Contrary to what Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday morning, the environmental organization confirms having been contacted for a debate at the Agricultural Show.
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“We have indeed been contacted to participate in the debate” initially planned with the President of the Republic at the agricultural show, say the Uprisings of the Earth in a press release on Saturday February 24. The day before, the Élysée had assured that “the Earth Uprisings were neither invited nor contacted”, pleading an “error made during the interview with the press ahead of the event”.
The Earth Uprisings explain that they were approached, but not directly by the Palace. “On Thursday February 22, from 6 p.m., an EELV MEP [Europe écologie-Les Verts] confirms having sent the telephone number of one of our spokespersons to the office of [l’eurodéputé Renaissance] Pascal Canfin, who was in charge of liaising with the Élysée to invite us to this ‘great debate'”they say.
On the other hand, “members of the cabinet of Gabriel Attal contacted a national political manager of EELV, in order to find a contact with the Uprisings of the Earth. This is in line with the announcements from the Elysée concerning our invitation, during the press conference [l’entretien avec la presse avant la Salon] from Thursday February 22”.
The explanations from the Elysée on Friday did not convince the FNSEA and the Young Farmers, who perceive the radical environmentalist collective as an adversary. The two agricultural unions refused to participate in this major debate, leading to its cancellation by Emmanuel Macron. The President of the Republic maintained, on Saturday, that he did not “never thought about initiating” an invitation to the Earth Uprisings.
“Obviously, we would never have indulged in such a charade which has no other objective than to extinguish the ongoing agricultural rebellion”, retorts the collective, which distinguished itself in March 2023 during a day of clashes around an artificial water reservoir construction site in Sainte-Soline (Deux-Sèvres). The government failed to dissolve it.