France urges Arab countries to stop calls for boycotts of French products after President Emmanual Macron vowed that the country would never give in to Islamic radicals.
Comments made recently by Macron about Islamists and his reaction to the October 16 murder of a French teacher by a teenaged Chechen extremist have sparked tension with several Arab countries and populations.
Calls for boycotts of French goods have since come from groups in Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar, in particular after Macron vowed not to “give up cartoons” that depict the prophet.
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech at the end of a visit on the fight against separatism at the Seine Saint Denis prefecture headquarters in Bobigny, northeastern suburbs of Paris, on October 20, 2020. (Ludovic MARIN / various sources / AFP)
The French foreign ministry urges countries where boycott calls have been made to stop them and ensure the security of French citizens.
“Calls for a boycott are groundless and must cease immediately, as must all attacks on our country that have been manipulated by a radical minority,” a ministry statement says.
It underscores the danger posed by “calls to demonstrate against France, in terms that are sometimes heinous and spread on social media.”
— AFP
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