In rhetoric that suggests France’s establishment conservatives are increasingly keen to imitate populist candidate Marine Le Pen, Mr Fillon spoke of French “identity”, “culture” and “history” as he sparred with rival Alain Juppé.
France24 reports that when asked whether France’s future should be as a multicultural nation, Mr Fillon said: “The answer is no.”
“France has a history, a language, a culture, of course this culture and language have been enriched by the contributions of foreign populations, but it remains the foundation of our identity,” he added.
He also denied that France was already a multicultural nation, adding: “In any case it’s not the choice we made, we did not make the choice of communitarianism and multiculturalism.”
“When we go to somebody’s house, we don’t try to take power,” he said.
However, Mr Juppé, who is seen as much more centrist than Mr Fillon, disagreed, saying: “We come from different ancestors, we have different skin colours, and different religions, and that is our strength.” [Breitbart London] Read more
