❌

Normal view

Former MEP Rachida Dati’s 2014 emails derided corruption allegations, which now form core of French trial

29 September 2026 at 18:24

Former French MEP Rachida Dati is facing intense scrutiny following allegations she took lobbying money from French energy giant GDF Suez/Engie during her time at the European Parliament, on top of a separate investigation into her ties with French car maker Nissan-Renault.

The 60-year-old, who was born to Arab parents and started out as a maid, is also a former French culture and justice minister, and now mayor of the affluent 7th arrondissement in Paris.

But she also risks wearing a police ankle-bracelet and faces four years in prison in ongoing trials into her ties with the French companies, which first hit the headlines in 2025.

And back in 2014, when she sat in the European Parliament on the benches of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) group, she threatened to sue EUobserver because we asked her about GDF Suez, which later changed its name to Engie, while deriding the corruption allegations against her as racist slurs.

EUobserver has published below some of the related email correspondence for the sake of transparency:

Dati email from 15 Apr 2014

“Rachida Dati will not hesitate to sue any media which will report such a defamatory statement,” her office also said in an email in 2015, after a German Green MEP, who was spearheading an ethics committee, said she was likely pocketing GDF Suez money.

Dati email from 15 June 2015

The allegedly “defamatory statement” had been made by Gerald Häfner, a former German MEP, who had chaired the parliament’s advisory committee on its Code of Conduct.

Häfner’s supposedly offensive words were:

This article continues, but the full version is available only to EUobserver.com subscribers. Visit account.euobserver.com/membership

France: Macron’s approval rate hits all-time low as fuel crisis worsens

29 September 2026 at 09:17

The popularity of French President Emmanuel Macron and his prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has plummeted due to the ongoing fuel crisis, BFMTV reports, citing a poll conducted by Odoxa-Mascaret for the online broadcaster Public Sénat and regional media.

The poll was conducted last week, ahead of Emmanuel Macron’s speech on rising fuel prices.

The French president’s approval rating has fallen to a historic low of just 18 percent. That is a decrease of as much as 7 percentage points from the end of June.

At the same time, support for the French prime minister fell by 8 percentage points. Currently, 24 percent of the French consider him a good head of government.

The poll shows that 75 percent of respondents in France believe the government’s announced expansion of assistance for frequent long-distance drivers is insufficient. Sixty-two percent argue that the government should allocate more resources to solve the problem, despite France’s budget deficit.

Le Pen wins the French presidential election

A poll conducted for radio station RTL shows that if Marine Le Pen faced Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the candidate of the far-left La France Insoumise party, in the second round of the French presidential election, she would receive 69 percent of the vote and Mélenchon 31 percent.

The poll shows that Le Pen is well poised to crush the far-left contender.

If Marine Le Pen faced Édouard Philippe, the candidate of the centre-right Horizons party, in the second round, she would receive 57 percent of the vote and Philippe 43 percent.

In both scenarios, Marine Le Pen’s lead is larger than in previous similar polls.

For a candidate that has been convicted and attacked for years by the French establishment media, Le Pen’s turnaround is incredible.

The study also shows that in the first round, under various candidate scenarios, Marine Le Pen would come first if the election were held now, with 35 to 36 percent of the vote.

The first round of the French presidential election will take place on April 18, 2027 and the second round on May 2. The election will end 12 days before the end of Emmanuel Macron’s second and final presidential term, which ends on May 14.

The RTL poll was conducted between September 22 and 24 among a sample of nearly 2,000 people .

The post France: Macron’s approval rate hits all-time low as fuel crisis worsens appeared first on Remix News.

France: 93-year-old disabled woman found dead inside her house, naked Sudanese man arrested inside

28 September 2026 at 16:39

A 93-year-old disabled woman, who neighbors described as “the little grandmother of the neighborhood,” was found dead inside her small house in Toulouse on Sunday afternoon. Inside the home, police arrested a naked Sudanese illegal migrant in his 30s, according to French media reports.

Neighbors in the Minimes district, behind the Cité Bourbaki housing complex, called police after hearing prolonged screams and insults coming from the house of the woman, identified by local media as Juliette.

Officers arrived about 5:00 p.m. Sunday and found her body inside. The Sudanese migrant was subsequently removed from the residence, with neighbors telling the press that he was naked and fighting with officers as they tried to restrain him.

One officer was injured in the shoulder, according to accounts given to La Dépêche du Midi and confirmed by the Toulouse prosecutor.

Toulouse prosecutor David Charmatz said the suspect was “in an altered state,” according to witnesses at the scene, and that police subdued him only with difficulty.

A homicide investigation was opened. Charmatz’s office sent a duty magistrate to the scene to oversee detectives and speak with family members who arrived later in the evening.

Police technicians and investigators from the organized and specialized crime division remained at the house for hours. Additional charges could be added as the inquiry proceeds, local reporting said. The precise cause and circumstances of the woman’s death had not been publicly detailed Monday.

Residents described Juliette as a longtime fixture of the street.

“She was the little grandmother of the neighborhood,” one neighbor told La Dépêche, still in shock.

A man in his 30s who lives next door said, “It’s awful. She saw me being born. We used to do her shopping.”

A frightened resident who called emergency services said the shouting “kept going” and that she did not immediately understand where it was coming from.

The suspect remained in custody Monday.

The post France: 93-year-old disabled woman found dead inside her house, naked Sudanese man arrested inside appeared first on Remix News.

France: Anti-immigration influencer says supermarket employee called her a ‘racist’ and ‘dirty whore,’ but supermarket chain threatens her instead

28 September 2026 at 11:30

A French social media influencer known for her criticism of Islam and immigration said a cashier at a Carrefour supermarket called her a “dirty whore” and a “racist” while she was checking out, according to her account of the encounter.

Mila Orriols posted a video Friday of a tense exchange at a Carrefour City store on Rue de la République in central Lyon. In the footage, Orriols tells the employee that she does not bother people while she is at work and that she will speak to his supervisor. As she leaves, she says, “We get revenge every time. Good evening.”

French media that reviewed the video reported that the alleged slurs were not clearly audible, though the employee can be heard using the word “racist” during the confrontation, according to French news outlet LyonMag. Orriols said the employee recognized her before insulting her, at which time she began filming.

Remix News produced a video about the encounter with English subtitles, however, Orriols’ original video garnered over 9 million views on X.

🇫🇷🔴 A supermarket employee called French right-wing activist Mila a "dirty whore" and a "racist," while she was at the checkout, according to her account.

The incident happened at a Carrefour supermarket in Lyon.

The chain, known to support the far-left LFI party, says it will… pic.twitter.com/M24qknI6JC

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) September 28, 2026

Cet employé de Carrefour City à Lyon Rue de la République me reconnaît et me traite de « sale pute » et de « raciste » pendant que je passe en caisse.

J’ai diffusé la vidéo sur Instagram, l’enseigne ouvertement LFIste annonce porter plainte contre moi et ne sanctionnera… pic.twitter.com/EJMAxvUH9q

— Mila ✨ (@milafique) September 25, 2026

Carrefour responded by asking Orriols to remove the video and that it will take action against her.

She has described the chain as openly supportive of the far-left La France Insoumise party. She said she intends to file her own complaint.

The company has not publicly commented on whether it will discipline the employee. Carrefour did not immediately respond to inquiries from French news outlets.

Orriols first drew national attention in 2020, when she was 16, after posting videos criticizing Islam. She received tens of thousands of online death threats and hate messages, was forced to leave school and lived for a time under 24-hour police protection. Several people were later convicted in connection with the threats.

She has said she no longer wants constant police protection, arguing she would rather live freely even if it means a shorter life.

Orriols remains a polarizing figure in France and has faced her own legal proceedings over comments French courts have deemed racist. In December 2025, a Lyon court convicted her of a racist insult over a social media post.

Her post from 2024 on X read: “I’ve noticed that many people with a background of inbreeding have very small foreheads. A huge part of families from North Africa are inbred, and many of them have misshapen and quite ugly faces, as well as very small foreheads. This especially applies to the twisted immigrants who attack us on the street every day.”

She deleted the post 10 minutes after writing it, but someone took a screenshot and filed a complaint.

🇫🇷🔴French feminist activist Mila is being prosecuted for "racist insults" for saying many North Africans are inbred and many have "quite ugly faces."

Her post from 2024 read: "I've noticed that many people with a background of inbreeding have very small foreheads. A huge part… pic.twitter.com/3ITmvabUlD

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 27, 2025

Following the trial, Mila remained defiant, stating that she regrets the form of her comments, but not their content. She also said that scientific studies support her claim that North Africans have high rates of inbreeding.

She has appealed the court ruling against her.

The post France: Anti-immigration influencer says supermarket employee called her a ‘racist’ and ‘dirty whore,’ but supermarket chain threatens her instead appeared first on Remix News.

Le pape Léon XIV achève sa visite historique en France

28 September 2026 at 09:15
Le pape Léon XIV a prononcé lundi un discours au centre des congrès Robert-Schuman de Metz dans lequel il a estimé que l'on ne pouvait parler d'Europe ​sans évoquer le christianisme, tout en dénonçant les "massacres inutiles" liés au retour de la guerre ​sur ‌le Vieux Continent. La journée a ensuite donné lieu à un dernier tour en papamobile au milieu de milliers de fidèles et à une messe à la cathédrale Saint-Étienne, en présence d'Emmanuel Macron. Voici le fil du 28 septembre 2026.

Le pape Léon XIV achève à Metz sa visite en France, Emmanuel Macron présent à la messe

28 September 2026 at 02:58
Pour le dernier jour de visite en France, le pape Léon XIV se rend lundi à Metz, notamment pour célébrer la construction européenne comme source de paix. Le président français Emmanuel Macron assistera à la messe à la cathédrale Saint-Étienne.

Europe was part of the infrastructure of US aggression against Iran: Deputy FM

By: aletho
25 September 2026 at 19:31
Press TV – September 24, 2026

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi has said NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s admission that some 5,000 sorties were flown from European bases in support of US military aggression against Iran proves that Europe formed part of the infrastructure of that aggression.

In a post on X on Thursday evening, Gharibabadi wrote that the NATO chief’s remarks demonstrated Europe’s role in enabling the illegal US campaign.

“Governments that placed their territory at the disposal of the United States cannot evade their responsibility,” he said. “This participation will not go unanswered.”

Rutte has repeatedly acknowledged that thousands of US military flights, between 4,000 and 5,000, departed from bases in Europe during the US-Israeli war of aggression against the Islamic Republic, which began on 28 February.

He described Europe as a “platform of power projection” without which Washington could not have conducted the operation.

Countries including Italy, Romania, the United Kingdom, France and Germany were cited in connection with the use of bases, airspace, tankers and logistics.

Iran has consistently described the US-Israeli assault as an unprovoked act of aggression in flagrant violation of the UN Charter and international law.

Tehran has stressed that providing territory, bases or infrastructure to an aggressor state itself constitutes participation in the act of aggression, as recognized under United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3314.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi separately warned European officials in New York of the severe and long-term consequences of facilitating and supporting US and Israeli war crimes, both in Gaza and against Iran. He noted that submitting to a bully never satisfies that bully.

Hackers From US, France, Singapore Tried to Disrupt Russian Elections – Internet Provider

By: aletho
25 September 2026 at 13:42
Sputnik – 25.09.2026

MOSCOW – Hackers from the United States, France and Singapore attempted to disrupt the remote electronic voting process during the recent State Duma elections, with malicious web traffic originating from IP addresses in over 30 countries, including the UK and Ukraine, Russia’s largest digital services provider Rostelecom said on Friday.

“The most intense attacks originated from networks in unfriendly countries. Malicious traffic came from IP ranges in more than 30 countries, including the UK and Ukraine. Notably, the US, France and Singapore were identified among the primary sources of attacks on the electronic voting infrastructure,” the statement read.

Rostelecom maintained secure communication channels and infrastructure at polling stations during the three-day voting period last week. It set up video surveillance across 89 regions and ensured the cybersecurity and uninterrupted operation of the federal remote electronic voting platform.

Tech experts repelled more than 3,000 waves of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks reaching speeds of up to 1.7 Tbps, blocked over 170 million malicious attempts targeting web services, and prevented unauthorized access to the infrastructure. Efforts focused primarily on preventing voting results from being altered or disclosed prematurely.

The intensity and volume of the attacks exceeded those seen during the previous electoral process in 2024, Rostelecom said. The primary targets were e-government systems, including the Unified System of Identification and Authentication (ESIA) and the Gosuslugi state service portal, as well as Rostelecom’s infrastructure, the remote electronic voting (DEV) system, and the Central Election Commission (CEC).

France: Algerian instructor arrested for rape and sexual violence against children aged 3 to 5 at Catholic nursery in Paris, 20 complaints filed

24 September 2026 at 14:29

A 30-year-old English instructor of Algerian nationality was taken into police custody Tuesday on suspicion of rape, sexual assault and violence against boys and girls ages 3 to 5 at a private Catholic nursery school in Paris, according to sources close to the investigation. More than 20 complaints have since been lodged in the case.

The man, identified as Yasser G., worked for the Cap English Institute and taught introductory English sessions at École Saint-Laurent in Paris’s 10th arrondissement. The Paris judicial police’s Brigade for the Protection of Minors opened an investigation in early July after parents of a 3-year-old girl filed a complaint, according to BFM TV.

Attorney Hugo Latrabe confirmed his client was in custody.

🇫🇷11 staff members are accused of sexual assaults and rapes at the Saint-Dominique nursery school, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France.

"Look at that school behind us, that’s the school where my 3-year-old daughter was raped by several after-school care staff members,"… pic.twitter.com/unvnP8SUjM

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) March 27, 2026

The alleged acts occurred during 30-minute English-language classes for children. Since a 2019 education law, French kindergarten students may receive early language lessons. The instructor entered the school alone, taught small groups in a first-floor “yellow” room without the regular classroom teacher present, and left around 10:45 a.m.

The case comes amid a broader series of investigations into alleged abuse by staff at Paris-area nursery and after-school programs, which Remix News has previously reported on.

The first girl told her parents the teacher was “mean” and had touched her private parts. The family alerted school officials through the École Directe app on May 11. In an email to parents that was later obtained by reporters, management referred to “a filing of a complaint for alleged serious facts in the context of English interventions in kindergarten.” It said “all steps taken with the judicial authorities” had been initiated and that “the alleged person was instantly suspended from all activity as a precautionary measure.” A psychological support unit was also announced.

Parents say the school’s initial response was delayed and inadequate. Management described the first report as “mixed” and gathered children in small groups to ask whether the teacher had been mean to them, a step parents say should have been left to trained investigators. No report was made to the Paris prosecutor’s office at that time, and the instructor was not immediately suspended.

On May 22, the director emailed parents seeking to extend Cap English classes to Wednesdays. Children therefore had about three additional hours with the instructor between May 11 and the end of the school year. Parents of the first girl filed a formal complaint June 22 and notified the school the next day. Cap English then suspended the man and the school reported the matter to prosecutors.

The instructor was not arrested over the summer while investigators conducted child interviews under a lengthy protocol. He had obtained a new position at a management school for the start of the academic year, according to reports.

“We were told not to say anything, not to leak to the press to allow the investigation to move forward,” one mother whose child is not among the alleged victims said. “We are all in shock, we explained to our daughter what happened because the students also talk about it among themselves. Many parents are afraid that the school will struggle and eventually close if the cases are publicized, I believe that this also unfortunately explains the silence. The atmosphere is very tense at school, management communication has been catastrophic from the start. It has to come out.”

The same mother said “drastic measures have since been taken by the new management, no more recourse to external organizations like Cap English, and above all no more hiring of male caregivers for children.” The original director is on sick leave and has been replaced by an interim manager.

Other parents expressed similar anger. One father described “a lot of stress, anxiety… There is a lot of incomprehension.” He said “it’s dramatic that a person was able to act in an ‘industrial’ manner.”

A mother who attended a July meeting said the director repeatedly called the information “mixed,” adding that this “put the parents who were there in a state of irritation even though it’s very clear, a child doesn’t invent things like that.”

Cap English said in a statement published by Le Monde that “one of its former instructors at a private school in Paris has been implicated in serious acts that appear to fall under the penal code.” The company added: “He was immediately removed from all activity with students as a precautionary measure as soon as the school principal informed Cap English of the alleged facts.”

It said required background checks had been completed at the time of hiring “without any information coming to its attention that would have barred him from working with minors” and that it would cooperate fully with investigators.

School management declined to comment Tuesday. The Diocese of Paris, which oversees the Catholic school, did not respond to inquiries.

The post France: Algerian instructor arrested for rape and sexual violence against children aged 3 to 5 at Catholic nursery in Paris, 20 complaints filed appeared first on Remix News.

‘I’m not a bad guy’ – African migrant accused of raping 8-year-old girl in the French city of Brest

23 September 2026 at 20:41

An African illegal migrant is accused of raping an 8-year-old girl in the French city of Brest in August 2026. He remains in pre-trial detention and has already been issued a deportation order.

The suspect is a 41-year-old man from the Comoros who lives in Le Mans without legal status and was visiting Brest. Prosecutors say the alleged attack happened in an apartment after the child’s mother had left. The girl also described a similar incident earlier in August.

The young victim and her mother went to the Brest police station on August 29, 2026 to report the events that occurred that morning.

According to prosecutors, the man had come to “see friends” in Brest, including a friend at the victim’s apartment. The Comorian suspect allegedly took the child to another room in the apartment when her mother left.

He then undressed her while putting “his hand over her mouth to prevent her from making any noise.” The child then described the man raping her, according to French news outlet Actu.

Afterwards, he “gave her cakes” in order to silence her, prosecutors allege.

After the mother and daughter filed a complaint with police the same day as the alleged rape, the African suspect was arrested.

In police custody, the suspect told police he had “made a mistake” and he had “rubbed” his penis against the little girl, but claimed he did not penetrate the girl.

“I’m not a rebel, I’m not a bad guy, I’m not a killer,” he told police.

While the suspect requested to be released before his trial, the court rejected his request and he remains in pre-trial detention. The Rennes appeals court refused to release him, citing the risk of him reoffending.

He has been charged with rape and sexual assault of a minor and for intimidation of a child to prevent her from reporting the incident.

The Comorian man has been in France illegally since 2021 and was unemployed when the alleged rape occurred. Following the alleged rape, he was issued with a deportation order.

The post ‘I’m not a bad guy’ – African migrant accused of raping 8-year-old girl in the French city of Brest appeared first on Remix News.

A Burned Iron Age Wall Under a Paris Hospital Could Be the Gaulish Lutetia Caesar Described

23 September 2026 at 15:33
Nobody expects to find a two-thousand-year-old fortification in the courtyards of a working hospital. But that is what archaeologists have uncovered at the Hôtel-Dieu, on the Île de la Cité, the island in the Seine where Notre-Dame stands. The wall runs for about 20 meters (roughly 65 feet) and shows clear signs of having burned […]

L'Azerbaïdjan gracie le Français Martin Ryan après la levée de sanctions contre un oligarque russe

23 September 2026 at 09:04
L'Azerbaïdjan a gracié le Français emprisonné Martin Ryan, selon un décret présidentiel publié mercredi. Cet homme d'affaires âgé de 38 ans avait été condamné en mars à dix ans de prison pour "espionnage", dans un contexte de tensions entre Bakou et Paris.

Algerian migrant sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping and sexually assaulting 4 children, including 7-year-old

22 September 2026 at 07:32

An Algerian migrant has been sentenced to ten years in prison for raping a child and sexual assaults on 3 other children

A 36-year-old Algerian migrant, who worked as a security guard, has been sentenced to ten years in prison after a Savoie criminal court found him guilty of aggravated rape of a child and sexual assaults on minors.

The court found him guilty of sexually assaulting his then-7-year-old stepdaughter in 2020, forcing an adolescent to perform fellatio, of sexual assault on another minor, and of sending a photograph of his genitals and a video to a friend of one of the victims. The most serious acts occurred at the home he shared with his then-wife during an evening in November 2020 in Saint-Pierre-d’Albigny.

Four minor girls were identified as victims. None were named in the reporting, according to French news outlet Le Dauphine.

The three-day trial before the Savoie court ended with a conviction on all counts: aggravated rape of a minor, sexual assaults on minors, and corruption of a minor. The public prosecutor, Christophe Dubois, had asked for 12 years. The court also imposed a permanent ban from French territory and registration on the national sex-offenders file.

The defendant, an Algerian national who had been living in France illegally since his divorce from the mother of one of the victims, maintained his innocence throughout. On the first day, he told the court, “I am innocent. All of this is just lies!”

The next day, he told a civil party: “I am not the kind of person who touches minors.”

Court-appointed psychologists and psychiatrists described him as psychologically normal, with no mental disorder.

In his closing argument on Sept. 16, prosecutor Christophe Dubois opened with a blunt assessment: “This trial leaves a bitter taste with an accused who never stopped contesting the facts.”

Dubois said the gravity of the potential sentence made it tempting for the defendant “to flee reality given how heavy the sentence he faced was.”

The post Algerian migrant sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping and sexually assaulting 4 children, including 7-year-old appeared first on Remix News.

Affaire Charles Sapin : Sibyle Veil, manageuse au courage d'énarque...

20 September 2026 at 16:55

Par Eric V.

La reculade de la direction de Radio France dans l'affaire de Charles Sapin et de sa chronique illustre une nouvelle fois le mal de notre République : l'incapacité de l'élite publique (en l'espèce celle de Sibyle Veil, patronne de Radio France) à manager correctement ses équipes, malgré les leçons de "courage" et de "responsabilité" dont elle aime si souvent à se targuer.

Affaire Charles Sapin : Sibyle Veil, manageuse au courage d'énarque...

Affaire Charles Sapin : Sibyle Veil, manageuse au courage d'énarque...
LE COURRIER
DES STRATÈGES
Restez libre !

LA NEWSLETTER · GRATUITE

Le Courrier,
chaque matin.

L'essentiel de l'actualité, passé au crible par les cinq plumes du Courrier. Dans votre boîte, chaque jour ouvré.

Gratuit. Vous restez libre de partir quand vous voulez.

JE M'INSCRIS lecourrierdesstrateges.fr
lecourrierdesstrateges.fr
Restez libre !

Par franchise, je commence cette chronique en signalant que je suis contributeur sporadique (et bénévole) à Valeurs Actuelles. Certains pourront penser que cette collaboration (bien légère au demeurant, et sur des bases saines, puisque je ne cache pas mon mépris pour la transformation progressive du journal, comme du JDD, en chronique des chiens écrasés par les Arabo-Musulmans qui prépareraient une imaginaire guerre civile contre les Français de souche) influence les lignes qui suivent. Libre à eux de le penser...

Mais ils se trompent.

Je vais épargner aux lecteurs la diversion que je vois partout (je pense au post d'Alexandre Devecchio sur Linkedin, qui en constitue une brillante illustration) où il est de bon ton d'accabler la gauche "sectaire" qui a mené la fronde, et de louer les intentions paraît-il louables de la pourtant défaillante Sibyle Veil, patronne de Radio France.

Pour ma part, comme je n'ai nul service à demander à Sibyle Veil, et nulle intention de bénéficier des ondes de Radio France, je me permets de traiter ce qui me semble le point essentiel : l'échec managérial majeur que représente le renoncement final à une chronique hebdomadaire de quelques minutes confié à un intervenant qu'une intersyndicale a décidé de se payer.

Affaire Charles Sapin : Sibyle Veil, manageuse au courage d'énarque...
LE COURRIER
DES STRATÈGES
Restez libre !

ABONNEMENT

Allez au fond
des choses.

Deux grands formats par jour. Les cinq plumes du Courrier. La série Sécession, le dimanche.

Le monde commente. Vous, vous comprenez.

S'ABONNER lecourrierdesstrateges.fr
lecourrierdesstrateges.fr
Restez libre !

Reprenons les faits en quelques mots...

Avant l'été, en bouclant sa grille de rentrée, Céline Pigalle, directrice de France Inter depuis mars, cherche un éditorialiste politique qui représente « les idées et les valeurs de la droite républicaine », en pendant de Camille Vigogne, du Nouvel Obs. Elle pense à Charles Sapin, alors au Point. Entre-temps, il rejoint Valeurs actuelles comme directeur adjoint de la rédaction. Elle l'appelle ; il lui dit qu'il y va pour en changer la ligne ; elle maintient.

Le recrutement est annoncé le 26 août, à Radio France et à France Télévisions. Première chronique le dimanche 30 août. Le 2 septembre, les salariés votent la grève. Le 3, Sibyle Veil refuse tout retrait dans Le Monde. Le 10, Céline Pigalle s'explique au micro de la médiatrice et pose elle-même la clause de sortie : « s'il se produisait quoi que ce soit d'équivalent à ce qui s'est produit dans le passé dans ce journal, il faudrait arrêter ». Grève les 13 et 14 septembre. Le 19, la direction propose de transformer l'édito en séquence de débat ; Sapin refuse et s'en va. Bilan : deux chroniques, aucun incident d'antenne, et une clause de sortie actionnée sans que sa condition ait été remplie.

Il y a bien là une reculade, très différente de l'attitude suivie lors de la grève historique de 63 jours, fin 2019 et début 2020, contre 299 suppressions de postes et 60 M€ d'économies imposées par le gouvernement, ou de l'attitude lors de l'affaire Meurice, licencié en juin 2024 pour « déloyauté répétée », après une mise en garde de l'Arcom et la réitération à l'antenne, le 28 avril, de sa blague sur Nétanyahou — alors même que la plainte pour provocation à la haine avait été classée sans suite au printemps. Radio France a sanctionné au-delà de ce que la loi exigeait.

Ceci pose la question des raisons expliquant la reculade dans l'affaire Sapin.

Celle-ci illustre bien le "courage" managérial à géométrie variable en vigueur dans certains milieux parisiens - instabilité managériale qui tétanise tant de cadres intermédiaires et nourrit la méfiance quotidienne de ceux-ci dans les fonctions qui leur sont confiées. Beaucoup le savent : avoir un patron énarque (mais polytechnicien, HEC ou Saint-Cyrien, ce n'est guère mieux), dans l'administration, suppose d'apprendre un langage codé. Officiellement, le patron est un héros de guerre, dans la pratique, il est absorbé par des calculs politiques où son déroulement de carrière indique plus ou moins secrètement le Nord de sa boussole décisionnelle.

L'affaire Sapin le confirme.

L'énarque Sibyle Veil à la manoeuvre

Dans le déroulement de cette crise, la directrice générale de Radio France, Sibyle Veil, n'a guère mouillé la chemise. Pourtant, elle est un poids lourd de la caste au pouvoir en France, et l'on peut penser que son rôle, vu la dimension politique de l'affaire, consistait à prendre position et à tenir la ligne de front.

Mais cette énarque illustre bien le pourrissement de la caste par l'intérieur. Par cette expression, je ne la vise pas personnellement, et je ne pense pas en l'espèce qu'elle soit pire que les autres. C'est tout notre sujet : le management par l'énarchie est devenu une question de système, de culture, de modèle transmis à l'école, où la personnalité de ceux qui sont aux responsabilités importe au fond assez peu. Le processus managérial à suivre laisse peu de place à l'innovation individuelle, il repose tout entier sur des "marqueurs" collectifs auxquels il vaut mieux ne pas déroger, même si l'on s'appelle Sibyle Veil, née Petitjean, et que l'on est camarade de promotion d'Emmanuel Macron.

Je soutiens en revanche que le système managérial des grands corps de l'État est vicié de l'intérieur. Il consiste à prendre le moins de risque possible pour ne pas nuire à sa réputation et à sa carrière, mais à faire grief aux subalternes des risques qu'ils n'ont pas pris pour servir la notoriété du chef. Je l'ai soutenu la semaine dernière, je le confirme par l'exemple aujourd'hui.

Pourquoi les polytechniciens et les énarques n’ont aucun courage managérial mais beaucoup de mépris social
On a supprimé les grands corps en 2021 ; six cents agents y demeurent. Pourquoi un système qui retire la chute ne peut produire aucun arbitrage difficile.
Affaire Charles Sapin : Sibyle Veil, manageuse au courage d'énarque...
LE COURRIER
DES STRATÈGES
Restez libre !

TELEGRAM · L'INFO EN CONTINU

Entre deux éditions,
le fil.

La newsletter vous donne le matin. Le fil vous donne l'instant.

Gratuit, et en continu.

REJOINDRE LE FIL t.me/resterlibre
t.me/resterlibre
Restez libre !

Un cas d'école presque pur

Dans l'affaire Sapin, Sibyle Veil a parfaitement déroulé le manuel de management en vigueur à l'ENA.

D'abord, elle a laissé Céline Pigalle en première ligne. Certes, Sibyle Veil a donné le change dans une interview au Monde début septembre, mais là encore, le geste mérite d'être compris.

Affaire Charles Sapin : Sibyle Veil, manageuse au courage d'énarque...

Donner une interview au Monde, ça ne se refuse pas, surtout si cela donne l'occasion de jouer aux héros des temps modernes, imposant la "pluralisme" à une maison qui n'aime pas ça, ou qui limite sa compréhension du pluralisme à la gauche bobo des beaux quartiers. Cette interview était par ailleurs l'occasion de signaler aux "politiques" que la directrice générale avait bien entendu les messages passés (souvent maladroitement et de façon contre-productive, au demeurant) par la commission Alloncle.

Bref, Sibyle Veil a pris une part d'énarque dans le conflit : elle s'est montrée dans la presse, elle a fait de belles phrases, puis elle a rangé son carquois et elle a fait machine arrière pour retrouver la paix sociale.

Pourquoi avait-elle mieux tenu en 2020 ? Parce que le plan d'économies était une commande politique.

Ce n'est pas moi qui le dis, c'est elle, au JDD, le 14 décembre 2019, au vingtième jour de grève : « Au moment où le montant des économies était décidé par l'État en 2018, je me suis battue pour défendre tout ce que Radio France apporte à la société, mais aussi pour qu'on ne me dicte pas la façon de procéder. » Le pouvoir la soutenait et avait l'initiative ; il ne lui restait qu'à tenir. Et elle tenait, dans le même entretien, avec des mots qu'on relit aujourd'hui avec intérêt : « Non, ce serait irresponsable. […] L'immobilisme, lui, n'est pas à l'ordre du jour. Ce projet prépare l'avenir de Radio France, il n'y a pas d'alternative. »

Et ceci, qui vaut pour toute grève, y compris celle des 13 et 14 septembre : « Il ne doit pas y avoir de disproportion entre mobilisation réelle et mobilisation ressentie. » Elle chiffrait alors elle-même : 25 % de grévistes le premier jour, 2 à 3 % ensuite. Quel fut le taux des 13 et 14 septembre ? 12% sur le groupe, 38% sur France Inter. C'est l'ordre de grandeur de la première semaine de 2019, celle qu'elle avait traversée sans bouger avant d'en tenir soixante-deux autres.

Quand il s'agit d'obéir à un ordre, l'énarque est toujours plus courageux que quand il s'agit de réaliser ses propres initiatives.

Pourquoi avait-elle mieux tenu dans l'affaire Meurice ? Parce que l'Arcom faisait levier et menaçait.

Courageuse comme une énarque, donc

Revenons-en au fil : nous voyons ici se dessiner le courage managérial propre à l'énarchie.

Quand il s'agit d'appliquer des décisions prises par d'autres, l'énarque peut tenir sa ligne, avec plus ou moins d'adresse. Mais si l'affaire tourne mal, il peut rejeter la responsabilité du naufrage sur les donneurs d'ordre et dégager la sienne.

Quand il s'agit d'appliquer ses propres décisions, l'énarque se montre beaucoup plus prudent. Il aime bien se montrer dans les journaux pour faire des effets d'annonce. Mais si l'affaire tourne mal, son réflexe est de chercher des lampistes pour payer à sa place, c'est-à-dire pour endosser l'échec.

Tel est le courage managérial de ceux à qui le pouvoir administratif est confié. Une seule obsession : ne jamais se mettre en danger personnellement, se dérober toujours à la responsabilité ultime de ses propres actes.

France, You Are Guilty: How Paris Turned Western Sahara into the Maghreb’s Powder Keg

20 September 2026 at 09:59
On September 10, 2026, Algeria announced the severance of diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates. The Rupture That Was 50 Years in the Making The UAE ambassador was given 48 hours to leave the country, and as of September 11, Algerian airspace was closed to all Emirati aircraft. The official reason was “provocative and […]

« Notre ami » Thaçi, criminel de guerre

18 September 2026 at 17:01
JPEG - 81 kio
« La liberté a un nom : UÇK ». Slogan de l'Armée de libération du Kosovo au centre-ville de Pristina, devant la cathédrale orthodoxe à l'abandon, février 2023.
© Philippe Descamps

Les chambres spécialisées pour le Kosovo ont condamné le 16 septembre dernier l'ancien président de la République Hashim Thaçi et son principal comparse, M. Jakup Krasniqi, à 25 ans d'emprisonnement pour « crimes de guerre ». Elles ont également condamné deux autres anciens hauts responsables de l'Armée de libération du Kosovo (UÇK en albanais), MM. Kadri Veseli et Rexhep Selimi, à des peines un peu plus courtes (18 et 13 ans de prison). Tous plaidaient non coupables et peuvent faire appel.

Des magistrats internationaux composent ce tribunal de droit kosovar, délocalisé à La Haye. L'acte d'accusation visait la période du conflit armé qui a opposé l'UÇK aux forces de la République de Yougoslavie, entre avril 1998 et août 1999. À l'issue d'une très longue enquête, après l'audition de 156 victimes et 30 000 pages de procédure, les juges ont conclu que les quatre accusés « sont pénalement responsables, en raison de leur contribution significative à une entreprise criminelle commune, de crimes de guerre pour détention arbitraire à l'encontre [d'au moins] 385 personnes, traitements cruels à l'encontre de 49 personnes, torture à l'encontre de 303 personnes et meurtre à l'encontre de 96 personnes. »

Reprenant la formule de l'historien Howard Zinn, « aucun drapeau n'est assez grand pour couvrir la honte de tuer des innocents », les magistrats ont souligné qu'une cause ou un contexte de guerre ne saurait justifier de s'en prendre à des civils, en l'occurrence essentiellement de supposés opposants d'autres partis albanais et des membres de minorités (Serbes et Roms pour l'essentiel). Les chambres relèvent aussi que « ce procès s'est déroulé dans un climat permanent d'intimidation des témoins ».

Âgé de 58 ans, M. Thaçi a participé à la fondation de l'UÇK dont il fut commandant en chef. Après l'intervention de l'Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord (OTAN) et le retrait des forces serbes, il a été premier ministre de la province à plusieurs reprises, puis président de la République du Kosovo de 2016 à 2020, un État non reconnu par les Nations unies.

Présenté comme son « ami » par Bernard Kouchner, alors ministre des affaires étrangères, M. Thaçi a été très longtemps soutenu par les Occidentaux, et particulièrement les Français, en dépit des graves accusations dont il faisait l'objet depuis longtemps. En mars 2018, il était à Paris pour remettre la « médaille présidentielle du jubilé » à l'ancien président Nicolas Sarkozy et « la médaille de l'Ordre de la liberté » à l'ancien premier ministre Alain Juppé. Il indiquait à l'époque sur son compte Facebook : « L'avenir du Kosovo est assuré grâce à des amis issus de tout l'échiquier politique français qui, au fil des décennies, ont soutenu et encouragé la consolidation et le renforcement de l'État kosovar. » Lors des cérémonies du centenaire de l'armistice de novembre 1918, à Paris, il fut placé tout près du président Emmanuel Macron, dans la tribune principale des personnalités, tandis que le président serbe — un pays allié de la France pendant la première guerre mondiale — était relégué à une tribune secondaire.

Dans nos archives

❌