French press review 9 May 2016

In today’s French Press, Le Figarocalls Vladimir Putin a “puppeteer”, while Libération answers accusations of biasby the Guardian. This morning there is also a love letter to the European Union from La Croix.

DR

Left-wing Libération is running a column on the victory of Labour Sadiq Khan in London. The paper is responding to a pice in the British daily The Guardian that accused the international press of focusing solely on Sadiq Khan's religion.

Khan is a Muslim, and while Libé says it was important to mention the man became the first Muslim mayor of a European capital last week, it also agrees with The Guardian that some of the French media used that word only to describe the Labour candidate.

But, Libération writes, one of the reason for that was the lack of differences between the two candidates' manifestos and the focus of Zac Goldsmith, Khan's opponent, on this single issue.

It also points out that not only the British press did headline on Khan's religion, it also ran headlines focusing on Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo's gender and origins when she was elected in 2014.

However, "at a time when the rejection of differences [...] increasingly dominates the news, the symbol of the election of a Muslim, son of Pakistani immigrants, born in a city of like London, should be highlighted" says Libé.

Right-wing Le Figaro, for its part,headlines on Russian President Vladimir Putin's role in Syria. "Putin is pulling the strings" reads the paper's front page.

The paper argues that in just a few months, Russia has taken the diplomatic and military upper hand in the war-torn country.

"Master of the field, grand officer of the fire and truces, puppeteer, the head of the Kremlin took control of the country that has been in chaos for five years" argues Le Figaro.

What are his aims then? Well first to "purge the country of jihadism", but also to create a new strategic Russian stronghold with access to the Meditterean. And that's not all, says the right-wing paper, Putin also wants to neutralize Turkey's ambition and show the US and Europe who's playing who. What a revenge for Putin!

But let's not fool ourselves, says Le Figaro's editorial, if Putin is in this position, "it is because we wasted all our opportunities" in Syria.

"Europe: Stop or Continue" asks Catholic La Croix this morning. This Monday is Europe Day, and the paper is running a special edition focused on the European Union's future, and the challenges the bloc is currently facing.

On its first two pages, La Croix asked several personalities and experts what would have happened if the EU didn't exist.

"We would have seen a third world war" says an historian, while the head of a union says "workers would be less protected". A journalist worries that "countries would have turned into fortresses, while the president of an NGO says we would talk less about Human Rights.

While the entire issue is quite balanced, there's no denying La Croix takes a pro-European stance. "Maybe it's time to say stop, not to renounce to the EU, but to move forward. "Come on, let's dream"  writes an editorialist.

Finally, Le Monde headlines on a new report that says France discriminates against foreigners. Titled "The fundamental rights of foreigners in France", the report was written by Jacques Toubon, tasked by the state with defending rights of minorities.

The report "shows how access to basic rights such as education or health can be hampered for foreigners" explains Le Monde. Worse, according to Toubon, yet we don't even question such discrimination.

In short the report argues that the state makes being a foreigner in France a daily struggle. There's concrete examples: for example retired workers from Benin who can't get a state pension because they're not French, despite having worked here for most of their lives. There's also schools refusing to welcome children of illegal immigrants, despite having to by law.

The report concludes by asking the government to "prevent the spread of divergent or illegal interpretations of the law" in order to protect foreigners living in France.