Brussels, 25/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - On the fringe of the plenary session in Brussels, several MEPs voiced alarm after Jean-Marie Le Pen's breakthrough during the first round of the presidential elections in France. They commented on his unsuccessful press conference (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.7). In the Chamber, at the time of his intervention, many MEPs brandished a banner reading "Non" or "Le Pen No". National Front MEP Jean-Claude Martinez also received a cream pie in the face (current practice in France and Belgium).
Liberal Group President Graham Watson commented: "Europe's democratic political parties must face down racists and xenophobes so that they cannot take ownership of the immigration and crime agenda. We must recognise the concerns of citizens and make the case anew for tolerance and respect for fundamental rights. A common European immigration policy is needed (…) to protect migrants from ruthless criminal gangs. We must not be afraid to say this". Furthermore, Mr Watson renewed his appeal to all democratic parties to sign up to the Charter of Political Parties for a non-racist Society proclaimed in Utrecht on 28 February 1998, to which more than 100 parties gave their signature. "Jean-Marie Le Pen is politically despicable, but good democrats will not lower themselves to his own level by denying him freedom of speech", Chris Huhne, British Liberal, said, referring to the incidents at the press room on Wednesday.
French Socialist Pervenche Berès expressed indignation saying: "No-one prevented Jean-Marie Le Pen from speaking (…). How can one explain that his friends Martinez and Gollnisch had access to the press room without being hindered, then? (…) Le Pen had nothing to say and did not want to say anything (…). He has never contributed to the work of the European Parliament. He has only been to a parliamentary committee once".
The co-president of the Greens Group, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, expressed the view that by taking France out of Europe, as Le Pen would like, this would "bring France to its knees".
European CSU member Ingo Friedrich, for his part, reproached French Socialists for not having been able to put a brake on the rise of right-wing extremism, unlike action taken in Germany, he said, mainly by the "peoples' parties, and the CSU in particular".