SEPARATISM WITH A FRENCH ACCENT

Corsica has been on the headlines of both French and foreign media for many days now. Paris first promised to consider the autonomy of Corsica, but then the French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin assured that the island "remained French and would remain French". Experts are now discussing the ongoing riots assessing the level of threat to the territorial integrity of France...

News agencies provided scarce reports on riots that took place on Corsica in early March, with at least 40 people injured. That this is why minister Darmanin visited the island. Many things are left out of the picture. Meanwhile, the incident began way before March 2022.

When did the story start?

Most of us know Corsica as a beautiful Mediterranean island. The knowledgable will recall that it is also the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte, also known as the Great Corsican. What is less known is that Corsica is also a long-standing hotbed of separatism.

The Mediterranean is one of the oldest centres of human civilisation, with a turbulent and rich history. Many territories here have changed hands several times. Corsica is no exception, and was even independent before becoming part of France in the 18th century. Subjugation to Paris is still not fully accepted here. In 1919, the world learned about the National Liberation Front of Corsica (FNLC), which in 1976, on the wave of left-wing terror in Europe, was also engaged in terrorist activities.

In 1998, the island's prefect, Claude Érignac, was murdered in Ajaccio, the capital of Corsica. It was a high-profile criminal case. The French authorities were in no doubt that Erignac had been killed because he was a representative of the French authorities on the island. The police identified the accomplices, who pointed to the direct perpetrator, Yvan Colonna. It took some time before Colonna was arrested. He had long hair and beard, which made it almost impossible to identify him from the 'wanted' photograph. What followed was a high-profile trial and even longer debates. Colonna claimed that he had been part of the fighting group but had not shot the prefect. The appeals, however, did not help much. Colonna received a life sentence. Over time he was gradually forgotten, particularly outside Corsica. So as FNLC gave up armed struggle.

But then everything changed.

A criminal incident with political overtones

At the beginning of March 2002, Yvan Colonna made the headlines again. One of France's most iconic prisoners was beaten by a fellow inmate, causing him to slip into a coma and die on March 22. In the first hours after the incident, riots broke out in the prison in Corsica, with dozens of casualties reported.

The Colonna incident took place amid a series of preceding events. Elections held in Corsica last year once again confirmed the trend already known to local experts: since 2015, power on the island has essentially belonged to supporters of autonomy. And in general, it the so-called local parties and movements advocating, as a rule, the autonomy of the island that top the first rows of electoral ratings. Yet there is no unity in the camp. But there is no doubt that population of the island understands their slogans very well. And it is not just about increasing public prosperity. In particular, local nationalists call for increasing the use of the Corsican language, which is spoken in many villages and by the locals, especially in places that are off-limits to tourists. Finally, one of the widely discussed ideas is that of a ‘resident of the island’, which would provide the right to buy a house on the island. According to the official version, many wealthy French people buy villas, apartments and even studios on Corsica so that they could spend time by the sea and enjoy the local scenery. As a result, property prices on the island, which is considerably poorer than other parts of France, have already approached those of Paris. The unofficial version, however, is to make Corsica more Corsican and reduce the presence of people from mainland France. The latter point is strongly opposed by Paris, which considers that it would violate the equality of French citizens. Nevertheless, the idea of residency status is still popular.

On top of this, there is another dangerous issue: supporters of autonomy demand amnesty for 11 Corsicans convicted of politically motivated violence. However, the central authorities are categorically against the demand. Under these circumstances, the Colonna case has proved to be the strongest detonator for the following events. As a result, the French interior minister had to travel to the troubled island and promise that Paris might consider granting autonomy.

When separatism knocks at the door...

Theoretically, the members of the Macron administration do everything in line with political textbooks. They use expressions such as "we can consider", "we are open to dialogue", "let's discuss everything", which are well known to be the best ways to cool passions. But only if they later indeed discuss the issue of autonomy, no "we heard and forgot" trick. Making concessions on such issues is extremely dangerous. And it is very difficult to keep the process within the framework of unity of the country.

Remarkably, the events in Corsica can also be interpreted in a very special way due to the strange position demonstrated by Paris during the 44-day war in Garabagh. This includes the call by the French parliament to recognise the independence of the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh, and the statements of the French Foreign Minister Yves Le Drian and President Emmanuel Macron. It also includes a trip to Garabagh by the French presidential candidate Valérie Pécrès, who no one in France even thought to condemn for violating and defying the laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

It is clear that Paris has a special relationship with Yerevan. And the large and actively voting French Armenian community forces local politicians to compete seriously for Armenian votes.

But now Paris appears to have crossed a red line. And they have created a precedent that is very dangerous for France itself, with Corsica with its own separatist aspirations. Both Valérie Pécrès and the French MPs, who tried to put pressure on Azerbaijan, have never questioned the borders of France. However, they have vehemently violated the principle of inviolability of borders and respect for territorial integrity. Such things in politics do not pass unnoticed, not only in bilateral relations. Corsica has also drawn conclusions from the very rash statements made in Paris, and decided that separatism was quite permissible—one just needs to be persistent.

Corsica is not the only region where separatism is an issue. The Front for the Liberation of Brittany operates on the Atlantic coast of France. There are also Alsace and Lorraine, lands that have been the subject of a dispute between France and Germany for many years. Well, Second World War and the Elysée Treaty sort of drew a line under the dispute. Yet if the European countries did not respect the Budapest Memorandum and forgot that they recognised Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, will they respect the rest of the agreed norms and principles? These are our versions and assumptions, not hot political news though. But as the old saying goes: those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones...