PARIS: Police violence is not a problem unique to France and is common among European countries, reported Sputnik, quoting French Secretary of State for European Affairs Laurence Boone on Thursday.
“There has indeed been a tragedy, a horrible and unacceptable tragedy. We are also witnessing a rapid return to order, which we hope will be long-lasting, without other tragedies and disturbances.
“Is this unique to France? Not at all. There was a similar tragedy in the United Kingdom in 2011, a year before the Olympics, the same thing happened in Denmark, and the same thing happened in Sweden,” Boone said in a televised appearance on French broadcaster RFI.
She also said that France had no security issues because of the flow of migrants coming into the country.
“There are no security issues in France. There have been terrible riots and looting … If you walk down the street, you will see a lot of tourists … France is one of the most visited countries in the world, and tourists are very welcome here,” Boone said.
Jordan Bardella, the leader of France’s far-right National Rally party, said Tuesday that France was taking in too many migrants, leading to rising tensions and security risks.
Francois Asselineau, a political expert and the head of French Eurosceptic party Popular Republican Union, has told Sputnik that the unwillingness of the Muslim population to integrate in France, communitarianism, the government’s abandonment of the suburbs were all important factors in the current unrest in the country.
On June 27, during a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, police shot and killed a 17-year-old teenager who allegedly refused to obey their orders.
The incident sparked a wave of protests that later escalated into riots in several French cities, accompanied by looting and clashes with police.
The French Interior Ministry said that hundreds of government buildings, shops and bank offices had been damaged, and more than 3,000 people, many of them juveniles, had been detained. – BERNAMA-SPUTNIK
