The flag of the European Union, placed on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to celebrate the beginning of six months The French Presidency of the Council of the European UnionIt was withdrawn on Sunday after pressure from Marine Le Pen and other figures from the French far-right.
France’s Minister of State for European Affairs, Clement Bonn, said the flag was removed on schedule, after saying on Friday it would remain at the Arc de Triomphe “for several days”.
“The withdrawal was scheduled for Sunday, and we haven’t set an exact date,” Bonn told France Inter radio.
The minister denied that the French government had yielded to pressure from Marine Le Pen, who said, on Saturday, that she would ask the Council of State to order the removal of the European flag from the Arc de Triomphe.
“The government was forced to remove the European Union flag from the Arc de Triomphe, a national victory in early 2022,” Reuters quoted Le Pen as saying.
For his part, the Minister of State for European Affairs said: “We did not back down, and there was no change in plans.” “I suppose, without reservation, that the fate of France is in Europe.”
Poon also said that Le Pen and other leaders of the far right and conservative right are wrong when they say that the French flag has been loaned, because the national flag is not always on the Arc de Triomphe.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who has not yet confirmed whether he will run for re-election in April, He defeated Le Pen in the second round of the 2017 elections66% to 34%.
Most opinion polls suggest Macron and Le Pen are the two front-runners again to qualify for the second round, in the presidential election in April, with Macron leading expectations for a final victory by a margin lower than in 2017.
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