Nathalie Loiseau Reacts to Thursday’s Stabbing in Nice

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: Why is it that the values President Macron talks about defending and never surrendering are causing this kind of attack rather too often? It’s not just a one off.

NATHALIE LOISEAU, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER, FRANCE, FORMER FRENCH MINISTER FOR EUROPEAN AFFAIRS: Well, good evening, Christiane. And yes, indeed, it’s an evening of mourning, and I can say that I’m upset. You may hear it in my voice or see it on my face. Let us be clear, there cannot be any sort of justification for the barbaric slaughters that took place today and a few days ago. Nothing on earth can justify what took place. But it takes place against a background, a background of Islamists radical movements supporting terrorism, raising the level of hatred, of insult, of verbal violence, which turns into violence as a whole. And this is what is taking place. And especially in my country, where we defend these values of freedom, of democracy. And at a moment, where we have the trial of terrorist attack of 2015. So, this is not a surprise. I should say that some tried to take advantage of this very special moment to perpetrate their barbaric acts.

AMANPOUR: So, it is, indeed, barbaric, what happened to Samuel Paty, what happened to a, you know, priest a couple of years ago, other stabbings that have taken place. My question to you, though, is, you know, the killer of Samuel Paty was a Chechen refugee who had grown up in France for most of his life, anyway, an 18-year-old who spent a lot of time in France. This one, according to reports right now, is somebody who arrived in Italy, on the Island of Lampedusa, fleeing I guess the Arab world, a Tunisian, in September, and allegedly entered France illegally. I don’t know that part of it, but do you know any more details about who he is?

LOISEAU: No, I don’t, and the Paris prosecutor will be speaking in an hour and give details about him. Well, let’s face it, this is a global cancer that we are facing. Islamic radicals fueling terrorism are worldwide. This knows no borders, and it spreads online as well.