Decline of the Republic” Mayor’s resignation Saint Brevin, Yannick Morezshocked the French public. Accused, Emmanuel Macron left his government. inactivity In the face of far-right harassment this mayor has been subjected to for hosting a meeting refugee center. In recent months, this small town in northwestern France, protests and violent actions by neo-Nazi groups and militants of the xenophobic party reconquest by Eric Zemmour. The announcement of his resignation represents an alarming event in the extreme offensive against small towns like Saint-Brévin or Callac that have become a laboratory for opposition to “big change”.
“I took this decision for personal reasons, especially because of the criminal shooting that was committed against and against my home. lack of government support“, Morez reassured in a message on Facebook Wednesday night announcing his resignation. The mayor, who is not a member of any party and has presided over city council for six years, also stated that he would leave town to guarantee his family’s safety. By the end of March, he had suffered a sting. great fire outside your home. Two of his vehicles were burned and the walls of his house were damaged.
Saint-Brévin mayor Yannick Morez resigns after extremists burned two of his cars
With A little over 13,000 inhabitants and the seaside town of Saint-Brévin, about 50 kilometers west of Nantes, has witnessed a spiral of right-wing anger and violence in recent months. The mayor had already bought it before his house caught fire. lots of threats, even in your personal mailbox. There were also protests organized by ultranationalist and xenophobic groups. The demonstration on 30 April was attended by the last parliamentary candidate of Zemmour’s party, which won 7% of the vote in the 2022 presidential election, while trade unions and leftist groups responded with counter-demonstrations in support of the mayor.
xenophobic lab
A scourge of hatred and resentment afflicted Saint-Brévin, a country town at the mouth of the Loire River. reception center for asylum seekers (CADA for its French abbreviation). The state put this structure into service after liquidating it in the fall of 2016. Calais ForestOne of Europe’s largest makeshift refugee camps.
Subsequently, the creation of the centre, led to the rejection of Yannick Morez’s predecessor as mayor, the conservative Yannick Haury, who is now a lawmaker for Macron’s party. In fact, a man fired a gun at the front of the centre, causing no casualties. Despite this hostility, nearly 400 people who have sought asylum in France over the past six years have been housed in this summer residence, which has been converted into a humanitarian aid center by the EDF electricity company. And these refugees and immigrants “they did not cause any incident“, defended the mayor.
That didn’t stop the ultras from vehemently opposing the centre. Their protests actually paralleled another very similar event in the United States. Breton town of Callac. Concentrations there and xenophobic harassment forced the mayor to abandon the construction of an immigration reception center by a private foundation in January. Zemmour’s party, which could not find a deputy in the National Assembly after its bad results in the parliamentary elections, focused on such actions. And he “turned Saint-Brévin and Callac into laboratories for his counter-struggle.”big spare“is a conspiracy theory that believes white French will be replaced by non-Europeans.
Zemmour supporters protested against a refugee center in this town in western France.
“I felt abandoned”
Despite being targeted by the Ultras, the mayor of Saint-Brévin revealed that he received no support from the State or the Macron government. There was no police protection. staff. “I felt abandoned. The state imposes CADA on the local representatives, but then leaves it to the mayors to make their own decisions,” he said in a news report on the public channel Envoyé Spécial in April. french 2.
“The attacks on Yannick Morez (…) and his family, worthless“, Macron said on Twitter this Thursday at noon. Many internet users denounced him for not voicing this message of solidarity at the end of March, when the mayor’s house was on fire. agreed Macronist MP Sacha Houlié.
Olivier Faure, general secretary of the Socialist Party, said: “It is a shame that the state does not know how to measure the threat looming over it and does not support it.” “It’s a huge responsibility of Darmanin (Minister of the Interior) and Dupond-Moretti (Minister of Justice) who refused to act and protect him,” said Thomas Portes, deputy of France Insoumisa (subordinate to Podemos). After his resignation was announced, MPs applauded. To the mayor on Wednesday night, except for the National Regrouping representatives Sailor LePen those sitting quietly in their seats.
This mayor’s resignation comes a few days after some demonstrated on May 6. 500 far-right militants On the streets of the Latin Quarter in Paris. This veiled protest was carried out unhindered, as the administration’s decrees banning unionists from gathering and gathering over the hot pot have multiplied in recent weeks. More and more voices in France accuse Macron of being tough on the left and the unions rather than the threat of the far right.