France is not a multicultural country and never should be, the conservative front-runner for President has said.
Speaking in the final head-to-head debate before the second round of the Republicans presidential primary, François Fillon insisted that multiculturalism was a bad idea, and that migrant communities must
In rhetoric that suggests France’s establishment conservatives are increasingly keen to imitate populist candidate Marine Le Pen, Mr Fillon spoke of French “identity”, “culture” and “history” as he sparred with rival Alain Juppé.
France24 reports that when asked whether France’s future should be as a multicultural nation, Mr Fillon said: “The answer is no.”
“France has a history, a language, a culture, of course this culture and language have been enriched by the contributions of foreign populations, but it remains the foundation of our identity,” he added.
He also denied that France was already a multicultural nation, adding: “In any case it’s not the choice we made, we did not make the choice of communitarianism and multiculturalism.”
“When we go to somebody’s house, we don’t try to take power,” he said.
However, Mr Juppé, who is seen as much more centrist than Mr Fillon, disagreed, saying: “We come from different ancestors, we have different skin colours, and different religions, and that is our strength.”
Breitbart London reported earlier this week how Islamic hardliners, including the Muslim Brotherhood, are urging supporters to vote for Mr Juppé in the primary as he is much softer on immigration.
Whoever wins the primary will likely go up against the Front National’s Marine Le Pen in next year’s presidential election, with observers saying that tactical voting could put whoever opposes Ms Le Pen in power.
The Front National leader has been riding high in the polls and is likely to top the first round of France’s presidential election next spring as French voters abandon the establishment and warm to her policies to limit immigration and confront the European Union.