Emmanuel Macron warned Thursday, a few weeks after the urban riots, French youth against ” the division “ And “disunity” which can lead to ” chaos “ And “unfairness”during the commemoration of the liberation of the city of Bormes-les-Mimosas, in the Var.
“There is in our young people an appetite for freedom, an idealism which is sometimes sought and to which we must respond. Without which, sometimes, this noble aspiration turns against itself and undermines the foundations of this nation of freedom, equality and fraternity initiated in 1789, this sum of tangled destinies which increases French youth, generation after generation, faithful in the spirit of the Enlightenment”declared the President of the Republic.
For his first speech since the summer break, the Head of State spoke, as every year, during a short speech – thirteen minutes – on the occasion of the 79e anniversary of the liberation of Bormes-les-Mimosas, town where Fort Brégançon is located, residence of the Presidents of the Republic.
Mr. Macron paid tribute to the young French people who took part in the landing in Provence, who were “ready to die for collective freedom”, in particular to Léon Gautier, last member of the Kieffer commando, to Henri Fabre and especially to Pierre Velsch, who died in September 2022, “the child of Kouba who had crossed the Mediterranean to land on our shores”.
“First there was homework”
“Without words and without foam, they showed us that it was there and that was it, to exercise one’s freedom. It’s not a frenzy of transgression, it’s not a fever to overthrow prohibitions. It is first and foremost a controlled and strong will capable of assuming the constraints that it chooses.also declared the Head of State.
“And this freedom, which exists only because it is always and first of all collective, the rights which follow which are only there because there were first of all duties, it is what we need to feed our younger generations”he added.
The death of Nahel, killed by a police officer during a road check on June 27 in Nanterre, was followed by several nights of urban riots in many cities in France. The Head of State then stressed the need to restore authority in the country, at all levels.