Francois Hollande called on Monday, the eve of the National Bastille Day, for the French to stand united against the terrorist threat and to “reject fear,” which would be the “worst poison” for “living together”.
Francois Hollande called on earlier today, Monday, the eve of National Bastille Day, for the French to stand united against the terrorist threat and to “refuse fear,” which would be the “worst poison” for “living together”.
“A fundamentalist terrorism has been installed a few hours flight from home. It destroys, it murders, it violates, not only in the Middle East, North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa but also on our soil, ” he said at a reception at the Ministry of Defence, at the Hotel de Brienne.
“Faced with these attacks, these threats, our country must refuse the division because that is what the terrorists want and fear because it could be the worst poison in our national community”, he has added in the presence of Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
“The fear lead us to abandon what we hold most dear: our freedoms, our ability to live together and our respect for each other,” said the head of state. “Faced with these threats we need to hold on, to have the strength necessary.”
Francois Hollande welcomed the commitment of the armed forces of these values in this country and also on foreign lands.
“The threat has reached a level that has no equivalent in our recent history and justifies the exceptional mobilization of our military,” he said, referring to the 10,000 soldiers deployed in emergency on the national territory after attacks in January. The operation, dubbed Sentinel, now has 7,000 permanent military mobilized for the defence of sensitive sites, including the Jews.
