Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau talks to Le Parisien – Aujourd’hui en France about drug trafficking legislation, tensions with Algeria, Islamism, and secularism in France. Notably, he said that if France did not fulfill its security duties and backed down in the face of Algeria’s hostility, he would resign.
We include some excerpts below.
Passed unanimously by the Senate, the proposed law against drug trafficking arrives at the National Assembly this Monday. Are you expecting more heated debates?
Bruno Retailleau: Drug trafficking is an existential threat that is responsible for more than 100 deaths in France each year. By comparison, terrorism has caused 274 deaths since 2012. Organized crime threatens our institutions, and its eradication must therefore be a national cause. I am aware of the desperate arithmetic of the Assembly, but I hope for a resurgence. The deputies, regardless of their political affiliation, must give the State a founding law because today, we are not fighting on equal terms.
The chairman of the Law Commission, the rapporteur of the text, and certain ministers are opposed to it. Are you alone against everyone?
I agree with the vast majority of French people who believe that current law no longer protects them sufficiently. When the law is weak, the law must be changed! I am responsible for the safety of the French people, and without this tool, we will be missing an essential instrument.
On the Algerian issue, you have moved from a “balance of power” to a “graduated response.” Are you lowering your ambitions?
Of course not. For a long time, I was the only one in the government to advocate this balance of power. This Friday, with my colleague from Foreign Affairs, we sent the Algerian authorities an initial list of Algerians who represent a danger and whom we want to expel. This is the direct result of the interministerial committee for immigration control, which I had asked François Bayrou to maintain. From now on, my line, which is that of the balance of power with Algeria, is that of the government. If Algeria does not take back its dangerous nationals, we will initiate a graduated response. But if it respects the 1994 agreements (an amendment to the 1968 agreement), the problem will be resolved.
Otherwise?
At the end of the response, there will be a questioning of the 1968 agreements. But let me be clear: I do not want a second Mulhouse. If Algeria had respected the law, there would have been no victims in Mulhouse (attack of February 22). I will be intransigent and I expect this graduated response to be applied.
If not, will you resign?
France is ready to take on the showdown.
So you will remain Minister of the Interior for as long as possible?
That’s not what I told you. I’m not here for a position, but to fulfill a mission: to protect the French people. As long as I believe I’m useful and the resources are given to me, I’ll be mobilized. But if I were asked to give in on this major issue for the security of the French people, obviously I would resign.
You met with the president on Algerian issues. Did he ask you to ease up so as not to hinder the release of Boualem Sansal?
Absolutely not. France has been reaching out to Algeria for years, but getting what in return? Enough humiliation! Take the case of the Bercy official who communicated information to Algeria (according to information from Le Parisien ). This demonstrates that Algeria is deploying hostile actions on French territory. I repeat: Enough is enough!
Sports Minister Marie Barsacq has stated that “wearing the veil is not infiltration.” Do you think she has no place in the government?
It’s not up to me to decide, but I radically disagree with her. I remind Marie Barsacq that the Senate voted for the bill on secularism in sport. The government was in favor of it and still is. Fundamentalism has no place in sport. However, at the ministry, I have a certain amount of information that demonstrates Islamist infiltration in sport, notably by the Muslim Brotherhood. I remind, especially feminists, that the veil is not a freedom but a subjugation of women.
The courts have rejected the request of a Muslim high school (Al Kindi) that had lost its accreditation. There are no longer any private Muslim high schools under contract in France. Isn’t this an aberration when five million Muslims live in the country?
I fully accept my desire to oppose this low-key Islamism that is on the rise, particularly in schools. This high school is a front for the Muslim Brotherhood, where the latter disseminates Islamist propaganda, particularly through books that promote jihad and Sharia law, and legitimize domestic violence, polygamy, and the death penalty for homosexuals.
The number of racist and anti-religious acts increased by 11% in 2024. Who are the main victims?
Acts against our Jewish compatriots have exploded. There is now a convergence of struggles between Islamism and the far left, which is the main danger for the Republic.
