France is now going through difficult times after a series of blows to the country's image. Several defense contracts torn up behind our backs are, of course, strong. Stronger is the way it was all furnished and done, without the knowledge, behind the back. Reputational slap in the face. Macron is silent. This is understandable: he tries not to draw even more attention to this whole story. Here, before the elections, it would be good for him to switch to some kind of internal successes, since he did not work out with external ones. But what is it! Every week there are demonstrations against sanitary measures, firing unvaccinated doctors, and to all this have been added official accusations against the former Minister of Health Agnes Busen.
She is charged with an article - creating a threat to life. It is believed that it was her actions that led to the fact that at the very beginning of the pandemic, France was absolutely unprepared to meet the virus. First, there was not enough protection, not only for ordinary people, but even for doctors who worked with infected patients. I remember these doctors, who several times put on the same gowns, signed which side should not be touched, wore the same mask for many hours, contrary to the recommendations, disposable gloves were not thrown away - there were no extra ones. Patients brought their own to the doctors. Instead of the required 1.5 billion masks, only 110 million were in storage.
That in Belgium, that in France, after the bird flu epidemic, they decided not to replenish the reserves, but, on the contrary, to reduce. Respirators are inconvenient, cumbersome, not obvious, as the officials decided then. In part, the task of ensuring the protection of workers was shifted to the employer. In general, by the time the epidemic began, the situation in the warehouses was catastrophic. Macron apparently did not know about this: he said that everything was in order, they could provide for everyone. Not even the doctors had enough. Former Minister Busen said in January 2020 that surgical masks are "completely useless" for people who are not carriers of the infection. This is also one of the points of accusation now.
She also said that the risks to the French population are minimal and there is no need to panic. Then she changed her mind, realized that a tsunami was coming on them. Required to check all stocks of protective equipment, including masks, resuscitation beds and ventilators, initiated the first order for a million FFP2 respirators. True, they ended abruptly in the world then, supply interruptions and delays began. In short, it was too late.
The ex-minister says that she cried when leaving her post because she realized that something terrible was coming.
She was then very much asked to participate in the election of the mayor of Paris.
Benjamin Griveaux claimed the position from the Macron party, but our fugitive actionist artist Pyotr Pavlensky ruined his political career by publishing intimate videos and intrigues of an exemplary family man Griveaux with an unmarried lady.
And then Agnes Busen jumped into the race in the last carriage.
Then she took third place: there was neither time nor opportunity for an election program, and its popularity among Parisians is not too high.
Many then doubted the advisability of holding elections at all: nevertheless, the epidemic was gaining momentum, and the arrival of people at the polling stations could only contribute to this.
Busen herself called the March 2020 municipal elections a masquerade.
She said this two days after the vote, told how she was afraid to come to every meeting, how she thought only about the coronavirus.
Then she also regretted what she had said, they say, she used too harsh an expression.
In any case, almost all the bumps have fallen on her now.
An unprecedented influx of complaints from a wide variety of people and collectives was recorded by the Court of the Republic - the only body in France authorized to try members of the government for actions committed in the line of duty.
Created in 1993 under François Mitterrand.
Prosecutors received more than 18 thousand complaints, and about a dozen were attached to the case.
Interestingly, French journalists noticed that many of these papers were drafted like a carbon copy using a special website, where the application took only a few minutes and cost about two euros.
The page was created by the 47-year-old lawyer Fabrice di Visio - he got in a hurry during the pandemic, made some money.
A well-known opponent of vaccines and all anti-poisonous measures, he spoke about it from every possible platform.
It's funny that now a case has been opened against him, or rather, a thorough investigation by a special commission on ethics.
Targeting him is television appearances, social media posts, demonstrations, and customer service.
Further, he may face a fine and even expulsion from the bar.
There was no need to exclude: he quickly closed the site under the pretext that it was too expensive for him, closed his association and stopped the work of his office. He intends to move away from public activities in order to enjoy his family and horses - he is fond of horse riding. He explained his unexpected decision by the fact that he was constantly threatened and he was tired of it. But he managed to create a wave of indignation against the former minister. She, too, by the way, faces a fine of 15 to 30 thousand euros and up to two years in prison for deliberately avoiding the fight against the pandemic.
On a tangent, this story has already touched both the current Minister of Health, Olivier Veran, and the former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.
They were all searched.
French observers write that all this creates a very bad precedent when any official can be involved for any of his decisions, which will be appreciated by a loud minority.
For example, take the capture of the French hostage.
Refusal to pay the ransom can be qualified as a deliberate threat to life, or as unwillingness to sponsor terrorism.
Which side to look at.
In Busen's case, the lawsuit is likely to diminish officials' willingness to make important decisions and take responsibility, local journalists say.
I will add on my own: the current French measures, which are considered so effective, can also be questioned.
I talked to the pharmacist at the pharmacy. They have all vaccinated with a popular overseas drug. Only now the reaction of the body was different for everyone. Some have antibodies, others have zero. But at the same time, everyone has the same rights. That is, each of them can go to a mass event by removing the mask there. But at the same time, the degree of security is different. This means that one can get sick, but they will still be allowed in, because there is a QR code, and the other will not be allowed, because the vaccine, for example, is not politically approved, and the antibodies are cosmic. It is illogical. And pharmacists themselves admit this, but shrug their shoulders.
As well as restaurateurs, who, by the way, do not ask for any passes in the outback.
And in the city, yes, everything is demonstrative.
But, having made the same antigen yesterday, you may well become infected today, and according to the rules, you must still be allowed in.
This is what I mean.
It seems to me that there are no universal solutions, there are obvious blunders for which ... yes, people will probably demand punishment of those responsible, especially those who lost their loved ones during the epidemic.
But you can just as well judge everyone and everything for every step.
This is unlikely to help overcome the sanitary crisis, it is unlikely that the ex-minister's fine will console the victims, but it can be successfully used in the political struggle.
Moreover, a little more than six months remain before the elections.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.