French President Emmanuel Macron has reportedly ordered an office shake-up amid a scandal surrounding a presidential security aide. The government has been accused of covering up a violent assault.
Image: Reuters/P. Wojazer
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France's centrist president, Emmanuel Macron, ordered a shake-up of his office following a scandal involving his top bodyguard, according to Reuters news agency. Presidential aide Alexandre Benalla was charged on Sunday with violence, interfering in the exercise of public office and the unauthorized public display of official insignia during a May Day demonstration.
Fresh video footage emerged on Friday showing Benalla assaulting a man while riot police broke the Paris protest. He had worn a police armband — usually worn by plainclothes officers — and a police helmet even though he is not a police officer.
Benalla had served a two-week suspension from active duty in May following the protests, however he continued to appear in Macron's security details. Macron has so far declined to comment publicly about the assault, which sparked his first big political crisis since taking office last year. Opposition lawmakers and analysts sharply criticized the president.
"Why the devil did he insist on protecting a second-rank employee who should have been kicked out of the Elysee months ago?" right-wing daily Le Figaro asked in an editorial Sunday.
"If Macron doesn't explain himself the Benalla affair will become the Macron affair," far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Twitter.
French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb arrives to be questioned by lawmakers about Alexandre Benalla Image: Reuters/P. Wojazer
Collomb questioned by parliamentary committee
France's interior minister Gerard Collomb said on Monday that he was told about a video of the incident on May 2, the day after the assault took place. Collomb told a parliamentary investigating committee he "had already informed Macron's office and Paris police headquarters." He said that he had been told about Benalla's suspension and therefore "did not deal with the issue any further."
Collomb said that he requested a report from the national police last week after fresh evidence came to light showing Benalla had been wearing a police armband and carrying a police radio during the protest.
Emmanuel Macron: A man of culture
The French president is leaving his mark on the cultural scene, making bold suggestions for the future of French and European culture. DW takes a look as Macron receives the Charlemagne Prize for EU unity in Germany.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/P. Stollarz
Honored for his European vision
On May 10, French President Emmanuel Macron received the Charlemagne Prize for European Unity in the German city of Aachen. The prize's board of directors said they chose to honor Macron "in recognition of his vision of a new Europe" and his "decisive stance" against nationalism and isolationism. Since entering office one year ago, Macron has unabashedly pushed for European cohesion and EU reform.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/I. Fassbender
Charlemagne, father of Europe
The city of Aachen's Charlemagne Prize is named after the important medieval ruler who became the first Holy Roman Emperor (747-814). Under his leadership the Frankish Empire expanded to become a great power, abosrbing parts of present-day Germany. France and Germany are not the only entities to claim him as a forefather; during his lifetime, he was known as "Pater Europae," or "Father of Europe."
Image: picture alliance/dpa/R. Goldmann
Keynote speech at the Sorbonne
Macron delivered his message to the perfect audience when he spoke to students at the Sorbonne University in Paris in September 2017. In a speech focused on the EU, he emphasized the advantages of Europe's many different languages. Macron, who speaks English fluently, also said he would like to see every European master at least two European languages by the age of 24.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/L. Marin
Supporting cultural education
It was one of Macron's central campaign promises: after turning 18, French youths will receive a one-off payment of €500 ($594) from the French state. Known as a "Culture Pass," the money is supposed to help the teens take advantage of cultural offerings according to their own preferences — whether this means a Spotify subscription, a trip to Barcelona or season tickets to the theater.
Image: AFP/Getty Images/L. Marin
Honored by the literary world
The president was the guest of honor at the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2017, which focused on French culture, literature and language. In his speech, Macron underlined the very positive literary relations between his home nation and Germany. Both countries would benefit from one another's literary output for centuries, he said.
Image: picture-alliance/SvenSimon/E. Kremser
Mona Lisa on tour?
Leonardo da Vinci's famous oil painting may get lent out to a Louvre branch in Lens, northern France, as part of Macron's push to decentralize French culture. If that actually happens, the Paris Louvre would lose its daily horde of visitors seeking to get a glimpse of the famous mysteriously smiling woman. In addition, simply transporting the painting would cost some €35 million ($41.6 million).
Image: imago/imagebroker
African cultural heritage
In November 2017 Macron gave a speech in Burkina Faso in which he called for European nations to return cultural heritage pieces that had been obtained during the colonial era. His words unleashed heated debate in Paris and Berlin. Despite his urging, the Berlin Humboldt Forum cultural center (above), set to open in 2019, said it would still include some 75,000 African exhibits in its collection.
