France and Germany have decided to block Bulgaria and Romania from joining Europe’s passport-free 25-nation Schengen travel area next year, RFE/RL reports. A European Commission spokesman, Michele Cercone, said today that French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux and his German counterpart, Thomas de Maiziere, told the European Commission in a letter that it was “premature” to let them enter Schengen in March 2011.
Posts Tagged ‘Brice Hortefeux’
Behind the scenes
September 21st, 2009 |
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A trial in Paris will illuminate the murky workings of French politics
THE courtroom doors opened on Monday September 21st for the start of a judicial drama that is set to expose the murky dealings at the heart of French political power. On paper, the “Clearstream trial”, as the court case is known, concerns five suspects accused of involvement in a smear campaign, and some 40 civil plaintiffs, whose names were linked to fake bank accounts supposedly holding the proceeds of kickbacks on an arms deal. Politically, however, the trial is a duel between two ambitious politicians, once rivals for power: one, Nicolas Sarkozy, is now president, and the other, Dominique de Villepin, is a former prime minister who was once his chief challenger for the job.
The case dates back to a judicial investigation, launched in 2001, into kickbacks linked to the sale of French frigates to Taiwan in the early 1990s. In 2004, investigating judges received anonymously a list of foreign bank accounts, subsequently found to be fake, that fingered various French personalities. They include Mr Sarkozy, then interior minister under President Jacques Chirac, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, then a Socialist Party notable and now head of the IMF in Washington. Others from across the political spectrum included such people as Jean-Pierre Chevenement, another left-winger, Alain Madelin, a liberal former finance minister, and Brice Hortefeux, the current interior minister. …
Paris suburb youths fight police
August 11th, 2009 |
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Angry youths have clashed with riot police in the eastern Paris suburb of Bagnolet after a young motorcyclist died fleeing police on Sunday.
Police said the 18-year-old died after crashing into a metal barrier, but locals said he was hit by a police car.
Demonstrators hurled stones at police and torched several vehicles.
The violence came despite an appeal for calm by French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux, who ordered an internal police investigation into the death.
The administrative centre of the region, just east of Paris, said the situation was under control despite the scattered arson attacks.
Arrests had been made, it said, without specifying how many.
On Sunday night, dozens of youths hurled petrol bombs at police and torched dozens of cars in outrage at the young pizza delivery man’s death.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Corsica police station car-bombed
July 22nd, 2009 |
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A car bomb has exploded outside a police station on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica.
"It’s a miracle there was only material damage. People could have been killed," a Corsican government spokesman told the AFP news agency.
He said attackers had rigged up a gas bottle in the car and detonated it at around 0600 local time (0400 GMT).
The car was blown to pieces by the force of the blast, which also knocked the son of a gendarme off his bicycle.
Corsica suffers infrequent small-scale attacks by separatists opposed to French rule.
Wednesday’s attack in the northern town of Vescovato was the first car bomb on the island since 2006, AFP said.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux called a "totally irresponsible act."</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Corsica police station car-bombed
July 22nd, 2009 |
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A car bomb has exploded outside a police station on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica.
"It’s a miracle there was only material damage. People could have been killed," a Corsican government spokesman told the AFP news agency.
He said attackers had rigged up a gas bottle in the car and detonated it at around 0600 local time (0400 GMT).
The car was blown to pieces by the force of the blast, which also knocked the son of a gendarme off his bicycle.
Corsica suffers infrequent small-scale attacks by separatists opposed to French rule.
Wednesday’s attack in the northern town of Vescovato was the first car bomb on the island since 2006, AFP said.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux called a "totally irresponsible act."</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Second death in Madonna stage accident
July 17th, 2009 |
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A stage being constructed for a concert by pop star Madonna in France has collapsed, killing one person and injuring six, police say.
Technicians were setting up the stage at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille when the accident occurred at around 1715 (1515 GMT).
The concert, planned for Sunday, 19 July, has now been cancelled, officials announced.
It was part of the European leg of the Madonna’s Sticky and Sweet tour.
The cause of the accident was not clear.
The frame "started shaking and collapsing", said Marseille city councillor Maurice Di Nocera.
"Fortunately, it didn’t collapse too quickly, as there would have been quite a few victims," he said, according to AFP news agency.
Two of the injuries were serious, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Madonna concert stage collapses
July 16th, 2009 |
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A stage being constructed for a concert by pop star Madonna in France has collapsed, killing one person and injuring six, police say.
Technicians were setting up the stage at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille when the accident occurred at around 1715 (1515 GMT).
The concert, planned for Sunday, 19 July, has now been cancelled, officials announced.
It was part of the European leg of the Madonna’s Sticky and Sweet tour.
The cause of the accident was not clear.
The frame "started shaking and collapsing", said Marseille city councillor Maurice Di Nocera.
"Fortunately, it didn’t collapse too quickly, as there would have been quite a few victims," he said, according to AFP news agency.
Two of the injuries were serious, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
New autopsy after French unrest
July 10th, 2009 |
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A second autopsy has been ordered on the body of a young man whose death in police custody has caused three nights of rioting in a southern French town.
Police say Mohamed Benmouna, a 21-year-old of Algerian origin, died after trying to hang himself in a cell earlier this week.
Youths have set shops and cars on fire and battled riot police in the town of Firminy in reaction to the death.
Prosecutor Jacques Pin said he wanted to "remove all doubt" in the case.
A first examination of Mr Benmouna’s body on Thursday showed that he had died from "cardiac arrest by suffocation", he said.
Mr Benmouna had been arrested on suspicion of extortion.
The unrest in Firminy began on Tuesday, when youths burnt cars and threw stones at security forces.
On Thursday, in a third night of violence, several shops were destroyed by fire and police cars were damaged. Police responded with tear gas and said six people had been arrested.
The youths have challenged the official version of Mr Benmouna’s death – that he hung himself with cords from a mattress.
His family have called for calm, but have also filed a complaint to ask for a full investigation.
Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux repeated on Friday that the death had been a suicide.
"He was put in detention, and during his detention, he wanted to commit suicide and unfortunately, he did so," he told French radio.
In 2005, night-time rioting spread across France after two teenagers died in a Paris suburb. Residents said they had trying to escape from police.
The violence mainly affected areas that are home to immigrant communities, many of North African origin.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.