in World News France Demands America: ‘Give Us Back the Statue of Liberty!’
by Scott Pinsker
Sacré bleu! Talk about a Napoleon complex.
Some stories don’t require a lengthy set-up. They speak for themselves (and today, they’re parlez-vous-ing exclusively in French):
France should take back the Statue of Liberty because the US no longer represents the values that led France to offer the statue, a French Euro-deputy said Sunday.
“Give us back the Statue of Liberty”, centre-left politician Raphael Glucksmann said at a convention of his Place Publique centre-left movement.
“We’re going to say to the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom: ‘Give us back the Statue of Liberty,'” he told cheering supporters.
“‘We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home,'” he added.
Politico was quick to link Glucksmann’s speech to Trump’s Ukraine policy:
The French MEPs comments are likely in reference to a decision by Washington to pause aid to Ukraine, which it had been helping to fight off a Russian invasion.
While aid is now flowing to Kyiv once again, U.S. President Donald Trump’s perceived softness on Russia, his long-documented admiration for President Vladimir Putin and other strongman leaders, and his public humiliation of Ukrainian Prime Minister Voldymyr Zelenskyy have caused alarm throughout Europe.
If you’re wondering why this French politician is taking American foreign policy decisions so personally, there may be a personal reason: His ex-wife, Ekaterine “Eka” Zguladze, was a Ukrainian politician who served as Ukraine’s First Deputy of Internal Affairs until 2016. Their son is a teenager.