Thousands of angry French protesters have gathered in the
French capital to call for the country’s withdrawal from the US-led NATO
military alliance. The protesters have also called for the resignation of the
country’s President Emmanuel Macron.
The demonstration reflects similar rallies being held across
Europe in opposition to their respective government’s support for the war in
Ukraine. The constant supply of arms by mainly NATO members has prolonged the
conflict in Eastern Europe, leading to the suffering of civilians caught up in
the cross fire.
When Russia expressed legitimate concerns about the NATO
military’s eastward expansion toward its border, it opened the door to
discussion, negotiation and proposals on security guarantees. However, these
were ignored which many critics said, at the time, will lead to a military
confrontation that will hurt ordinary Europeans. In this case, Ukrainian
civilians are suffering from the human cost and ordinary civilians are falling
into poverty.
Russia’s sense of insecurity in the face of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization seemed quite genuine, but critics say the media
coverage has dismissed Moscow's initial concerns.
Opposition to NATO has been strong in Europe. The military alliance’s
summits are always met with anti-war demonstrations. In June this year,
protesters marched during an anti-NATO rally ahead of the summit that was held
in Madrid. The organizers said the American-led military alliance is not the
solution to the war in Ukraine. US arms manufacturers have made lucrative
profits from the war.
Last month, an estimated 70,000 people protested in Prague
against the Czech government, calling on the ruling coalition to do more to
control soaring energy prices and voicing opposition to the European Union and
NATO.
For many years, the Kremlin has made it clear that if NATO
continued to mass troops and weapons on the Russian border, the expansion would
likely be met with serious resistance by the Russians, even with military
action. That view was not just limited to Russian officials. Even some
prominent American foreign policy experts backing the same possible scenario.
The current director of the CIA, William Burns, has been warning about the
provocation and consequences of NATO’s expansion on Russia for more than 20
years now.
On the other hand, Europe’s decision to cave into American
pressure and impose unprecedented sanctions on Moscow has heavily restricted
the gas supplies to the continent which have instead pushed energy prices up,
leaving many in poverty. Europe relied on 40% of Russian gas before the
conflict erupted.
The shortage of energy on the continent and rising prices
for the fuel has been met with angry voters bringing down governments at the
polling stations.
A recent poll by Elabe reveals that support for anti-Russian
sanctions is on the decline across France. The survey shows only 40% of the
French population are in favor of the anti-Russian sanctions. The poll also
reveals that 32% of French people think the anti-Russia sanctions must be
restricted to diminish their effect on the livelihoods of the French people.
The opposition French Patriots party again called for the
demonstrations after the initial protests that took place on September 3rd. The
protesters want Macron to leave office and withdraw from both NATO and the
European Union.
The French government, like others in Europe, is adopting or
considering various emergency measures ahead of the winter, such as the
possibility of three-hour power outages in the United Kingdom.
As inflation levels are biting, a group of French
intellectuals, including Nobel literature prize winner Annie Ernaux, have urged
people to join the protests being organized by the left for next week. They
accuse President Macron of not doing enough to help the poor cope with high
prices while the profits of some companies are spiking.
The group of 69 signatories, including writers, film
directors and university teachers, said in a text published in the Journal Du
Dimanche that "Emmanuel Macron is using inflation to widen the wealth gap,
to boost capital income at the expense of the rest."
"It is all a matter of political will," said the
text, co-signed by Ernaux, who on Thursday became the first French woman to win
the Nobel Prize for Literature.
The statement also said the government has not done enough
to fight the skyrocketing energy prices and declined to raise taxes on
companies making enormous profits as a result of high inflation.
The signatories have also urged the public to join the
protest march planned for October 16, which is being organized by the political
movement of the France Unbowed party, which this year struck an alliance with
more moderate leftwing parties to form France's largest opposition bloc.
Next week’s protest is being promoted as "against the
high cost of living and climate inaction". It comes as Macron faces stiff
resistance from unions over a planned pensions reform and as strikes by workers
demanding a pay rise from retail to refineries have disrupted parts of the
economy.
There is more misery for the French government as a number
of fuel service stations are grappling with supply problems amid strike action
at refineries run by major oil companies TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil. The
walkout by members of the national trade union center CGT mainly over pay has
disrupted operations at refineries and storage facilities. The industrial
action has forced the government to tap into the country’s strategic reserves.
Environment Minister Christophe Bechu earlier told French
media the government will, for the time being, not be rationing petrol for
drivers or restrict the use of service stations in response to supply problems.
"We haven't reached this point yet," Bechu said when asked if the
government would impose any national measures beyond the bans already in place
in some regions on filling large flat-sided metal containers for storing or
transporting petrol.
The strikes at the refineries of ExxonMobil and
TotalEnergies will continue, union officials at both companies have said. “It
is continuing everywhere,” a CGT representative said, adding that there had
been no contact from TotalEnergies since Saturday’s call by the union for the
company’s managers to begin talks on pay.
In some areas, the share of affected petrol stations is much
higher than the national average. An interactive map compiled by the website
mon-essence.fr, where more than 100,000 users have reported outages in recent
days, shows a large majority of petrol stations in and around Paris were marked
out of service.
Across France, long queues have been seen outside fuel
stations. "The waiting line will take you at least one-and-a-half hours or
two", motorist Jean Galibert said as he entered the last stretch of a
700-metre tailback in front of a Paris service station. Another motorist,
Franck Chang, said, "This situation right behind me reflects the state of
France. We're struggling."
Reports say the strikes have reduced France's total refinery
output by more than 60% which will be seen as another blow to the French
government. On Sunday, TotalEnergies claimed to have offered to bring forward
wage talks, in response to union demands, as it strongly seeks to end the
industrial action that has disrupted supplies to almost a third of French
petrol stations.
Amid warnings that energy shortages and rising inflation are
set to extend in coming winter, further protests and anger at governments’
economic policies across Europe are expected to expand.
