By: Daniel Nardini
It seems that race and ethnic hatred along with xenophobia are not American monopolies during elections. The same is happening in France. Yes, France is having a presidential election, and in 42 days the country will choose its next president. The political right of center and current president, Nicolas Sarkozy, is hard pressed against his opponent Francoise Hollande—a leading candidate from the Socialist Party of France. The polls indicate that Hollande is the front runner in the election, and he might just win. Because of this, Sarkozy is pulling out all the stops to get reelected. He has pledged that if he is reelected he will pass laws helping French companies get preferential treatment, urging people to “Buy French” (after the campaign in the USA to “Buy American”), and most important to take France out of the Schengen Agreement.
The last point is especially disconcerting to the other members of the European Union. Under the Schengen Agreement, France must allow all peoples within the European Union to pass through France without a passport and without a visa. According to Sarkozy, “too many foreigners” have been “entering France” and “staying.” How true this is remains questionable. But the tone is without question highly xenophobic, and if Sarkozy does indeed keep his word he would effectively be closing France’s borders. Imagine what this could mean for the millions of nationals in the European Union who pass through France every year? Imagine the chaos it would cause for the governments in the European Union? If one country can revert to the pre-Schengen Agreement status, then what is to stop other European governments from acting the same way? Right now, the European Union is barely holding together as it is since the bailout of Greece’s economy just a few months before.
More to the point, the threat of virtually closing France’s borders is just one symptom of a political system going extreme. Ironically, Sarkozy himself is the son of Hungarian immigrants. Yet Sarkozy has been responsible for policies that have kicked out the Romanians, kicked out the gypsies, and passed laws banning all Muslim women from wearing veils and Muslim butchers from serving halal (“clean” in Arabic) meats. Many French people have grown tired of all this, and Sarkozy’s extreme campaign rhetoric may have the opposite effect and provide more votes for Hollande. Another problem for Sarkozy is that he faces a candidate even more extreme than him. Marine Le Pen, the daughter of the neo-fascist and racist Jean Le Pen, is also running for president. Because this is a three-way race, Le Pen might take votes away from Sarkozy. So Sarkozy is trying to convince voters that he is the best and most “realistic” candidate to beat Hollande. Will Sarkozy’s extreme politics be able to put him back into office? The count down for who will be France’s president begins.
French Xenophobia
By: Daniel Nardini
The last point is especially disconcerting to the other members of the European Union. Under the Schengen Agreement, France must allow all peoples within the European Union to pass through France without a passport and without a visa. According to Sarkozy, “too many foreigners” have been “entering France” and “staying.” How true this is remains questionable. But the tone is without question highly xenophobic, and if Sarkozy does indeed keep his word he would effectively be closing France’s borders. Imagine what this could mean for the millions of nationals in the European Union who pass through France every year? Imagine the chaos it would cause for the governments in the European Union? If one country can revert to the pre-Schengen Agreement status, then what is to stop other European governments from acting the same way? Right now, the European Union is barely holding together as it is since the bailout of Greece’s economy just a few months before.
More to the point, the threat of virtually closing France’s borders is just one symptom of a political system going extreme. Ironically, Sarkozy himself is the son of Hungarian immigrants. Yet Sarkozy has been responsible for policies that have kicked out the Romanians, kicked out the gypsies, and passed laws banning all Muslim women from wearing veils and Muslim butchers from serving halal (“clean” in Arabic) meats. Many French people have grown tired of all this, and Sarkozy’s extreme campaign rhetoric may have the opposite effect and provide more votes for Hollande. Another problem for Sarkozy is that he faces a candidate even more extreme than him. Marine Le Pen, the daughter of the neo-fascist and racist Jean Le Pen, is also running for president. Because this is a three-way race, Le Pen might take votes away from Sarkozy. So Sarkozy is trying to convince voters that he is the best and most “realistic” candidate to beat Hollande. Will Sarkozy’s extreme politics be able to put him back into office? The count down for who will be France’s president begins.