France Urges Calm Amid Tensions Over Muhammad Caricatures and Attacks

This anger was born in the wake of President Macron’s support for the publication of satirical caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. This situation has deteriorated, resulting in a knife attack on Thursday that left three dead in a basilica in Nice and several injured. At the same time, a security guard at the French consulate in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) was also stabbed.

In a statement to the press at the National Assembly during the examination of the budget of his ministry, Jean-Yves Le Drian invited the French to remain deaf to the voices that seek to stoke fear. (...) According to him, no one should "lock themselves in the abuses of a minority of manipulators."

For the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Muslim religion and culture are respected, because they are part of French and European history. "Muslims fully belong to our national community. We cannot accept these campaigns of disinformation and manipulation because they aim to distort and misrepresent these realities," said Jean-Yves Le Drian.

Without revealing the authors, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that words and actions have consequences, which engage their authors in responsibility. "France never forgets," he declared.

"Many states are not fooled. We see clearly and our partners see clearly that what is at stake is an essential, almost existential struggle against religious radicalism and extremism. We will never compromise on our humanistic values of freedom and our model of democracy and pluralism," he hammered.