French Government Reports Raise Concerns of the ‘Rebirth of the Violent Left’

Jason Burke, Paris correspondent for The Observer at the website, guardian.co.uk, reports that:” The French government fears a wave of extreme left-wing terrorism this year with the possible sabotage of key infrastructure, kidnappings of major business figures or even bomb attacks. Secret French government reports, seen by the Observer, describe an "elevated threat" from an "international European network ... with a strong presence in France" after the radicalisation of "a new generation of activists" in recent years. Senior analysts and experts linked to the government have drawn parallels with the Action Directe group, which carried out 50 or more attacks in the early 1980s. Others cite the example of the Baader-Meinhof gang. A report by the French domestic intelligence service talks of "a rebirth of the violent extreme left" across Europe that is likely to be aggravated by the effects of the economic crisis. Other secret documents expose alleged links with activists in Italy, Greece, Germany and the UK. "It has been growing for three or four years now and the violence is getting closer and closer to real terrorism," said Eric Dénécé, director of the French centre of intelligence research and a former Defence Ministry consultant.” While the truth of the French government reports are questioned by several experts; the outbreak of severe violence in Athens recently adds an air of concern for many Europeans that “angry and alienated young people and a hard core of violent left-wing extremists” could result in numerous outbreaks of violence across the European continent. Recent appearances of posters in Paris have urged youth who are "forced to work for a world that poisons us" to follow the example of their Greek counterparts. "The insurrection goes on. If it takes hold everywhere, no one can stop it," the posters urged. The surge in the recruitment of mostly middle class youth, creating an upsurge of activism is most often blamed on “changes in employment law in 2006... Gilles Gray, assistant director of economic protection of the French domestic intelligence service, spoke recently of "a philosophy that was spreading in Europe.” That justifies terrorism. So far, the formation of violent groups and organized illegal activities have centered in Greece, France, and Germany. “But some accuse France's right-wing government of both exaggerating and exploiting the left-wing threat. "They are turning my son into a scapegoat for a generation who have started to think for themselves about capitalism and its wrongs and to demonstrate against the government," said Gérard Coupat, father of the alleged ringleader of one of the French youth groups. Mr. Coupat continued: "The government is keeping my son in prison because a man of the left with the courage to demonstrate is the last thing they want now, with the economic situation getting worse and worse. Nothing like this has happened in France since the war. It is very serious." For those who feel the French government is overreacting such as: “Author and researcher Christophe Bourseiller told the Observer the threat was being exaggerated. "Yes, there is a certain renewed level of agitation, but there is a huge difference between deliberately slowing down a few trains without injuring anyone and something like the Madrid bomb blasts," he said. Mr. Bourseiller continued:"The Ministry of the Interior has made it look like (they have) halted a serious campaign of violence with a huge, huge media operation." In addition to the real or contrived violence posed by youth groups: “Trade unions have promised a series of mass stoppages in the coming months. Among a population already made bitter by static salaries, rising prices and structurally high levels of unemployment, the lay-offs and wage cuts that could result from the economic crisis will fuel anger.” So governments across Europe are on alert because “...there are other groups in France, in Italy, in Germany, which, having lost faith in a political left in disarray, are tempted by violent action and are in a phase of semi-clandestinity," Alain Bauer, a criminologist at the Sorbonne, told the Observer. "With Action Directe and the Red Brigades, there was a first intellectual phase, followed by a radicalisation and then a transition to physical action.”