Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris and candidate of the Socialist Party in the presidential election, was the guest of “8:30 a.m. franceinfo”, Monday March 14, 2022. She spoke in particular about the war in Ukraine, the violence in Corsica or the pension reform.
War in Ukraine: “We need” an embargo on Russian gas
“We must go as far as an embargo on Russian gas” in the context of the war in Ukraine, judged Anne Hidalgo. According to her, it must be put in place “as quickly as possible”. “To continue to pay for Russian gas is ultimately to pay for Putin’s weapons. At some point, it has to stop”she pointed out.
“Sure”it’s necessary “accompany this embargo with solid measures at the level of our countries” Europeans, she added. She thus highlighted the measures she advocates “for a number of months before the Russian crisis”namely the “lower VAT on gasoline to 5.5%” and the “capping of prices at the pump excluding taxes precisely to allow our fellow citizens, over the next four to six months, to be able to overcome these increases in the price of gasoline”.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon “complacent” with dictators
Anne Hidalgo also accused Jean-Luc Mélenchon of being “complacent and complicit with dictators”. The socialist presidential candidate felt that the candidate of La France insoumise had shown “complacency” with regard to “Vladimir Putin, but also [Nicolas] Maduro in Venezuela and Bashar al-Assad in Syria”.
“For me there is no third way: either we are for democracies or for dictatorships. There is no third way that is not aligned. We have to be quite clear with international issues”, also launched the socialist presidential candidate. Jean-Luc Mélenchon advocates for the whole French international strategy the idea of being “non Aligned”a term taken from the Cold War.
Corsica: “We don’t let the situation rot”
“We don’t let a situation rot for a week”, criticized the mayor of Paris, in reaction to the announcement of a trip by the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, to Corsica, Wednesday and Thursday. This announcement comes exactly eight days after the first violence linked to the assassination attempt on nationalist activist Yvan Colonna, in the prison of Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône).
“It’s still a way of managing conflicts in the country that is surprising to say the least”she said. “When this type of situation appears in Corsica, this land that we know well and in which there is this nationalist claim to autonomy, we go there immediately to dialogue and we rely on the territorial elected officials of Corsica who are responsible elected officials”she insisted.
Retirement at 65, “less time for this second life”
“Many of the poorest workers died at 62” and “there are many more who died at 65”assured Anne Hidalgo when she was questioned about the project of Emmanuel Macron, president-candidate, to gradually push back the retirement age to 65 years. “I have this experience in my own family, of workers who died just as they were retiring”, she said. leave later, “It means less time with your grandchildren, less time to be able to live this second life to which you are entitled, especially when you have had very difficult work”she said.