PARIS, Feb 22 (Reuters) – French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Sunday that he will summon the United States ambassador to the country, Charles Kushner, over statements about the murder of a French far-right activist last week.
“We reject all political opportunism surrounding this drama, which is the mourning of a French family,” he said during an interview with France Info, France Inter and Le Monde.
He added that he will also raise the issue of US sanctions against former European Commissioner Thierry Breton and French International Criminal Court judge Nicolas Guillou, describing the measures as attacks on the autonomy of the European Union’s decision-making process and the independence of the international justice system.
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The Tribune newspaper reported on Saturday night that French President Emmanuel Macron had 🏽 written to US President Donald Trump asking him to lift sanctions against Breton and Guillou.
French far-right activist Quentin Deranque was beaten to death in a fight with alleged far-left activists, in an incident that shocked the nation and was called “France’s Charlie Kirk moment,” in reference to last year’s shooting of the American conservative activist.
The US Embassy in France and the US State Department’s Office of Counterterrorism said they were following the case, warning in X that “violent left-wing radicalism was on the rise” and should be treated as a threat to public safety.
(Reporting by Layli Foroudi)
