Huffington Post Greece – Apr. 26, 2017

The French presidential elections of April 23 took place under the shadow of the far-reaching rise of the extreme right in various countries of the European Union and the exit of Britain from it. However, the open and democratic nature of French citizens has created reasonable hopes that their choice will be more modest. Over the past few months, we have seen an upsurge in extremist ideologies. Terrorism and the terrorist attacks that struck France over the last two years are the most powerful factor in the situation of fear and prejudice of the French and the rest of Europe, pushing them to the far right.

Nevertheless, voters’ views remained moderate until the terrorist attack on the Champs-Elysées, in the heart of the capital of Paris, the responsibility of which was taken over by ISIS. This attack has had a great impact on French voters, as many Western officials have admitted, headed by the US president, who confirmed that this attack has increased Marine Lepen’s chances of winning the French presidency. However, there are questions posed by some observers about the cause of the attack and its timing and about the possibility of someone hiding behind it. I will try to shed some light on some of these questions.

Despite the fact that the terrorist attack that hit Paris two days before the election could be seen as a common occurrence, since ISIS immediately issued a statement of responsibility including the name of the bomber even before the announcement of the French Police, things are more complicated. Those following the recent ISIS actions in Europe will notice that the organization in all its attacks is targeting crowded places to kill a large number of civilians, such as the Bataclan attack, which resulted in the deaths of more than 150 civilians and the attack of Nice, which led to nearly 100 deaths. On the contrary, the attack on the Champs-Elysées was aimed at a police patrol where a policeman was killed and two others injured.

Here, I would like to point out that the organizer of this attack, aiming at the center of Paris, wanted to send a message and nothing more, and did not seek to cause significant losses that would lead to postponement of the date of the elections. The perpetrators came from Belgium, which raises the big question why the terrorists, who are not interested in the nationality of the victims, chose France at this time? The weapon used in the terrorist attack was a Russian made Kalashnikov. It is well known that the attackers were on the checklist of the Belgian intelligence services, so the weapon supplier could only come from the mafia or the secret services, as all the weapons on the black market in western Europe are European-made.

Here, I will refer to the meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with Marine Lepen a month and a half ago. During this meeting, a series of important issues emerged as she confirmed, including Syria and Ukraine, where Lepen expressed her sympathy, which was particularly welcomed by President Putin who responded to his support for her. Knowing the deep relations of the Assad regime with ISIS, the picture becomes clearer. Here I leave to the reader the freedom to draw conclusions.

Although we support democracy, irrespective of the outcome of electoral confrontations, the success of the extreme right in France will not solve the problems, it will create complications and contribute to its downgrading. Its rhetoric only succeeds in instilling contradictions and does not favor integration. Lepen’s allegation that she has a plan to combat terrorism while Macron does not, it is at least naive. It is known that terrorism is not linked to a particular religion, but behind it are politicians and intelligence services.

Therefore, we all count on the open-minded mindset of the French to choose what is best for their country, which has a tradition of accepting all beliefs and religions. Because if ISIS could choose France’s next president, it would certainly be Marine Lepen.