TWTW: The World This Week #95 + Elections 2024: Europe

Europe & France...heading to a cliff? ... Trumproofing the world ... Albania's migrant solution ... In Africa, a junta-democracy clash ... heading off Olympic crime ... Chappatte's cartoon castle

In this weekly feature for Andelman Unleashed, we again combine our mission to explore how the media of other nations are reporting and commenting on the United States, and how they are viewing the rest of the world with our reporting on the electoral angst gripping France and other corners of Europe.

Elections 2024:  Europe and France cope

The final results are in, and a host of newly-minted, ultra-right Euro MPs are packing their bags for Brussels as the continent begins to wrestle with the on-the-ground results of last week’s balloting and the trauma-to-come in France, not to mention an island off the coast of and increasingly divorced from Europe (Britain).

Several of the world’s most talented cartoonists—members of the extraordinary collective Cartooning for Peace—have already expressed themselves … so again, let’s turn to a mini-gallery: 

At first blush, Emmanuel Macron, dissolving his National Assembly and calling for new national elections, seemed bent on driving France’s thriving democracy over a cliff after the far-right—long a thorn in his side—seized the lead in voting for the new Europarliament. But not so fast….

I’ve had some thoughts, based on my very long experience with political extremes in Europe and especially in France, that I expressed in my CNN column at midweek—especially on the lessons Macron might have learned from how his long-ago predecessor François Mitterrand put a stake through the heart of his perpetual nemesis at that time, the French Communist Party…

I then discussed all this at greater link on Sirius’ POTUS channel, first with the inimitable Steve Scully….

…the next day with the great Brian Ross in for the incomparable Laura Coates….

But the real fun began as the week was ending. First, in France it seemed, as Macron devoutly hoped, the political right-wing was tearing itself apart….while, ironically, the left was coming together as it has not for decades….Or, as Le Monde put it in its lead p.1 story:

The fear, in large stretches of France, especially demonstrated by the securities markets which have taken a beating since last Sunday, is that a far-right government in Paris could shred an already fragile French economy. As a leading Swiss daily, Le Temps pointed out:

But let’s leave France aside for the moment. There are, after all, 26 other countries in the European Union, all of which voted last weekend to send a new slate of legislators to Brussels for the next five years. In a kaleidoscope of nations, especially Germany, the far-right, often tied closely with Vladimir Putin, found itself frighteningly resurgent,

Who will lead Europe now seems to be top of mind for our pair of adept Brussels-watchers—Andelman Unleashed SubStack colleagues David Carretta and Christian Spillmann, in their indispensable La Matinale Européenne, observing:

Since 2009, the choice of Commission president has been linked to the result of the European elections and since 2014, each major European party has designated its champion, the Spitzenkandidat (lead candidate) for the office. The system dictates that the candidate of the largest party is nominated by the council of heads of state and government, if he [or she!] is able to obtain the support of a majority coalition in the Assembly.

The enormous score of the far-right parties in France in the European elections has changed the situation. The presidential majority came out of a crushing vote and Emmanuel Macron decided to “turn the tables,” but in France. He dissolved the National Assembly and called early legislative elections on June 30 and July 7 with the desire to block the path of Marine Le Pen. Will he also want to turn the tables on the European Council in order to counter the EPP's proposed agreements with the nationalist parties of the European Conservatives and Reformists (CRE) group to have Ursula von der Leyen elected by Parliament?

Probably not, as it turns out … but then, we’ve now had the G-7….with the leaders seeking good works amidst turmoil.

How others see America

Looking UP ?!

While the world was looking inward, the leaders of the world’s richest nations—all democracies, for the moment at least—gathered in Italy for the G-7 summit. High on their agenda seemed to be protecting their highest priorities from the scythe that most believed will be wielded by Donald Trump, should American voters give him a second shot at dismantling forces of democracy, indeed much of the mechanism that has held the ‘free world’ together in recent years.

As seven paratroopers came floating out of the Italian skies, the leaders of the world’s most developed nations plus the EU huddled under the benevolent gaze of their host—Italy’s far-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni. She herself, as it happens, was basking in the unheard-of strength (amongst her besieged fellow leaders) of a comfortable victory for her party that rode to power nearly two years ago.

As Marc Beise , Nicolas Richter , Borgo Egnazia put it in the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung [SZ] :

The G7 summit is intended to show that the West stands together—for now, anyway. The fear of a return of Donald Trump is clear. And Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz are politically under attack…

Putin should know that the West stands together, but on the other hand the West itself does not know how long it can keep this going. In November, the isolationist Republican Donald Trump could be elected the next US president, and in January 2025 he would replace Biden. Trump thinks little of Ukraine and even less of the US spending its money on its defense. In the coming year, aid from America could dry up and Zelensky might be forced to accept peace on Putin's terms.

Biden and the Western allies want to take precautions against this…with long-term financial aid, with a binding agreement. Only one person seems to represent the future here: the host. G-7 President Giorgia Meloni, 47 years young and full of energy, welcomes, smiles, sets the agenda. Unlike Trump, Meloni is a staunch supporter of Ukraine. In domestic politics, however, she is far to the right and wants to make a name for herself with the fight against irregular migration, among other things. This summit is intended to serve this purpose, not the least.

Migration…not just from Mexico

The German daily SZ digs deep into Europe’s migration problem, at the top of the agenda of at least five of the G-7 leaders, with Joe Biden certainly paying close attention:

[Meloni] is pushing hard for agreements to be reached with North African states to prevent refugees from making the life-threatening journey across the [Mediterranean to Italy]….She promised her voters that she would curb migration, and she is completely behind schedule. In general, she said in her opening speech, Africa is "of fundamental importance for all of our futures". The continent requires "a different approach to the one we have often adopted in the past".

Seen from [the Italian resort of Borgo Egnazia, scene of the G-7], Albania lies across the sea, Meloni's land of promise, where she is currently having two [migrant] camps built with the active help of her friend Edi Rama, the socialist head of government.

They are to take in refugees caught on the high seas and process their asylum applications under Italian law. A legally complicated project that human rights organizations are fighting against. How it will work is still unclear, but more and more leaders in Europe are warming to the idea. Meloni could set the direction here, and she has also resolved to use this summit to finally move up into the top league of international politics, and the others are apparently letting it happen.

Again, with Donald Trump on all their minds.

As for how the other side sees all this, the Russian daily Pravda had its own particular take on Macron and especially the EU:

First. of course, Macron never threatened to resign. Second, Macron has hardly been at the forefront of any fantasy of a ‘war party’ in Europe.

Then there’s Britain, facing its own tsunami just as the French will be recovering from theirs … as one Telegraph columnist worried:

How others see the World

There’s always Ukraine…and Trump

While Joe Biden headed for home after the G-7, arriving in Washington in the middle of the night, only to take off again for a fund-raising at the same time, Vice President Kamala Harris was heading to Switzerland to take the U.S. place at the table for a Ukraine peace summit. A wild footnote (who knew?) from Danny Kemp of AFP, the White House pool reporter:

….the President did not attend the G7 dinner, and only stayed for the entertainment portion by Andrea Bocelli, because the G7 schedule was running late, and he had to depart to be back in US airspace in time for VP Kamala Harris to leave for the Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland.

Anyway, her destination was a 93-nation summit designed to shore up support for a Ukraine that can bring a winning hand to any future (for real) peace conference and at the same time move toward Trumproofing western support for Ukraine.

That latter objective was coming into focus, as The New Voice of Ukraine reported:

NATO defense ministers have agreed on a plan to transfer control of the alliance's arms supply to Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said….NATO will take on a greater role in coordinating the supply of weapons to Ukraine, taking over from the United States to protect the aid mechanism, as support for Ukraine could be jeopardized if Donald Trump wins the U.S. presidential election.

"These efforts do not make NATO a party to the conflict but they will enhance our support to Ukraine to uphold its right to self-defense," said Stoltenberg. This move is widely seen as an attempt to provide some "protection from Trump."

Meanwhile, just outside Lucerne, the pressure was for a workable peace in Ukraine. As the local daily, Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported:

Zelenski wants to mobilize the world for a "just peace." Representatives from 93 countries and eight international organizations took their family photo and talked about the path to peace in Ukraine.

At the start of the Bürgenstock Conference, Viola Amherd immediately dampened expectations. "We will not be able to proclaim peace for Ukraine," the Swiss President explained in her opening remarks on Saturday afternoon. The aim this weekend is more modest, said Amherd: the aim is to initiate a process towards peace.

Absent entirely were Russia and China, though President Zelenski saw the breadth of global commitment to Ukraine’s battle for democracy as encouraging, adding, according to France 24:

He would present Moscow a proposal for ending the war once it had been agreed by the international community. "We must decide together what a just peace means for the world and how it can be achieved in a lasting way," he said.

And then there’s Africa

What happens when one nation run by a military junta comes up against a neighbor still a democracy? Let’s let Morgane Le Cam of Le Monde Afrique explain:

The financial stakes are colossal for Niamey, Porto-Novo and Beijing. Inaugurated in November 2023, the Agadem oil pipeline, 2,000 km long, should allow more than 90,000 barrels of oil to transit every day from the fields of eastern Niger to the Beninese coast. But since then, the export of crude through this pipeline—which represents an investment of more than 7 billion dollars on the part of China, according to an official Beninese source—has been hampered by Niger's refusal to reopen its border [to imports from] Benin, closed off following the 2023 putsch in Niger [and Benin’s refusal to recognize the junta’s rule].

A decision which weighs heavily on the Beninese economy, because import-export from and to Niger represents almost a third of the annual traffic of the port of Cotonou. Mired in a serious economic crisis since its putsch, the Nigerien junta is [equally] counting on oil money to replenish the state coffers.

Don’t forget the Olympics …

If you had any fear of being pilfered during your Olympics outings this summer, the French cops (they hope) are one step ahead of you. As Le Parisien reported:

The biggest network of Paris metro thieves dismantled before the Olympics

A vast search by the [police] for the fight against organized crime resulted in the arrest of 17 people from the Ivorian community. Foreign tourists were their targets.

Such a network has never been dismantled in the Paris metro. 17 people, adults and almost all living in Île-de-France, were arrested at dawn during a vast search carried out by the sub-directorate for the fight against irregular immigration. (SDLII) and regional transport security (SRT)—2 police services which worked under the authority of a Parisian investigating magistrate.

All the suspects, belonging to the Ivorian community, are said to be part of a criminal organization which specialized in pickpocketing, exclusively in the Paris metro. Their targets were always the same: tourists coming to spend a few days in the capital. Impossible to determine the number of victims. “Foreigners unfortunately very rarely file complaints,” sighs an official.

This dragnet comes less than two months before the start of the Olympic Games in the capital. Since last year, special instructions have been given by the police chief to dismantle teams targeting foreign tourists.

The [police unit] specializing in foreign networks has brought down eight members of the “Scorpions”, a Romanian organized crime group expert in the game of bonneteau [or three-card-monte], Egyptians who were fiddling with fake Navigo [metro] passes, and more simply, the street sale of small Eiffel Towers.

And that’s if you can even get there by Metro. For two months starting July 1, the metro stations Tuileries and Concorde (itself a major transit hub for multiple lines) will be shuttered.

Finally, there’s …. Chappatte

But before we get to our Swiss cartoonist, there’s some disturbing news from Teheran where the Cartooning for Peace collective reported:

We are dismayed to learn that the Iranian activist, artist, and cartoonist Atena Farghadani has been sentenced to a total of six years in prison; five years for “insulting the sacred” and one year for “propaganda against the State”.  This sentence was handed down by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Revolutionary Court….The maximum penalties are indicative of the Iranian regime’s long-standing determination to persecute and silence this courageous rights defender.

….who Andelman Unleashed first headlined on April 21 had been seized and imprisoned yet again.

Plus, from Moscow….where The Wall Street Journal reported newly disturbing news for its imprisoned reporter:

Russian prosecutors said they have approved an indictment of Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter held in Russia for over a year, falsely accusing him of espionage and referring his case to a trial court, where he could face a series of secret, closed-door hearings.

Winding up back in Europe, Chappatte—the great Swiss cartoonist and co-founder of Cartooning for Peace—imagines the far-right National Rally prepared to use the face and body of their leader, Marine Le Pen, as a battering ram to enter Macron’s castle, only to find after taking a few arrows in the door, their very target is holding the door open for them.

Patrick Chappatte, who draws under his last name, is the son of a Swiss father and Lebanese mother and was last featured in Andelman Unleashed on May 19, riffing on the Cannes Film Festival’s list of issues. Born in 1967 in Karachi, Pakistan, he began working for Swiss newspapers, currently dividing his time between Geneva and Los Angeles. He draws regularly for the Geneva daily Le Temps as well as Zurich’s  Neue Zürcher Zeitung and frequently for Le Monde in Paris. In 2012 he became the first non-American to win the Thomas Nast Award of the Overseas Press Club of America. And with the Le Monde cartoonist Plantu he founded the inestimable Cartooning for Peace collective.

Here’s how Chappatte imagines himself: