France: strong reaction from the general staff of the armed forces to a new "military forum"
General François Lecointre, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces.
RFI / G.NG
Text by: Franck Alexandre
3 min
After a controversial first text of which some signatories are threatened with sanctions, the ultra-conservative magazine
Valeurs Actuelles
published on Sunday a new forum of French soldiers "
for the survival
" of the country, this time launched by active soldiers and open for signatures. .
A new forum which provoked a strong reaction from the army staff.
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In this text, the signatories call on political leaders to act.
“
This time it is not about media coverage.
It is
,
they write,
the survival of our country
”.
The authors say they “
recently entered the military career
”
and specify that they cannot
“
legally express themselves with their faces uncovered
”,
but
“
that in Mali where they fought, some left comrades there.
They offered their skin
",
they denounce again,
"
to destroy Islamism to which
"
the authorities"
are making concessions on our soil.
".
"
A rude maneuver
", reacted strongly this Monday morning the Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin, mocking the lack of courage of anonymous people.
A message: Go!
On the side of the army staff, we are sure to take this new platform with the necessary hindsight, and we firmly remind ourselves that the military's duty of reserve builds the credibility of the armies.
"
If a soldier does not feel capable of assuming this duty of reserve, he must leave
", insists the staff, adding: "
We cannot sign such a platform and belong to an army loyal to the Republic
”.
"
Apolitism is our credibility and cohesion is what makes our strength,
"
a senior staff officer told RFI on Monday, and added:
"
We can have personal convictions but the armies are strong. absolute loyalty to the elected president, they are subordinate to the head of the armed forces. If you have moods, you have to leave the army.
"
And the success of
this forum
does not fail to question: this Monday morning, it already gathered some 109,000 supporters and had been read more than a million times.
The internal intelligence service of the armed forces, the DRSD, unsuccessfully tried to identify the authors of the text.
In high military circles, we speculate that this could be manipulation from outside.
The Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly denounced "
gross political machination
" which "
uses all the rhetoric, the vocabulary, the tone, the references which are those of the extreme right
", she declared on BFM TV.
►
To listen also: Tribune of soldiers: "It is the political instrumentalisation which forced the government to intervene"
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