The French also appoint their interior minister first policemanpolice first, because this is about the police. And France’s new Interior Minister, Bruno Retailleau, made it clear soon after he took office last month that he had three priorities: “The first is to restore order, the second is to restore order, and the third is to restore order. The French wanted more order. Orderly on the streets, orderly at the borders.”
Since then, Retailleau has continued to stir controversy, especially on the most prominent issues of the day: immigration and crime. Hardly a day has gone by in the past three weeks without a controversial interview, explosive announcement or polarizing trial by a new minister.
For example, Retailleau stated that immigration ‘is not something that benefits France’. He also criticized multicultural society, and stated that new arrivals were at odds with the country’s “Judeo-Christian history.” “My goal is to end illegal immigration and increase the number of deportations, especially illegal immigrants,” the new first police officer said in an interview with the daily newspaper a day after taking office. Le Figaro. “A person is not allowed to stay in France if he entered through robbery.”
Key role
With statements like these, Retailleau played an important role in Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s new right-wing government. The reason is that the conservative prime minister does not have a majority in the National Assembly. To survive in parliament, his government relies on the support of the nationalist anti-immigration Rassemblement National (RN) party led by Marine Le Pen. So the interior minister must calm Le Pen and her people.
“Retailleau seems to be the RN’s spokesperson,” said RN MP Laure Lavalette recently with satisfaction. “He understands what France wants in terms of immigration.”
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The 63-year-old Retailleau – hair parted, glasses with round lenses, always wearing a suit – is from the Vendée on the west coast of France. He is a veteran of Les Républicains (LR), the conservative party of which Prime Minister Barnier was also a member. This petite equestrian enthusiast is married to a doctor, has three children, and is a devout Catholic.
As leader of the LR faction in the Senate, he has frequently criticized social-liberal policies under President Emmanuel Macron in recent years. For example, he opposed the introduction of same-sex marriage, objected to the inclusion of an abortion right in the constitution, and advocated tougher action against left-wing and green protesters.
Retailleau was a gifted speaker, who often debated in the Senate without notes, and was not above quoting a philosopher. According to the newspaper World Progressive opponents sometimes found it difficult to tackle him because he was so well-educated and polite. “He is on the far right end of the political spectrum, but he is not a criminal,” Socialist Senator Laurence Rossignol told the newspaper.
Only first aid is required
However, Retailleau’s promise to ‘order’ the immigration sector is clear. According to him, there should be fines and prison sentences for people who enter illegally. He also wants asylum requests to be assessed more stringently and wants to limit state health services for irregular entry immigrants to only necessary first aid. Additionally, he advocates a referendum on immigration.
If French or European legislation prevents such measures, he believes this must be changed. “Law enforcement is not sacred or inviolable,” he told the weekly at the end of last month Sunday Journal.
He has faced a lot of criticism from the left-wing opposition and also from some of the more center-oriented politicians in President Macron’s camp. Former Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne accused Retailleau of sowing ‘division’. And parliament speaker Yaël Braun-Pivet, who is a party colleague of Macron’s, said on TV channel France 2 that she was ‘quite concerned’ by Retailleau’s remarks. “Even when the situation is tense, we must not question the rule of law that protects our democracy,” Braun-Pivet warned.
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It’s still uncertain where this is all going. Activists defending immigrant rights are desperate. Retailleau has announced that he will table proposals for new, stricter immigration laws in parliament early next year. But what exactly the agreement will contain remains unclear, and whether it will be strict enough to maintain Le Pen’s tolerant support for the RN also remains to be seen.
“It is up to us to decide how long Barnier’s government will last,” Renaud Labaye, secretary general of the RN faction in parliament, said recently. “If necessary, we will vote him out.”
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