5 days ago
Ségolène Royal warns against serious consequences from the French Interior Minister's policy
While the French Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, has begun to implement his strategy labeled as 'racist' due to its targeting of a community with a single religious background, namely Islam, political and academic voices are rising, warning against giving him free rein to disrupt the stability and harmony of the fragile French society, which is characterized by its diverse races, religions, and conflicting ideologies.
In this context, the former minister and former candidate for the 2007 French presidential elections, Ségolène Royal, warned against the dangers of targeting the Muslim community with political projects that lack consensus in France. She pointed out that unleashing the attack on Islam and its followers a political project is fraught with significant risks to social cohesion.
The leftist politician, who represented the Socialist Party and faced former President Nicolas Sarkozy, described what is happening in the French political scene as a 'comedy' while commenting on the report prepared by the French Ministry of the Interior about the 'Muslim Brotherhood' or what is commonly referred to as 'Islamic infiltration,' during a talk show on the 'BFM TV' channel.
Ségolène Royal said: 'We don't need a report and a meeting of three ministers… this is a comedy,' noting that French President Emmanuel Macron had gathered Prime Minister François Bayrou, the ministers of sovereignty, the Interior led by Bruno Retailleau, Foreign Affairs led by Jean-Noël Barrot, and Justice led by Gérald Darmanin last Wednesday. This meeting was dedicated to discussing the report on what they call 'Islamic infiltration,' which Bruno Retailleau's office had previously leaked for purely political purposes.
At the same time, the Minister of the Interior, who recently became the head of the right-wing 'Republicans' party, chaired a meeting in Nanterre on Monday, May 26, 2025, dedicated to combating the 'Muslim Brotherhood.' He promised to 'make the state more effective in its fight against political Islam,' in preparation for a detailed report to be submitted to French President Emmanuel Macron by the beginning of July.
Bruno Retailleau calls for the creation of a hierarchical organization, supported by regional intelligence, to identify 'Islamic ecosystems' composed of associations, companies, or businesses. He also proposes expanding the grounds for dissolving associations, a measure he considers effective despite the criticism he faces from many political figures and experts in Islam in France.
Ségolène Royal responded to Bruno Retailleau, accusing him of shirking his responsibilities and engaging in political projects that only serve his personal interests. She emphasized in her interview with the television channel that 'political responsibility is about solving problems, not demonizing youth and blaming a specific community,' as she put it.
The former presidential candidate warned against the dangers of continuing to target the Muslim community, which has encouraged some right-wing extremists to attack women and elderly women: 'There are those who have become bold enough to remove the hijab from women's heads in the street, including elderly women… Look at where we have reached!'
The new leader of the French right (the Minister of the Interior) aims to strengthen measures tightening the noose on what he describes as 'Islamic infiltration,' which is a system of anti-extremist Islamic cells (CLIR). These measures exist in all departments and include representatives from various government services, from the Ministry of Education to Health. They aim to 'address Islamic ecosystems,' with the goal of conducting a 'diagnosis of the Islamist phenomenon' in the administration and 'gathering' information to deal with it.
Bruno Retailleau wants to go further by deploying enhanced rapid intervention forces in the most affected departments by 'Islamic infiltration.' This measure aims to further strengthen field surveillance, for example in sports clubs, cultural associations, and educational institutions.
The former minister and leader of the Socialist Party considers that what the Minister of the Interior is doing, along with those who support him in this direction, is futile, because 'the girls do not wear the headscarf and it is not present in schools.' However, she emphasized that 'mothers who come to accompany their children to and from school can wear the headscarf.'
Segolene Royal also warned against the backlash from the racist policy targeting the Muslim community: 'Let us all remember that this is what laid the groundwork for anti-Semitism due to the terrible repression between the two world wars, it was the same words, the same way of doing things, and the same results as well.'
