The dashed hopes of France's left-wing alliance
A year has gone by, but left-wing candidate Raphaël Glucksmann remembers that evening as if it were yesterday. The exhaustion of a European election campaign, the satisfaction of having come out ahead of the other left-wing candidates, the heat inside La Bellevilloise – the event venue in Paris' 20 th arrondissement where he had planned to celebrate his good result –President Emmanuel Macron appearing on television, his announcement of the dissolution of the Assemblée Nationale. Politics felt like a whirlwind on the evening of the June 9, 2024, European elections.
During the campaign, the Socialist, Green and Communist parties had focused on one idea: that a strong showing by Glucksmann and the Socialist list would rebalance their parties' power dynamics with the radical-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party and force its leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, to accept the idea of a joint left-wing candidacy for the 2027 presidential election. Their tacit agreement, which they prepared far in advance, was upended by Macron's decision to dissolve the Assemblée. The hastily-organized snap elections that resulted forced all three parties to negotiate with LFI.
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Euronews
26 minutes ago
- Euronews
Massive Pride march in Budapest in defiance of ban
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Local France
13 hours ago
- Local France
How securing rights through citizenship has become 'increasingly fragile'
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Before 2001, these measures were 'virtually absent', the report says. Recently, the Swedish government commissioned an inquiry on the revocation of citizenship from individuals threatening national security . Germany's coalition parties discussed this option for 'supporters of terrorism, antisemites, and extremists'. Hungary also amended the constitution to allow the temporary suspension of citizenship because of national security. Middle East and North Africa are other regions where these policies have expanded, the report says. Advertisement Ways to strip citizenship The report identifies four ways in which citizens can be stripped of their status on security grounds. Nearly 80 per cent of countries have rules covering at least one of these situations. In 132 countries around the world, and two thirds of European states, citizenship can be removed for disloyalty or for acts that threaten national security, such treason, espionage, trying to overthrow a government or terrorism. Such rules exist in Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey and the UK. In 89 countries, however, this rule concerns only to people who naturalised, not those who acquired citizenship by birth. Another reason that can lead to the stripping of citizenship is having committee serious criminal offences, which typically involves having been sentenced to imprisonment for a certain period. These rules exist in 79 countries but only a few in Europe. In 70 countries, citizenship can be removed for serving in a foreign army and in 18 this measure concerns only people who acquired citizenship by naturalisation. In Europe, 40 per cent of countries – including France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Estonia, Turkey, Belarus and Bosnia Herzegovina – can remove citizenship under certain conditions for having served in another army. 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Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 'everyone has the right to a nationality', but four million people in the world are stateless 'because their citizenship remains denied or unrecognised,' the report continues. On the other hand, 35 countries do not allow people to renounce citizenship, or make this impossible in practice. Advertisement Unequal rights The report also looks at ways to acquire citizenship and finds 'highly unequal pathways'. The most common naturalisation requirement knowledge. Less common are economic self-sufficiency, civic or cultural integration, language or citizenship tests, and renunciation of other citizenships. On residency requirements, Americas and Western Europe have the more inclusive measures. Citizenship in European countries is also regulated via the European Convention on Nationality, under which the residence requirement cannot exceed 10 years. In 15 countries the wait is longer than 10 years: Equatorial Guinea (40 years), United Arab Emirates (30), Bahrain (25), Qatar (25), Bhutan (20), Brunei (20), Eritrea (20), Oman (20), Chad (15), Gambia (15), Nigeria (15), Rwanda (15), Sierra Leone (15), St. Kitts and Nevis (14), and India (11).
Euronews
17 hours ago
- Euronews
Poles on cooperation between Nawrocki and Tusk: 'Two different worlds'
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