The French president hasn’t just lost his touch, he is enabling the populism he was supposed to defeat
I was on a train from Bratislava to Budapest recently when I found myself contemplating France and its recent predicament. The purpose of my journey through central Europe was to observe the seeds of the “illiberal democracy” that is proclaimed by Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, and challenged by Emmanuel Macron. I’d travelled from my mature democracy to a region of Europe where autocratic nationalists have firmed up their power by playing on people’s fears and resentment.
My perspective is that of a privileged French woman born on the right side of the iron curtain. I come from the birthplace of human rights, and was going to talk with people who have elected leaders who oppose the values of public freedom and tolerance of difference, equality between women and men, checks and balances – everything that represents the strength and unity of Europe. My country France is governed by a young, democratic and charismatic president. And so I felt affection, sadness and anxiety for them, as they were not lucky enough to live on our side of the continent.
Continue reading...from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2KHryaw
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