France Denounces Right-Wing Mayors Over Taking Down EU Flags
The backlash comes after municipal elections last month, in which Marine Le Pen’s right-wing National Rally (RN) made significant gains, winning dozens of small and mid-sized towns and more than tripling its number of mayoral and council seats compared to the previous election.
In a symbolic move, some newly elected RN mayors removed EU flags from town halls at the start of their terms. In at least two cases, the mayors personally took down the flags and shared videos of the act on social media. One official stated that the only “worthy” flag is the French tricolor.
“This is a betrayal of who we are,” Barrot wrote on X on Tuesday. “This [EU] flag is the flag of a possible hope; it is the flag of freedom, justice, and democracy,” he emphasized.
Led by Marine Le Pen and party president Jordan Bardella, the Euroskeptic RN is France’s largest opposition party, holding a plurality of parliamentary seats. The party has long argued that EU policies weaken French sovereignty, particularly in areas such as borders, migration, and economic regulations. It advocates stricter immigration and asylum rules, prioritizes French citizens in social benefits, and supports reforms that would give national law precedence over EU directives.
While the RN once promoted a referendum on leaving the EU—“Frexit”—as a key issue in its 2017 campaign, the party has since moved away from that position.
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