National scene
Summertime is always an occasion for far-right groups to gather their members for a summer camp or “university”. Academia Christiana, the fascist identitarian-catholic youth organisation, held its yearly summer gathering on August 22nd-27th. They claim that 250 participants attended the event. The days were structured around conferences, sports, artistic and journalistic activities and community building around the themes or identity and sacredness, aimed at giving an impulse to local activism. Among the lecturers, the identitarian Julien Langella, former RN personality and president of the youth section of the party between 2012-2014 Julien Rochedy (he is now invested in writing philosophical essays while promoting a conservative vision of masculinity), the lawyer used to giving presentations to far-right groupuscules Thibault Mercier and without surprise the Abbot Matthieu Raffray, very active in the movement. The camp took place in Précigné, Pays de la Loire. The last day was an open day attended by many local identitarian organisations from all over the country. Action Francaise, historical monarchist nationalist organisation also held the 70th edition of its yearly youth camp Maxime Real Del Sarte (CMRDS) between August 21st-28th, close to Roanne, Rhone-Alpes with similar activities and the same objectives: political and physical training. They revendicate 350 participants and had two parallel days of “summer university” dedicated to older activists. Among the lecturers, Bernard Lugan from the Insitut Iliade circles, just as Guillaume Travers who however lectured at the Academia Christiana one. Jeune Nation, Yvan Benedetti’s antisemetic organisation’s nationalist youth camp also took place, on July 11th-17th, with a similar program-motto “training, camaraderie, sports”. Last but not least the traditionalist catholic organisation Civitas held its 4th “summer university” named “Real Country”, with a reported number of 270 participants. It took place in Dieppe, Normandy, on August 13th-15th. The goal? Fight the “globalist oligarchy” and the “Great reset” of which the Covid-19 pandemic is a tool. Despite the limited outreach of such events, their impact should not be underestimated. They constitute key social cohesion gatherings, most often aimed at training the youth, meeting and exchange platforms aimed at stimulating engagement, new local groups as well as new projects in line with the broader goal of defending a white French/European identity and consequently oppose what would come in the way.
Transnational connections
On August 9th,the International Indigenous Peoples’ Day, several European far-right groups, some coordinated or some independently, reclaimed this celebration to denounce the supposed decline of white Europeans, considered as the “indigenous” people of Europe, and the only minority “denied the possibility of claiming an identity and preserving an ethnic and cultural homogeneity”. A white supremacy com-event joined at least by neo-fascist Auctorum Versailles from on the French side.
Moreover, neo-fascist Luminis Paris also took part in the action… from Serbia, as two of their members report to have visited Belgrade but also Novi Sad “key historical city against ottoman invasions”. The were welcome by “Serbian comrades” from the Zentropa community and claim to have learnt on Serbian issues as well as shared methods from training and action.
Daria Dugin’s death, daughter of Eurasia theorist Aleksandr Dugin, on August 20th triggered an rather unanimously wave of commemoration among the French far right. Despite the disagreements with her father, especially on the topic of Islam, she appears as a symbol of ultranationalist fervour and it is her political engagement that is praised. Moreover, she studied in Bordeaux in the early 2010’s and met Marion Maréchal ex-Le Pen during her time in France, and is reported to have supported the wider Le Pen family for electoral purposes.
In the meantime, Daniel Conversano’s Les Braves continues on promoting Patriotic Alternative’ events such as their summer camp. On a similar continuity, Institut Iliade pursues its European reachout by being presented to a Greek audience this time, on the nationalist Webtv Eleftheros Kosmos.