Headlines: the fate of French people abroad, a real headache for the Quai d'Orsay

Audio 04:47

By: Norbert Navarro

Publicity

Whether they are tourists, businessmen or women or binationals, the French who are abroad and who want to return to France ask, against their will, a " thorny question ", throws in a Le Figaro.

They are from 110 to 130,000 spread all over the world, who want to " return " and who "get impatient ", points out the daily. But as one official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs points out in his columns, " history of international air traffic has never been seen in history ."

However, " in a few hours ", a hundred countries have " suddenly " decided to close their borders to French nationals, to prevent health risks, recalls Le Figaro.

So ? So, " in theory ", what this newspaper calls the " strategy " of the Quai d'Orsay is certainly " simple " - long-term residents (some three million French) are invited to stay at home, except in case of " Health problem "; the others, including many holidaymakers, to return " if they want to ". And can ...

Because " there is a long way from theory to practice ", emphasizes Le Figaro , and the crisis center at Quai d'Orsay is " in turmoil ", the Ministry of Foreign Affairs having been reinforced by an additional team " specially dedicated to coronavirus ".

Forced, among other things, to " negotiate on a case-by-case basis " with each country, the ministry is working like never before to resolve many delicate situations. As in the Philippines or the Dominican Republic, for example, reports this daily, noting that in "a last resort ", France " says it is ready to charter special planes ", to fetch French people stuck here or there, sort of shipwrecked of the coronavirus which will have to be patient because the “ evacuation ” operation is likely to last, warns Le Figaro.

Also in the French press, stricter containment measures immediately in France. More stringent… pending their extension in time:

78 new deaths were recorded in the space of twenty-four hours in France, the number of deaths is now 450 people in hospitals, and that of the sick exceeds 5,000 proven cases. Also, with the additional measures taken this Friday March 20 by the Defense Council in Paris, it is a " new summons " that the government is addressing to the French, launches Le Parisien , as this weekend begins conducive to a possible " loosening of behaviors. It is a " new turn of the screw " intended to make reason to French " always too unruly ", explains this newspaper.

The French, precisely, what can they expect afterwards? Quoted by Le Parisien, a minister summed up: “ The ideal, the one nobody dreams of because you have to be realistic, would be that the epidemic lasts a month and it is over. The second (scenario) is confinement for four months, but can the country hold out? And the third, which seems quite credible: the Chinese scenario where we confine for a month, then we lift the measures a little , "said this minister to the Parisian .

More strictly applied measures, therefore, but also confinement probably longer than the fifteen days initially announced. The daily Liberation warns: in France, " it will probably be necessary to ban travel for at least six weeks ". As this daily puts it on the subject of containment, " it's off to last ".

In any case, the French are worried. The coronavirus scares them. And President Macron reassures them:

An Ipsos survey cited by Le Monde indicates that, when asked, 45% of French people " give a score of 7 to 10 (out of 10) to qualify their level of fear linked to the coronavirus; 84 % believe that the consequences of the pandemic on health in France are "serious", and 47 % even consider them "very serious", points out the evening paper. Referring (without citing them) to other opinion polls, Le Monde stresses, however, that Emmanuel Macron's comments " seem to have had the effect of reducing fear and anger in favor of hope ".

And indeed, " today, a majority of French people (54 %) declare themselves satisfied with the way in which the government manages the file of the coronavirus , notes Le Monde . This is both a lot, given the level of unpopularity suffered by the President of the Republic before the crisis, and little, given the challenges that await him. Because, for the time being, unlike his predecessors in times of major risk, Emmanuel Macron does not manage to achieve the sacred union, even if he now brings with him a significant part of the French. The war, under these conditions, is still far from being won ”, predicted this newspaper.

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