France

Government between the fronts

Everything is Difficult for the government in Paris, and for the security forces is happening at the Moment at the same time: EM-rampage, police murder, and then another trade Union protests. Barbara Wesel reports from Paris.

It is a Albtraumtag for the government: a terrorist attack, the European football Championships, and if that were not enough, violence in the protests against the labor laws. The security forces in France are on the verge of its possibilities: The government may not do.

Tear gas, shattering glass, flying stones: The violent clashes on the outskirts of the trade Union demonstration in Paris were intense, there were more than 40 injured, most of them police officers. But that was only a scene of violence in France. The other was about 50 miles outside of the small town of Magna Ville.

“France is a very large terrorist threat,” President Francois Hollande said after the details of the double murder of two police officers had become known. He spoke of a cowardly act of terror, and pulled the sheet up to the mass murder in Orlando on Sunday. The Terror is international. What he didn’t mention is the threat to the European football championship in France. The government doesn’t want to worry the visitors and the citizens of the country than is absolutely necessary.

A police officer lays flowers for the murdered colleagues

The perfect storm

In fact, the French government finds itself between a number of fronts: The murder attack of Magna Ville shows that the terrorist threat after the attacks in Paris the previous year. Since then, the state is in the Land of the exception, but all the searches, interrogations, and surveillance measures against terrorist-sympathizers could not now prevent the murder of two police officers.

About 3500 Suspects have been checked, they will all be held in a Terror-file, and Larossi Aballa was one of them. He was even monitored electronically, since he was after a previous prison sentence for recruiting jihadis for Afghanistan. He must have known and gave the police no clues as to his plans. New investigations were in progress, because Aballa was suspected of recruiting Syria fighters. But the evidence was not enough – until he died in the night from Monday to Tuesday in a hail of bullets of the special forces.

Criticism of security forces

The case shows that there is against this kind of individual offenders no. Here is the strategy of the IS to go, called his supporters, police officers and civil servants in Europe and to murder the USA. A list of other targets, including journalists and Rap musicians, was found in Larossi Aballa.

President Hollande is criticized by the conservative Opposition as well as from the Left for his Anti-terror strategy: He’s not doing enough, and he’s doing the Wrong thing. It does not give enough arrests, and the suspension of civil rights would not lead to success. Actually, the criticism is superfluous: It can be seen in Turkey, in the United States and around the world, that there is no real security against the “lonely wolves”, the soft targets to attack.

The alleged assassin Larossi Abballa

The police are on the verge of a nervous breakdown

Police trade unionists Philippe Capon said in an interview with DW that his colleagues worked since the attacks against “Charlie Hebdo” in January 2015, on the edge of the load-carrying capacity. More and more operations have led to Fatigue: “We are constantly on the alert, and are really under a lot of Stress.” And in addition, the police will be criticized: they have resorted to both against football Hooligans, as well as to political protesters to hard, to fast with tear gas and batons. Gone are the expressions of solidarity after the assassination, in the Bataclan.

At the Demonstration in the afternoon in Paris against the Reform of the labour laws, but a doubt came up: The squad of masked provocateurs who threw from the top of the train from stones and bottles at police and panes smashed, had not collected randomly. And the left trade Union, the CGT did nothing to prevent the violence from the ranks of the own train.

Government without a backlash

President Hollande has no room, neither politically, nor at the intensification of security measures. He has already 100,000 police officers, soldiers and private forces in the field. The more the state can muster. In the evening, it was reported from Rennes, another knife attack on a woman, allegedly the perpetrator wanted to kill for “Ramadan”.

The call for a strike on this day was only observed by a tiny minority, but left-wing unions to try to force the socialist President with their actions in the knee. Francois Hollande is under enormous pressure, and with him his whole Land.