France: far-right presidential candidate reveals racism over migrant visas

Far-right French presidential candidate Eric Zemmour said on Tuesday that if Ukrainian refugees have links or relatives in France they are welcome, but “Arab or Muslim immigrants are too unlike us” to be given visas, Anadolu has reported. Zemmour made his comments on BFM TV.

With previous convictions for inciting racial hatred, he said that it is acceptable to have different rules for would-be asylum seekers from Europe and those from Muslim countries. Nevertheless, he warned that an “emotional response” risked unleashing a flood of refugees across Europe after the European Union agreed to give Ukrainians who flee the war the right to stay and work in EU countries for up to three years.

Zemmour applauded Britain’s more stringent approach, said Anadolu. Britain has this week rejected calls to ease visa requirements for Ukrainian refugees.

“It’s a question of assimilation,” Zemmour claimed. “There are people who are like us and people who are unlike us. Everybody now understands that, and that it is harder and harder to integrate them. We are closer to Christian Europeans.”

The far-right candidate himself comes from a North African Jewish background.

READ: France far-right populist announces candidacy for 2022 presidential election