A far-right candidate in France’s upcoming elections is facing hate crime prosecution for unveiling an election poster reading: “Let’s give white children a future.” Pierre-Nicolas Nups of the Parti de la France (Party of France) unveiled the ad earlier this week, causing a stir amongst those who immediately labeled it “racist” and “hateful.”
Among those outraged was Pascal Schneider, the mayor of Neuves-Maisons, one of the biggest towns in the 5th constituency of Meurthe-et-Moselle, where Nups is standing for election.
“This poster is nothing more or less than a rag that sullies the city, the canton, the entire department,” Schneider said. He then took his complaint to the local prosecutors and is seeking a charge to be filed against Nups.
Speaking to L’est Républican, Schneider claimed to have received a number of calls from citizens over the poster, which features an artistic rendition of the face of a young boy with blue eyes and blond hair.
“Many fellow citizens called me this morning to express their indignation,” Schneider said. “This poster, which has been found near schools, is stigmatizing and discriminatory. In form, as in substance, it is unacceptable.”
But Nups appears to be undeterred, and replied: “I approved this poster. It is neither sectarian nor exclusive. On the contrary, it delivers a positive message, a message of hope for our youth, and nothing else. And if anyone sees anything else in it, it would be a malicious interpretation.”
Parti de la France was founded in 2009 by French far-right political personality Carl Lang. Lang had formerly been a Member of European Parliament with the National Front (presently known as the National Rally), but broke away from the party after the retirement of Jean-Marie Le Pen.
While Parti de la France does not currently have any elected representatives in the National Assembly or European Parliament, it is possible that they could benefit from the wave of popularity right-wing parties are experiencing in France.
Support for France’s largest right-wing party, the National Rally, is currently surging under the leadership of Marine Le Pen, with recent polls showing they are clearly leading over the leftwing Popular Front and President Emmanuel Macron’s centrists. Their success is being credited to their hard-line immigration stance.
Macron has warned that a National Rally victory would lead to “civil war” in France, as the party has promised to deport illegal migrants and slash legal immigration. While appearing on the “Generation Do It Yourself” podcast, Macron said: “I think that the solutions given by the far-right are out of the question, because it is categorizing people in terms of their religion or origins and that is why it leads to division and to civil war.”
An early legislative election is set to happen in two rounds, starting on June 30 and continuing on July 7, that will see 577 representatives elected to the National Assembly.
