Niger “prepares for war” with France as political violence escalates in Lyon
From Niamey’s anti-French rhetoric and Russian disinformation to the killing of a far-right activist in Lyon and Valérie Pécresse’s bid to reshape the French right.
👋Hey guys, Julien here. The French Dispatch is a reader-supported publication, and both our coverage of current affairs as well as our ability to bring you more news and information on the world around us is entirely funded by paid subscriptions and donations.
If you enjoy reading articles written by high-level experts, then make sure to support the publication by liking, subscribing, and sharing it with your friends and colleagues, and consider taking a paid subscription.
This week
🇳🇪Niger prepares for war with France
⚖️ Far-right activist killed by far-left
🤝Pécresse calls for primary for right and centre
🇳🇪Niger prepares for war with France
Honestly, what better way to start the week than with one of the most ridiculous stories of the last few years.
This past Friday, it was reported by several outlets that General Amadou Abdramane told the Nigerien president, Abdourahamane Tchiani, that “[Niger] is going to war with France”:
“Understand this: we are going to war with France. We were not at war before, but now we are going to war”
So, you’ll be asking yourself “wtf is going on and why?”
Since the coup d’état in July 2023, which caused the French departure from the country and almost led to a full-blown intervention by ECOWAS, the Nigerien government has actively promoted conspiracy theories that France is attempting to destabilise the country, and that it wants to remove the junta.
Tchiani has even gone as far as claiming that President Emmanuel Macron is “the sponsor” of Islamic State jihadists, along with the leaders of Benin and Côte d’Ivoire, Patrice Talon and Alassane Ouattara.
A lot of this is part of the playbook employed by Russian state-sponsored actors, who have been attempting to use the French withdrawal from Africa as a way of increasing Russia’s geopolitical position. These claims are typically accompanied by the regular disinformation and misinformation aimed at demonising Russian competitors in the region in the eyes of the citizens of these states.
All while Russian forces fail to provide effective anti-Islamist support to the African states concerned, and jihadists continue to benefit from the muddled and messy military reaction.
And all of this led to a decree calling for a general mobilisation, announced by government-affiliated press in December of 2025, followed by this most recent announcement of potential war against France.
Now, is this serious? Not really.
Firstly, to be absolutely clear, the French military stands head and shoulders above Niger’s, in basic manpower, military funding, personnel numbers, aircraft, tanks, armoured vehicles, you name it. The only thing that could potentially make any hot conflict fairer would be supply limitations, overland logistics routes, and air traffic issues.
Not only this, and this will be well known to the Quai d’Orsay, but it is very likely that this declaration is less of an outright declaration of war on France, but an attempt to abuse anti-colonial sentiment to galvanise a population for war against the jihadists that are currently running successful targeted strikes on regional governors, military bases, and the Diori Hamani International Airport.
It’s also entirely possible that this is a condition being imposed on the Nigerien government by their Russian “allies”, who are hoping to distract French efforts to support Ukraine.
Regardless, we will see how this plays out over the next few weeks and months.
⚖️ Far-right activist killed by far-left
So, moving back to la hexagone: this past Thursday saw a 23-year-old far-right activist, Quentin D., being attacked in Lyon while he was ‘providing security’ for six members participating in a far-right Nemesis Collective protest.
For the uninitiated, the Nemesis Collective is a far-right group for women aged 18-30, based in France and Switzerland, whose core belief is that there is a fundamental connection between immigration and crime, and that non-European immigrants, particularly Muslims, are the most likely to engage in violent behaviour towards women.
So, back to the events on Thursday: the Nemesis Collective were running a protest against a conference organised by far-left MEP Rima Hassan (LFI) at Sciences Po Lyon, and according to reports, the far-right group were attacked by members of a far-left militant group, the “Jeune Garde Antifasciste”, which was founded by now-deputy Raphaël Arnault.
Now, the situation appears to be the most recent explosion in an increasingly messy situation between extremist militia groups in Lyon, with Alice Cordier and Mila Orriols (of the Mila affair) on one side, and Raphaël Arnault and his grouping on the other, regularly exchanging accusations, and legal attacks involving claims of threats of physical violence.
According to claims being made, the lynching of Quentin D. by the far-left was supposedly some form of retaliation for violence perpetrated by other far-right groups, and yet, this explanation is being dismissed entirely due to the gravity of the crime itself.
From left to right, politicians across the board have decried the lynching that took place. Place Publique MEP, Raphaël Glusckmann, decried “hideous political violence”:
“My thoughts are with Quentin, his family and his loved ones.
These criminals must be arrested, tried and punished.
Lynching a 23-year-old is not anti-fascist; it is nothing but the most vile hatred and cowardice.
Hideous political violence is the negation of the Republic.”
Leader of the Macronist Renaissance party and former Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, called for “All those responsible [to] be brought to justice and punished with the utmost severity.”
“In Lyon, extreme left-wing violence has been unleashed. One victim is fighting for their life.
These are extremely serious events. They merit unanimous condemnation.
The full truth must be brought to light. All those responsible must be brought to justice and punished with the utmost severity.
My thoughts are with the victim, who is fighting for his life, and with his family and loved ones.”
Former Interior Minister and President of Les Républicains, Bruno Retailleau, on his side, decried “a horrifying testament to the extreme violence that prevails in the satellites orbiting around LFI” while Marine Le Pen chose to blame the Centrist government for the current scenario;
“The appalling attack that took place in Lyon, leaving a 20-year-old man fighting for his life, calls on the government to shake off its torpor in the face of far-left militias which, for years, relying on the complacency and support of parties such as La France Insoumise, have been increasing their intimidation, threats and attacks in public spaces.
Democracy can no longer tolerate those who seek to destroy it. Given the seriousness of the threats and the clearly manifested criminal intentions, the government must consider these militias to be terrorist groups. This means that they must be treated as such and that the relevant legislation and regulations must be applied to them.”
However, while many have blamed La France Insoumise for the increase in far-left violence, and while they can be blamed for a ratcheting up of political discourse since the 2017 elections, they have come out strongly against this attack:
MEP Rima Hassan ‘strongly’ condemned the attack, stating that she “was horrified to learn of the events involving Quentin, a young man who is currently fighting for his life following a clash yesterday in Lyon between anti-fascist activists and identitarian activists, who were present alongside the far-right group Némésis, which had come to disrupt the conference I had been invited to attend”
Deputy Manuel Bompard, the LFI coordinator in the Assemblée, chose to condemn “all physical violence in the strongest possible terms” alongside deputy Eric Coquerel, who stressed on Saturday on Franceinfo that the activists responsible for Rima Hassan’s security “were in no way involved in what happened.”
Coquerel also added the ongoing context of what is happening in Lyon: ‘ratonnades’ (racist attacks) and far-right attacks have been regularly taking place for years, which he claims have not been mediatised enough or received the necessary police engagement. Coquerel also added that LFI meetings are regularly disrupted by far-right groups without intervention.
Following these statements, we learned this Saturday that Quentin D. had lost his life after this attack.
Regardless of who did what and when, the reality is that the young man was beaten to death, and as everybody aside from a small minority agrees, this is completely and utterly unacceptable, and everybody involved should be arrested and punished severely.
🤝Pécresse calls for primary for right and centre
So, closing out the week: while some members of Les Républicains continue to work towards the famous “Union of the Right” that we have covered in past dispatches, Valérie Pécresse has continued to work to prevent this, and is attempting to turn her party back towards the centre
Right-Wing Bulwark Against the Far-Right
Time for a Christmas break as Valérie Pecresse and Xavier Bertrand break ranks and attack potential alliance with the far-right
Historically, Les Républicains have been closely aligned with the UDI (Union des Démocrates et Indépendants), and this was always a strong anchor for the right-wing party, with many former members of the LR frequently joining the UDI.
However, with the post-Macron and post-Trump recalibrations of French politics, and the strong droitisation led by Ciotti, Retailleau and Wauquiez in an attempt to capture the far-right wing vote, this connection became much weaker.
This is what Île-de-France president Pécresse wants to stop.
Decrying the fact that she believes that “no lessons have been learned, either from the 2022 primary or from the presidential campaign that followed” the former 2022 presidential candidate who won 4.78% of the vote in the last presidential election appears to be fearful of her party repeating past mistakes.
“Holding a primary next fall, as in 2022, would be a major mistake because you can’t improvise a presidential candidacy in three months,” she argued, claiming that the “ideal scenario” would be to launch a “primary that starts the day after the municipal elections, with a deadline before the summer.”
And in this statement that has been covered across the French media landscape, Pécresse called for a charter that would have to be signed, which would represent “the values of the right and the centre,” and could be used to apply political pressure on those who would want to avoid any primary.
She also called for the exclusion of politicians like the Zemmourist Sarah Knafo (Reconquête!).
Now, we have to admit that while this is a welcome change from the far-right baiting we usually see, the simple fact of the matter is that this is deeply unlikely to occur until the entirety of Les Républicains are in favour of this, and this looks deeply unlikely for the time being.
With a not insubstantial portion of the party pushing for the Union of the Right, including the party leadership, it would be a herculean effort to get them to change track completely.
Not only this, but you then need to convince the centre. This includes many social liberals who fundamentally disagree with many on the right, and politicians like Édouard Philippe who has already rejected the idea.
But, presidential elections have had even more outlandish situations take place, as enelopegate and Macron’s initial election aptly demonstrated, so who knows what will happen.
Thank you for reading the French Dispatch! If you liked what you read, you should like this post and subscribe to the newsletter by clicking/tapping the button below:
And if you’d like to contribute a coffee or two to help fuel my coverage of the wild world of politics, feel free to click on the picture below:
Not only France, but the EU has messed up regarding the Sahel region opportunism