Surprise arrival. After France’s victory in the semi-final of the World Cup against Morocco on Wednesday evening, the supporters’ evening was disrupted, sometimes violently, by groups close to the extreme right who came to interfere in the celebration a almost everywhere in France. On the sidelines of the rallies, several small groups linked to the ultra-right attacked supporters, particularly Moroccans.
Paris, Lyon, Montpellier… These incidents have been observed on several occasions in the territory. On social networks, videos even show these activists attacking other people with fireworks. At the same time, arrests were carried out during a check in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. The reasons ? “Grouping with a view to committing violence” and carrying prohibited weapons. Several of these individuals belonged to a movement close to the ultra-right, according to a police source quoted by AFP. “They clearly wanted to do battle on the Champs,” continued the latter. More than a hundred arrests took place in Paris during the evening. What suggest a comeback of these small groups? Interview with Jean-Yves Camus, political scientist, specialist in far-right radical groups.
L’Express: Lyon, Paris, Nice… How do you explain the noticeable presence of multiple ultra-right groups on the sidelines of the World Cup semi-final rallies?
Jean-Yves Camus: We have been witnessing for several months a recomposition of the landscape of these far-right groups. An interesting exercise would be to draw up a map. They are easily found on Facebook, Telegram, or even in person, with their premises. This mapping would first allow us to see that there is a fairly large number of small groups of 15 or 20 people, who act on a local basis – which does not exclude that they sometimes give “a helping hand” during certain actions in other cities. The choice of their name has a rather local character, in relation to that of their commune. This reflex is not very surprising for groups that are described as identity groups.
Be careful, however: several movements exist behind this qualification. We find for example those who are in the tradition of the dissolved group of Génération identitaire, or in that of Bastion social – also dissolved. There are also activists who have never taken a break, and continue to maintain the activity of the French Work, an organization which was dissolved in 2013. The groups resulting from this translation generally bear the name of their city. associated with the adjective “nationalist”. “Nationalist Bordeaux” or “Nationalist Lille”, for example. You can dissolve all the small groups in the world, there is bound to be a successor. The pattern is often the same: dissolution, followed by a moment of depression, and then a recomposition. The latter is not always made with the same people, and can accommodate younger activists.
Why does this effort to recompose take place today, sometimes several years after their dissolution?
Marine Le Pen’s normalization choices at the National Rally disappoint many radical activists, who intend to go elsewhere. Former or current members of these small groups were also able to see in the movement of Eric Zemmour a space, because he spoke of a great replacement, of identity, of the place of Islam in a country of Christian culture. But the launch of Reconquest, which had raised hopes in these circles, was not as successful as some expected. The extreme right therefore continues to do what it has always done by turning to the streets.
Incidents involving these far-right groups have punctuated the entire territory. Do you think this is a coordinated action?
The opportunity made the thief. For almost eight days, all the media focused on the dangers possibly generated by this match between Morocco and France. This hasn’t necessarily been a good thing: when these groups sense media interest, they rush in. Philippe Juvin, the former mayor of La Garenne-Colombes, now a deputy, explained a few days ago on BFMTV that it is no longer possible to organize a festive event without there being damage. Each demonstration sees the usual looters and troublemakers arrive, as we saw yesterday.
Do you think that the ranks of these small groups are more provided than before?
The statistics from the Ministry of the Interior do not seem to indicate a digital explosion. We are on a movement that empties and fills. Overall, the number of activists remains similar to what it was ten or fifteen years ago. We are around 3,500 people, a score that is also lower in France than in Germany. These groups are quite unstable, but we often find the same individuals. Let’s take an example: three weeks ago, in Besançon, a statue of Victor Hugo – the work of the Senegalese sculptor Ousmane Sow – was vandalized. The investigation shows that the alleged perpetrators of this act are close to neo-Nazi circles linked to football stadiums. It’s not surprising.
Do these actions therefore constitute an eternal repetition?
The question raised by these recent events is that of public action. What is the good answer ? The executive has opted in recent years for dissolution. It is a signal sent to the radicals, indicating that they are indeed being watched. But we can clearly see that after one or two years, they reorganize. However, the qualifier of “reconstitution of dissolved league” is pronounced by the courts only if one finds the same people, and the same goals. We regularly see the same groups reappear, but under different names. Generally, the latter do not have a very extensive intellectual production. Street action, conflictual – like last night – dominates.
We also find each time the same modus operandi: attacks by people of foreign origin – North African in this case – and the famous chase games with anti-fascist groups. Nothing is new. We tend to forget that the 70s, 80s and even 90s were marred by anti-immigrant attacks. Let us remember the attacks of the end of the 80s against Sonacotra homes on the Côte d’Azur. Or the number of violent actions carried out by neo-Nazi skinheads against people who had the misfortune to cross their path and did not have the right skin color! The extreme right does not know how to do anything else.
Do you think other violent actions may be possible?
The risk is not political. These small groups can only exist through punching actions in the public space. The danger lies rather in an action that would go wrong, with a new Clément Méric. In 2013, this anti-fascist activist died following a fight with a group of far-right skinheads. There is also a small risk of terrorist excesses. The Minister of the Interior announced that 9 acts of this nature coming from the ultra-right had been thwarted, against 39 planned Islamist attacks. These figures clearly show the scale of the threat in France, while showing that the danger presented by the ultra-right in our country is not negligible.