Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron has accused foreign leaders, including those “on the other side of the Atlantic”, of attempting to exploit France’s tense social climate for political gain following a weekend of violence and unrest.
Protests in France over soaring living costs have attracted international attention.
US President Donald Trump has blamed immigration for the unrest sweeping parts of Europe, warning that France and Italy risk further instability unless their governments tighten border controls, even as French authorities have attributed much of the recent violence to radical groups amid protests over education and rising living costs.
Macron said there had been “foreign manipulation of information in the aftermath” of the looting reported in Paris and other French cities over the weekend. He criticised the comments made by several foreign leaders in response to the situation, describing them as both unacceptable and foolish.
“And that has led to comments that are as unacceptable as they are stupid, from many people, including foreign leaders,” Macron said.
When a reporter asked whether he was referring specifically to Trump, the French President replied, “Among others”.
Macron also rejected Trump’s assertion that France was being overrun by migrants and Islamists, describing the claim as “completely false”.
He pointed to the circulation of AI-generated images portraying incidents that had never taken place in the country, arguing that such content was contributing to the spread of misleading narratives about the unrest.
“AI-generated images depicting scenes that never actually happened in France. We’ve had people claiming that we were invaded by hordes of migrants and Islamists, which is completely false,” he said.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said his office was prepared to provide the countries concerned with the necessary clarifications to prevent the further circulation of inaccurate information.
He said the assistance would help them avoid spreading or amplifying false claims on social media.
Macron also expressed frustration with those criticising France during the current situation, suggesting that their remarks reflected a lack of goodwill towards the country.
“The fact is, all the people who are speaking ill of our country right now are people who don’t love our country,” Macron said. “So those people really bother me.”
“When I see leaders who are in the middle of election campaigns, whether in the region or on the other side of the Atlantic – who sometimes naively repeat AI-generated content or spread narratives that certain circles are clearly trying to promote about what happened in France – they’re using our country for their own political campaigns… And we don’t need that,” Macron said.
(IANS)
