France
Shock in Europe over Trump’s election victory
By Peter Schwarz, 10 November 2016
Europe’s ruling elites fear that the election of Trump will not only destabilise the United States, but also the rest of the world.
France’s New Anti-Capitalist Party covers up its support for Libya war
By Kumaran Ira, 10 November 2016
As the Libyan catastrophe produced by the 2011 NATO war exposes the NPA’s bankruptcy, it is trying to bury its own record of supporting imperialist war.
025 French PS rules out Hollande for 2017 election
2 November 2016
French police launch demolition of “Jungle” refugee camp in Calais
By Kumaran Ira and Alex Lantier, 25 October 2016
The Socialist Party government’s hailing of the police assault on the camp as a “humanitarian” operation designed to protect refugees is an odious political lie.
French presidential election 2017
Right-wing candidates’ debate advocates austerity, police-state measures
By Kumaran Ira, 24 October 2016
The French political establishment is unanimous that anti-Muslim hatred and police-state forms of rule are to become permanent features of political life.
Divisions grow at EU summit over trans-Atlantic trade, war drive against Russia
By Alex Lantier, 22 October 2016
The European Union is incapable not only of reaching agreement on policy, but of hiding the increasingly embittered tensions among its member states.
Police stage right-wing, law and order protest in France
By Francis Dubois, 22 October 2016
The Socialist Party government has cultivated the police as its main social base, and police are now aggressively advancing demands for more resources and powers.
065 French presidential debate
21 October 2016
085 French presidential debate
20 October 2016
080 French elections
19 October 2016
France creates National Guard targeting the working class
By Anthony Torres, 17 October 2016
Adopting a neo-fascist proposal to create a National Guard, the Socialist Party is preparing for large-scale military operations inside France itself.
Tensions rise between Poland and France after failed arms deal
By Clara Weiss, 17 October 2016
Relations between France and Poland have worsened substantially after the Polish government pulled out of an arms deal with Airbus that had been planned for years.
050 French presidential debates
15 October 2016
French President Hollande cancels Paris meeting with Russian President Putin
By Anthony Torres, 13 October 2016
The cancellation of the Russian President’s visit to France is part of a dangerous explosion of military tensions between NATO and Russia over Syria.
070 Salah abdeslam trial
13 October 2016
Britain and France prepare military escalation in Syria
By Robert Stevens, 12 October 2016
The British parliament met in an emergency three-hour session Tuesday to accuse Russia of war crimes in Syria.
France calls for its own “pivot to Asia” amid US war drive against China
By Kumaran Ira, 10 October 2016
French imperialism is laying out an aggressive military strategy in the Asia-Pacific as Washington intensifies its war drive against China.
France’s sale of Rafale jets to India stokes Indo-Pakistani war tensions
By Senthooran Ravee, 5 October 2016
The Rafale deal is one of India’s largest-ever arms purchases
020 France and South China Sea
4 October 2016
Britain attacks plans for European military union at Bratislava summit
By Johannes Stern and Alex Lantier, 28 September 2016
British officials see German and French plans to militarise the European Union as an intolerable threat to the NATO alliance and Europe's relations with the United States.
French right-wing candidate Alain Juppé warns of rising anti-Muslim hysteria
By Kumaran Ira, 26 September 2016
Juppé’s party played a major role in stoking anti-Muslim sentiment, and his statement that it has placed France on the verge of “civil war” is a damning self-indictment.
060 France/Belgium diplomatic incident
24 September 2016
Germany and France press ahead with a European military union
By Johannes Stern, 23 September 2016
A joint paper by the German and French defence ministers calls for the development of an independent European military and great power policy.
Neo-fascist Marine Le Pen launches 2017 French presidential election bid
By Kumaran Ira, 22 September 2016
Le Pen's emergence as a contender for power, amid a state of emergency imposed by the Socialist Party, points to the accelerating collapse of French democracy.
Hundreds of thousands march in new protest against French labour law
By V. Gnana and Stéphane Hugues, 16 September 2016
Deep popular opposition remains to the law, even after trade unions halted the protests over the summer holidays.
230 NPA defends unions supporting right-wing demos
16 September 2016
Germany, France propose EU military alliance before post-Brexit summit
By Alex Lantier, 13 September 2016
In response to Brexit, Berlin and Paris aim to transform the EU into a military alliance capable of waging major wars abroad and large-scale repression at home.
French unions join far-right movement against refugees in Calais
By Anthony Torres, 12 September 2016
The CGT is inciting nationalist hatred to divide the workers and disorient their opposition to the wars and social cuts of the French government, which it helped elect.
040 Hollande hints at second run
9 September 2016
Greek PM Tsipras promotes nationalism, austerity at Southern European conference
By Alex Lantier, 9 September 2016
Amid protests against its austerity policies in Greece, Syriza is boosting the EU and trying to divert social anger along nationalist lines, inciting anti-German sentiment.
Left Front promotes French regime-change operation in oil-rich Gabon
By Stéphane Hugues, 7 September 2016
Mélenchon joined a demonstration that implicitly called for a military intervention by France, the former colonial power, to topple incumbent President Ali Bongo.
France pushes for regime change after contested elections in Gabon
By Stéphane Hugues and Alex Lantier, 2 September 2016
Well before investigations of the election returns have begun, Paris is demanding that incumbent President Ali Bongo immediately hand over power.
France demands end to trade talks with US amid rising US-EU tensions
By V. Gnana and Alex Lantier, 31 August 2016
As France demanded an end to talks on the TTIP trade deal, the EU said it would levy a €13 billion fine on Apple, a move the US Treasury said could damage US-EU ties.
Sarkozy launches French presidential bid based on anti-Muslim hysteria
By Kumaran Ira, 29 August 2016
The former French president called for returning to universal military service and imposing measures that would turn France’s Muslim population into second-class citizens.
French woman arrested, fined for wearing Muslim headscarf on Cannes beach
By Anthony Torres, 29 August 2016
In an unprecedented attack on freedom of religion and on France’s Muslim community, local police are moving to effectively criminalize the wearing of Muslim headscarves.
Divisions rise inside EU at summit between Germany, France and Italy
By Alex Lantier, 23 August 2016
Amid the escalating crisis unleashed by the Brexit vote, the remaining major EU powers barely succeeded in papering over the divisions between them.
After brawl in town of Sisco, France launches campaign to ban burkini
By Kumaran Ira, 18 August 2016
Seizing on an ethnic brawl, the French political establishment is hysterically accusing Muslim women wearing burkinis of promoting terrorism.
Adama Traoré’s autopsy undermines French police’s account of his death
By Kumaran Ira, 2 August 2016
Police banned a peaceful rally protesting the death in police custoday of 24-year-old Adama Traoré after a new autopsy contradicted initial police accounts.
Two ISIS supporters shot dead after slaying a priest in France
By Kumaran Ira, 27 July 2016
The two attackers were summarily executed by elite police units as they left a church, where they had slit the throat of an 86-year-old priest.
Three French soldiers killed during secret military operations in Libya
By Anthony Torres, 27 July 2016
The incident underscores the illegal character of the ongoing military operations in Libya, which are being carried out behind the backs of the French people.
French president, British prime minister meet to discuss Brexit crisis
By Alex Lantier, 23 July 2016
Hollande shifted towards a more accommodating position, giving Britain more time to negotiate the exit and reaffirming Britain’s role as a key military ally of France.
Riots spread after Adama Traoré’s death in police custody near Paris
By our reporter, 22 July 2016
Traoré’s family and friends are disputing police claims that he died of a heart attack while in police custody, alleging that he was beaten to death by police.
France’s permanent state of emergency
By Alex Lantier, 21 July 2016
Amid a deep crisis of bourgeois democracy and seething social tensions across Europe, the ruling elite aims to transition from democratic to dictatorial forms of rule.
220 Melnechon, pseudo-left back Brexit
20 July 2016
After Nice attack, French government calls up military reserves
By Alex Lantier, 18 July 2016
Well before the political character of the mass killing in Nice has been clearly established, the French government is pushing for military escalation inside and outside France.
German Left Party and Greens: Warmongering after the attack in Nice
By Johannes Stern, 18 July 2016
Seizing on the murderous attack in southern France, two leading members of the German Left and Green parties demanded an intensified military intervention in Syria and Iraq.
Dozens murdered in possible terrorist attack in Nice, France
By Oscar Grenfell, 15 July 2016
French President Francois Hollande invoked the horrific attack to justify expansion of the “state of emergency” for another three months.
NATO convenes summit in Warsaw to make war preparations against Russia
By Johannes Stern, 8 July 2016
The measures to be decided on by the western military alliance in the Polish capital will further escalate the threat of war in Europe.
French parliamentary report on terror attacks calls for new police powers
By Alex Lantier, 8 July 2016
The report, which evades the role of the imperialist war in Syria in creating the Islamist networks that carried out the attacks, is awash with contradictions and evasions.
Amid protests, French government uses emergency powers to impose draft labor law
By Alex Lantier, 6 July 2016
The use of the constitution’s Article 49-3 to impose a redraft of the law without a vote in the National Assembly testifies to the Socialist Party’s contempt for democracy.
Courts persecute opponents of French labour law in Amiens
By Antoine Lerougetel, 2 July 2016
Two anti-El Khomri law protesters, Manon Chelmy and high school student Jules, 18, were sentenced to 90 hours of community service.
Interview with Manon Chelmy, protester against the labour law
By Antoine Lerougetel, 2 July 2016
Manon Chelmy was sentenced to community service after taking part in a protest against the Socialist Party’s reactionary labour law.
Interview with Manon Chelmy, protester against the labour law
By Antoine Lerougetel, 2 July 2016
Manon Chelmy was sentenced to community service after taking part in a protest against the Socialist Party’s reactionary labour law.
French president pushes for labor law vote as unions try to defuse protests
By Stéphane Hugues and Alex Lantier, 1 July 2016
Having already threatened to ban protests against the law under the state of emergency, the PS government is working with the union bureaucracies to wind down opposition.
045 CGT tacitly backs application of labor law to rail workers
29 June 2016
Mass protests follow failed attempt to ban opposition to French labor law
By Alex Lantier, 24 June 2016
Having pulled back from its attempt to ban demonstrations, the Socialist Party is proposing to outlaw left-wing parties that it considers opposed to the French state.
French government backs down from ban on protest against labor law
By Alex Lantier, 23 June 2016
Trade union officials told the Socialist Party government they feared large numbers of people would defy any ban on today's protest in Paris.
Despite mounting opposition, French unions signal concessions on labor law
By Alex Lantier, 20 June 2016
The Stalinist General Confederation of Labor has indicated that it may be open to negotiating firm-level contracts under the new law that violate the national Labor Code.
040 CGT & El Khomri
18 June 2016
French government threatens ban on protests against labor law
By V. Gnana and Alex Lantier, 16 June 2016
Shaken by rising working class opposition, the Socialist Party is signaling that it is prepared to shred basic democratic rights and institute a police state regime to impose austerity.
210 BHL denounces French strikers
16 June 2016
Opposition mounts to French labor law in new national day of action
By Anthony Torres, 15 June 2016
Despite the government’s efforts to smash strikes and demoralize workers, marches in several cities were noticeably larger than in previous mobilizations.
ISIS-linked operative murders police commander and his wife near Paris
By Alex Lantier, 15 June 2016
As in the Charlie Hebdo and November 13 shootings in Paris last year, and the March 22 Brussels attack, the alleged murderer was well-known to the intelligence services.
220 BHL denounces French strike
14 June 2016
French unions boost pressure to end strike movement against labor law
By Anthony Torres, 13 June 2016
The union bureaucracy is isolating workers, industry by industry, while preparing new talks with the Socialist Party government.
230 BHL denounces French strikers
13 June 2016
French government threatens to crush strikes as Euro 2016 football cup starts
By Alex Lantier, 11 June 2016
Workers also faced criticism from union officials, who pushed for an end to the strike with claims that striking during the Euro cup would reflect badly on their image.
Strikes against austerity in France and Belgium defy union pressure for sellout
By Alex Lantier, 9 June 2016
Garbage workers took strike action in several cities across France, joining rail, port and oil workers in France and rail workers in Belgium.
France’s New Anti-capitalist Party hails CWA sellout of Verizon strike
By Kumaran Ira, 9 June 2016
The NPA's position on the Verizon strike is a warning that it will also support a sellout of the strike movement against the French government's austerity policies.
030 Unions push for sellout of rail strike vs French labor law
8 June 2016
220 France's NPA hails sellout of Verizon strike
8 June 2016
Striking rail workers speak out on movement against French labor law
By Alex Lantier and V. Gnana, 6 June 2016
WSWS reporters spoke to striking rail workers and students mobilized in solidarity with their strike at railway stations across Paris.
A dozen dead, tens of thousands displaced as floods hit Germany and France
By our reporter, 4 June 2016
Floods claimed between 12 and 18 lives, according to initial reports, and it is feared that the death toll could climb higher.
Strikes in France elicit support from German workers
By Verena Nees, 3 June 2016
Sympathy from workers and young people, anger and resentment in the media—this is how Germany is reacting to the strikes in France.
Strike wave against labor law spreads in France
By Kumaran Ira, 2 June 2016
As the trade union bureaucracy prepares to sell out an escalating strike wave, opposition to the Socialist Party’s “El Khomri” labor reform is mounting in the working class.
030 German reaction to French strikes
2 June 2016
French strike movement exposes bankruptcy of New Anti-capitalist Party
By Alex Lantier, 2 June 2016
The emergence of the working class as the central force in struggle against France's Socialist Party government refutes the anti-working class perspective of the NPA.
The return of the “grand narrative”
By Andre Damon, 1 June 2016
The resurgence of the class struggle is undermining the intellectual charlatanry that underpinned the ideological dominance of various forms of anti-Marxism over the past half-century.
Belgian public sector goes on strike in run-up to French rail walkout
By Ross Mitchell and Alex Lantier, 1 June 2016
Workers are mobilising across national borders in Europe against the reactionary austerity policies that the entire European Union has imposed since the 2008 crash.
Video: Striking oil workers speak out against anti-worker French labor law
By Alex Lantier and Johannes Stern, 30 May 2016
Over the weekend, WSWS reporters visited the Total refinery in Grandpuits, which is on strike to protest the Socialist Party government’s anti-worker labor law.
CGT union tries to block general strike against French labor law
By Alex Lantier, 30 May 2016
On the BFM-Politique show, CGT General Secretary Philippe Martinez said he was in back-channel talks with the government over its unpopular labor law.
Amid strikes, French President Hollande pledges to impose labor law
By Alex Lantier, 28 May 2016
Hollande is manoeuvring to use the trade union bureaucracy to contain social anger among workers against his reactionary labor law reform.
The El Khomri law in France and the Schröder-Blair Paper
By Peter Schwarz, 28 May 2016
Over the past decade and a half, the social democratic parties, working with the trade unions, have led the drive to impose austerity on the working class.
As strikes spread, mass protests demand withdrawal of French labor law
By Alex Lantier and Johannes Stern, 27 May 2016
Hundreds of thousands of people marched throughout France Thursday in the eighth nationwide protest against the anti-worker law implemented earlier this month.
Rail strike hits Belgium
By Ross Mitchell, 27 May 2016
Rail workers began an indefinite strike Wednesday evening in Belgium, paralysing mass transit and creating traffic jams in Brussels.
French workers speak out against labor law
By Alex Lantier and Johannes Stern, 27 May 2016
WSWS reporters spoke to workers during Thursday’s demonstrations in Paris against the “El Khomri” labor reforms.
Strike wave against austerity spreads in France, Belgium
By Kumaran Ira, 26 May 2016
Police repression of anti-austerity protests in France and Belgium is enraging workers and driving broader layers of the working class into struggle.
French Socialist Party’s labor reform boosts far-right National Front
By Francis Dubois, 26 May 2016
The far-right party can only profit from the Socialist Party’s ruthless austerity policy due to the reactionary role of the pseudo-left organisations.
Mobilize European workers to defend French strikers!
By Alex Lantier, 26 May 2016
The most powerful ally of workers struggling against pro-austerity governments in France, Belgium and Greece is the European and international working class.
International finance capital and the strikes in France
By Nick Beams, 25 May 2016
The aim of the “structural reforms” demanded by the IMF and the financial elites is the destruction of all the social gains of the European working class won in the past seven decades.
French government seeks to crush strikes against labor law
By Alex Lantier, 25 May 2016
A number of strikers were wounded when security forces assaulted workers blockading oil installations at the Fos-sur-Mer port near Marseille.
Workers speak on police crackdown against oil protest in France
By Anthony Torres, 25 May 2016
Dockworkers and students described a "war scene" as hundreds of riot police attacked demonstrators in Marseillaise with tear gas and batons.
Oil workers mobilise against French labour law
By Kumaran Ira, 23 May 2016
The Socialist Party is sending riot police to break up refinery strikes as they cause fuel shortages across France.
While cause of Egypt Air crash remains unknown, terror scare mounts
By Thomas Gaist, 21 May 2016
The US and Europe are seizing on the incident to justify an escalation of their military operations.
A resurgence of class struggle
By Barry Grey, 21 May 2016
The revival of the class struggle is finding political expression in the turn by workers against all of the parties of the official “left” that are backed by the trade unions.
French parliament extends state of emergency amid rising protests
By Alex Lantier, 20 May 2016
Contrary to official claims, the state of emergency is not aimed at Islamist terrorism, but at growing opposition in the working class to social austerity and military and police violence.
013 Growing support for FN
20 May 2016
French government backs neo-fascist protest against opposition to labor law
By Alex Lantier, 19 May 2016
Wednesday’s protest, organised by a police union close to the neo-fascist National Front, was aimed at intimidating broad popular opposition to the Socialist Party's labor reform.
010 Support for FN rises after PS passes labor law
19 May 2016
Defying police repression, protests continue against French labour law
By Stéphane Hugues, 18 May 2016
In the run-up to a rail strike planned for Wednesday, sections of truck drivers joined youth protesting the reactionary French labour law imposed by the Socialist Party government.
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