A French politician is in the limelight for his recent and rather controversial statement. He has called for the US to return the Statue of Liberty, presented by the French people as a gift in 1884.
Raphaël Glucksmann, a member of the European Parliament and co-president of a small left-wing party in France, has claimed that the US is not worthy of the monument any more and return it to France.
Speaking to supporters, Glucksmann said, “Give us back the Statue of Liberty. We’re going to say to the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom. ‘Give us back the Statue of Liberty.’ We gave it to you as a gift.”
“It was our gift to you. But apparently you despise her. So she will be happy here with us,” Glucksmann said. The speech was met with thundering applause from his supporters on Sunday (March 16).
The White House dismissed French concerns, demanding continued gratitude for past wartime aid especially during the World War I and World War II.
To this, Glucksmann retorted with “eternal” gratitude, but asserted Europe’s readiness to assume leadership of the “free world.” He concluded by emphasising the universal symbolism of the Statue of Liberty.
“No one, of course, will come and steal the Statue of Liberty,” he wrote in X posts. “The statue is yours. But what it embodies belongs to everyone.”
Content retrieved from: https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/french-politician-raphael-glucksmann-statue-of-liberty-us-return-law-13872955.html.
