What's new: Europe exposed to escalation in Syria, between Turkey and Russia

Audio 06:25

By: Norbert Navarro

Publicity

The European Union is indeed more than concerned at the heightened tension between Putin and Erdogan, after the death of 33 Turkish soldiers in a bombardment in the battle of Idlib, in the north of Syria.

To gain European support, Turkey threatens to stop retaining migrants on its territory. It is " the blackmail of Erdogan, " says Le Parisien , of a formula that picks up the challenge by the Turkish president imposed on the European Union.

It is " the war spiral ", confirms in A Liberation . Turkey no longer intends to play its role of " buffer ", explains Libé , the Turkish president has threatened to open its borders if Europe did not support him, leaving tens of thousands of refugees to flee to the west from the continent. " It is the only means " at Recep Tayyip Erdogan's disposal to " force Europe " to support it in the face of the Russian-Syrian alliance.

This Russian-Turkish " confrontation " " worries Europe ", summarizes Le Figaro. Which daily denounces the actions of the Turkish president, " the arrogant Sultan calls for help his NATO allies, whose warnings he has conscientiously ignored " and which now calls upon Europe to choose between " this pyromaniac firefighter and the cynical Russian president, who lets perpetrate a humanitarian crime almost worse than those which preceded him : more than 900,000 civilians on the roads, including nearly 200,000 abandoned in the open air, in the cold and the bombs . Be careful, warns Le Figaro , " it would be a serious error to give a blank check to an irresponsible ready to lead us into a conflagration with Russia ".

" What can Europeans do? Wonders the newspaper Le Monde . Highlighting the scale of the Idlib humanitarian disaster, the evening paper points out the combination of military " escalation " and " involvement " of Russia, which leads to a " major moral and political challenge for Europe " .

In France, it is the fear of the coronavirus, which contaminates as its contagion spreads :

Lots of comments (and meditations, it must be admitted) in the morning editorials. On this weekend in France, the coronavirus is raising a feeling of anxiety which has not escaped the French press, which finds it hard to keep quiet this irrational which places it in a delicate situation in front of its readers .

The coronavirus? La Voix du Nord deplores " irrationality " which, according to this newspaper, threatens, and which it calls an " epidemic of fear ",

Philosophically, Le Courrier Picard meditates on this “ major ” health risk which brings us back to “ the place of man on the planet ”. According to this daily in north-central France, with this coronavirus crisis, " man is returned to his condition : not much. See nothing at all . "

In the same philosophical vein, Nice-Matin examines the strange phenomenon that this virus has awakened, which, according to this daily, “ cuts France in two. On the one hand, those who necessarily fear the worst (…). On the other, the matamores quick to (…) proclaim that we must continue to eat life ”.

Faced with this rise in anxiety, the meeting this Saturday morning of a Defense Council around the President of the Republic, will certainly not help matters

Probably. Anxiety perhaps, but as long as to do, the head of state and the government do not want to let develop a " psychosis ", explains La République des Pyrénées , it is especially important not to " repeat Lubrizol " , where the fire at a chemical factory in Rouen sparked an abundance of fake news on social networks. The first concern is therefore " transparency ", underlines this daily newspaper from the south of France.

In passing, La Nouvelle République salutes the performance of the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, who is invited every evening to " provide " a daily update on the latest information verified by his services, on the number of patients, that of people hospitalized, on confirmed outbreaks. " Perilous exercise, stresses this newspaper in the center of the country, because it is about being transparent without worrying ."

And as Le Parisien notes, the Minister of Health has now recommended to avoid the handshake to greet each other. This is " a first " in France, notes Le Parisien.

The Césars to conclude, the " tension " that you anticipated this Friday regarding the awarding of French cinema prizes was well invited during the ceremony:

From the Polanski affair to the controversies over parity or diversity on the screen, passing by the governance crisis within the Caesar academy, it is a real explosive cocktail that has electrified this distribution of prices like never before, moderated by humorist Florence Foresti.

Tension that finally burst when the César for best achievement was awarded to Roman Polanski for his film " J'accuse ", which staged the Dreyfus affair.

Like once the front row moviegoers at the Chaillot Cinematheque in Paris, actress Adèle Haenel, as soon as sacred Polanski, slammed her chair, before theatrically leaving the room, followed closely by the team of the film of which she is the star , in protest against the tribute thus paid to Roman Polanski.

And this Saturday morning, it is on the service of Florence Foresti that the daily Le Parisien emphasizes, stressing that, facing the public, Salle Pleyel, live on TV, the comedian set foot in the dish ", and that it" threw out the " absent " of the evening, novel Polanski, who was entitled, on the part of this humorist, to a " degommage au (sic) kalashnikov "! This Friday evening, Salle Pleyel, French " seventh art " made its cinema.

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• Turkey
• Syria
• Russia