Photo : French officials commemoration 10 years of militant attacks in Paris. Source: Ludovic Marin/AFP
Photo : French officials commemoration 10 years of militant attacks in Paris. Source: Ludovic Marin/AFP
By Samrudhi Pathak
FRANCE
Ten years since Charlie Hebdo’s assassination
On 08 January, France marked on Tuesday 10 years since an Islamist attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper that led to fierce debate about freedom of expression and religion. French President Emmanuel Macron and the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo led commemorations at the site of former offices, which were stormed by two masked al Qaeda-linked gunmen with AK-47 assault rifles. The attack on the newspaper by two Paris-born brothers of Algerian descent was said to be revenge for its decision to publish caricatures making fun of the Prophet Mohammed. Days after the attack France's then-president François Hollande led a solidarity march in Paris which was joined by 40 world leaders in support of free speech. In a survey conducted in France, 76 per cent of respondents believed freedom of expression and the freedom to caricature were fundamental rights, and 62 per cent thought people had the right to mock religious beliefs. (“France marks 10 years since the Charlie Hebdo attacks,” France24, 08 January 2025)
Holocaust denier Jean Marine Le Pen dies at 96
On 07 January, National Rally confirmed the death of Jean Marine Le Pen. He was a soldier in France’s colonial wars. Le Pen co-founded the party National Front in 1972. The party embraced anti-Semitism at that time and criticised decolonisation. It also sided with the Nazi-allied Vichy Regime. Le Pen won 14 per cent votes in the first round of the 1988 presidential election. The National Front got its first election wins in the 1990s, by winning the municipalities of Toulon, Orange and Marignane in southern France, where Le Pen comes from. The party did well in legislative elections in 1997, though France’s two-round system of voting kept it out of parliament as other parties formed a coalition to defeat the far right party. On 21 April 2002, Le Pen qualified for France’s presidential elections. However, later, Jacques Chirac won the elections with a landslide victory of 82 per cent votes. He has been found guilty of public insults, incitement to racial hatred, provocation to hatred and discrimination, and violence against a female candidate. Later, Marine Le Pen took over as the head of the party in 2011. She attempted to remove the stigma of racism and antisemitism. She also had public disagreements with her father which led him to being expelled from the party he founded. Marine Le Pen rebranded the party as National Rally. (“From colonial fighter to far-right leader: Jean-Marie Le Pen’s life in pictures,” France24, 07 January 2024)
French websites targeted by pro-Russian hackers
On 07 January, some internet websites of many French cities and at least one department were inaccessible because of being hacked. A group of hackers claimed attacks which they described as retaliation against French support for the war in Ukraine. Sites of cities like Marseille and Tarbes were down. The group of hackers is calling themselves ‘NoName.’ On their X account, the hackers claimed to have also attacked the sites of cities such as Nantes, Bordeaux, Poitiers, Pau, Nimes, Nice, Angers, Le Havre, and Montpellier, as well as the department of Les Landes, French Polynesia and New Caledonia. The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, confirmed on X that the city's website had been targeted. Experts believe that websites have been hacked to create an environment of digital insecurity. (“Pro-Russian hackers target websites of several French cities,” France24, 07 January 2025)
Macron admits that snap elections created political instability
On 07 January, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he recognised that his decision to call early parliamentary elections in June had created more political instability in the country. Macron had justified his decision to call early elections due to bad scores at European elections and the need to “clarify” the political situation. However, it took two months to name a minority government, which eventually collapsed in December, the first time that happened in France since 1962. As a result, France failed to approve a budget for 2025 before the end-of-year deadline, and Macron had to name his fourth prime minister this year, a centrist leader François Bayrou, in December. (“Calling snap elections created more instability for France, Macron admits,” France24, 08 January 2025)
REGIONAL
Turkey threatens Syria with military attack
On 07 January, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan made an address on television threatening Syria with military operations against Kurdish forces unless they accepted Ankara's conditions for a "bloodless" transition after the demise of President Bashar Assad. Turkey considers the People’s Protection Unit (YPG), which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a terrorist outfit linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been engaged in a decades-old insurgency against the Turkish state. Over the last nine years, Turkey has conducted multiple ground operations in Syria to push Kurdish forces away from its border. (“Turkey threatens offensive against Syrian Kurdish fighters,” Deutsche Welle, 07 January 2025)
Inflation sours in Eurozone
On 08 January, the European Statistics Agency, Eurostat, released data for inflation for the last quarter of 2024. December will have the highest inflation since July, according to the data. It was 1.7 per cent in September 2024. Inflation in December 2024 was 2.4 per cent compared with 2.2 per cent in November and two per cent in October. December saw a slight increase of 0.1% compared to the same month last year in energy prices. On the back of high prices in 2024, energy prices had been falling year-on-year in previous months. Prices for services rose sharply in December by four per cent. Inflation in the sector was high in recent months, decreasing to 3.9 per cent in September and November. Inflation in food, alcohol and tobacco remained unchanged at 2.7 per cent. Eurostat said that the highest price increases were in Croatia (4.5 per cent), Belgium (4.4 per cent) and Estonia (4.1 per cent). The lowest inflation rates were recorded in Ireland (one per cent), Italy (1.4 per cent) and Luxembourg (1.6 per cent). The European Central Bank reduced interest rates to stimulate the weakening economies. (Richard Connor, “Eurozone inflation stays sticky, rising to 2.4%,” Deutsche Welle, 08 January 2025)
Germany urges the EU to ease sanctions on Syria
On 08 January, DW News reported on the efforts that Germany is making to reduce sanctions on Syria. Germany circulated two documents among the European Union capitals with suggestions for where the bloc's sanctions could be eased. However, the relief in sanctions will come only after there is improvement in safeguarding minority and women's rights as well as upholding commitments to ensuring non-proliferation of weapons. Germany said that temporary relaxation of sanctions is also an option for the bloc. (“Germany pushing EU to ease sanctions on Syria — reports,” Deutsche Welle, 08 January 2025)