In the spotlight: the health pass soon available for French expatriates
Audio 05:26
More than 200,000 people demonstrated throughout France this Saturday, July 31 against the entry into force of the "health pass".
© AP / Michel Euler
By: Norbert Navarro
13 mins
Publicity
Although vaccinated, French expatriates returning to France cannot obtain the health pass, the Secretary of State for Tourism Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne announces in
Le Journal du Dimanche
the establishment of this system with the Minister of Europe and of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian.
“
From this week, our compatriots will be able to submit their request.
To receive a QR code, it will suffice to send proof of vaccination (for vaccines approved by the European Union or their equivalents), with an identity document and proof of residence abroad (…) This will be very simple,
”assures Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne in
Le JDD
.
The "antivax" movement does not weaken
In France, the “anti-tax” protest movement is gaining momentum.
More than 200,000 people demonstrated during the third consecutive Saturday protest against the extension of the health pass and the compulsory vaccination of caregivers.
"
The mobilization is not weakening, on the contrary,
" notes
Le Parisien Dimanche
.
Which newspaper insists on this mobilization "on the rise".
A movement of revolt that defies predictions during this holiday period for the French, usually not conducive to large-scale mobilizations, and which, beyond the only health pass, seems in fact to directly target Emmanuel Macron.
"
Never had the Elysee been found so much in the front line, in the street, in the media and in the democratic game as these last four years and, a fortiori, these last weeks
", indicates
L'Express
.
A mistrust that is gaining ground
Although still confused, the foundations of this social movement are increasingly seen as reflecting the new socio-political divides in France.
As
L'Express
again remarks
, "
within the far-right fringe of the movement can be distinguished a fairly new and potentially dangerous form of anti-state ideology
".
According to this magazine, it is also "
the course set, recently and inevitably, on compulsory vaccination which is indicative of the ideological turmoil in part of the country
".
For
L'Express
, “
the vision of the French world, in this period of crisis, is like magma.
Thus, on the left, the unions are experiencing an advanced demographic crisis and the vaccine crisis gives rise to “anti-ax” opinions swarming in many of their federations (…) It is this magmatic reality of French society (…) leaving mistrust towards the authority of knowledge, letting activist minorities gain ground, which is that of French society a few months before an election which should be crucial, the presidential election of 2022,
”warns
L'Express
.
The Tunisian President's coup
In Tunisia, on July 25, President Kaïs Saïed decided to dismiss the Prime Minister and put Parliament on hold. In Western chanceries, embarrassment and concern are evident. In the magazine press too. This is evidenced by
L'Obs,
which emphasizes the “
frozen features
”, the “
incantatory phrasing
”, the “
rigid approach
” of President Kaïs Saïed.
The weekly
Le Point
denounces a "
coup
" by Kaïs Saïed, a Tunisian president who finds himself "
alone in the
driver's seat
".
But what is certain is that "
all the decisions that he will take alone will make it possible to understand whether Tunisia is heading towards an Egyptian-style destiny (authoritarian drift) or towards a consolidation of its democratic gains
", states
Le Point.
.
Which newspaper deplores it, "
the country which launched the Arab Spring is once again plunging into the unknown
".
A challenge for Europe and Africa
But this Tunisian crisis goes far beyond Tunisia alone. Today is a challenge launched to Europe and Africa. And
Le Point
, once again, underlines it. President Kaïs Saïed gave in to "
the Caesarist temptation
", in reference to the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar of course.
However, predicts this weekly, “
the isolation of the Head of State as well as the enormity of the challenges he faces cast a shadow on his chances of raising the bar. The epidemic is galloping in a very poorly vaccinated population and Tunisia is today the African country where the most people die from Covid in proportion to the population. Tourism, the main source of foreign exchange, has dried up. Public debt reaches 100
% of gross domestic product. Negotiations with the IMF for a $ 4 billion line of credit have been stalling for months. Tunisia is at bay
”, deplores
Le Point
.
However, neighboring Algeria and Morocco are not better off.
Noting that "
European countries rely more and more on the Maghreb States to control the migratory wave, including from sub-Saharan Africa
", this weekly sighs: "
Might as well rely on quicksand.
Still blind, like Jacques Chirac in his time, to the aspirations of the peoples of the Maghreb, Europe contemplates, without a coherent plan or a common strategy, the slow collapse of the southern shore of the Mediterranean
”, laments
Le Point
.
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