 22nd he was
spared the noxious cloud that spread over Paris and a wide swath of
northwestern France and southern England that day as a result of a problem at
the Lubrizol chemical plant in Rouen, Normandy. This plant produces mercaptan,
an additive to odorless gas so that it
can be detected. First reports indicated that an unexpected chain reaction had
occurred in a large vat of chemicals, which caused a malodorous gas to escape
and be carried by winds as far north as London and south to Paris. Thousands of
people reported a strong rotten-egg odor, and some complained of headaches and
nausea.
Delphine Batho, French Minister of the Environment, visited the site
and reported that it would take several days to neutralize the stink but that
the escaped gas presented no health hazard. The American-owned Lubrizol is a
"Seveso" plant - a reference to the Italian town of Seveso where a
chemical accident occurred in 1976 that resulted in stringent industrial safety
measures known as the Seveso II Directive. The EELV Green Party and the Robin
Hood Association have called for an investigation into the cause of the
accident and Lubrizol's potential responsibility.
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| Ecology Minister Batho: "No danger" |
EUROGROUP PRESIDENT NAMED
In a meeting of European Finance Ministers in Brussels on 21
January, Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, 46, was elected President
of the Eurogroup, the guiding body of the European Monetary Union, for a term
of two and a half years. He replaces outgoing president Jean-Claude Juncker of
Luxembourg who held the position for eight years. In the often tense
environment of the European Monetary Union Dijsselbloem's proven diplomatic
skills won out over his relative lack of experience (he has been Dutch Finance
Minister for only three months). He emerged as the compromise candidate among
the main European political groups and between the economically stronger and
weaker European countries.
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| President Jeroen Dijsselbloem |
During the same meeting in Brussels the Eurozone Finance
Ministers decided to postpone a decision on the Cyprus bank bailout until after
the Cypriot elections in February.
DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN
Despite a non-disclosure agreement signed by both parties in
New York last December, French newspaper Le
Journal du Dimanche disclosed on 21 January that it has obtained
information from sources close to Strauss-Kahn indicating that he paid hotel
maid Nafissatou Diallo a sum of 1.5 million dollars to settle her civil suit
against him.
Meanwhile, on January 24th DSK appeared again in court in the northern city of Lille where he was confronted with Jade, an escort girl and plaintiff in the Carlton
Affair. The court is trying to determine whether DSK took an active role in
organizing the sex parties that were held for his benefit in Paris and
Washington with prostitutes supplied by Dominique Alderweireld, a French pimp
who runs a prostitution ring in Belgium. To date, nine people including Alderweireld
and his girlfriend have been indicted in the Carlton Affair. The vertiginous
fall of former IMF chief Strauss-Kahn from moving among world leaders and having
a clear shot at the French presidency to being judged for aggravated pimping in
the company of a low-life hustler nicknamed "Dodo la Saumure" is the
stuff of nightmares. Or a bad B-movie.
MARRIAGE FOR ALL
The most vociferously discussed subject in France this month
was the gay marriage bill proposed by President Hollande that will be voted on
by lawmakers on January 29th. During his presidential campaign François
Hollande had promised to legalize gay marriage within a year of taking office
in May 2012.
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| Demonstration AGAINST |
The subject is a controversial one in France, opposed by
Roman Catholic, Muslim and Jewish leaders and a large conservative block of
voters. Many mayors, in deference to their local constituencies, announced that
they would not officiate gay marriages, to which Hollande (befitting his indecisiveness)
responded that they did not need to and could delegate the task. This only
muddled the issue and caused a backlash from those in favor, so Hollande had
to backtrack and finally declare that the law applies to all, including mayors who
are representatives of the State - whether they like it or not.
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| Demonstration IN FAVOR |
Two large demonstrations - for and against marriage equality
- took place in Paris two weeks apart. On January 13th more than 300,000 vocal
opponents gathered in Paris calling for a vote against the law that would grant
same-sex couples the same marriage and adoption rights as straight couples. Two
weeks later, proponents held a counter-demonstration to defend legalization of
marriage equality. Many celebrities showed up, including Valérie Trierweiler, unmarried partner of President Hollande.
The issue remains divisive, but the latest IFOP poll indicates that today 63% of the French are in favor of same-sex marriage, up from 60% a month ago. The bill is expected to be passed by Parliament.
The issue remains divisive, but the latest IFOP poll indicates that today 63% of the French are in favor of same-sex marriage, up from 60% a month ago. The bill is expected to be passed by Parliament.
