• The mayor, who blames the "lack of support from the state", announced his resignation and his move from the city of Saint-Brévin-les-Pins, after receiving threats and being the target of arson.
  • The Association of Mayors of France (AMF) has urgently called for answers "up to the challenges" while the prefect of Loire-Atlantique ensures that "protective measures have been taken".

The resignation of the mayor of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins, Yannick Morez, victim of an arson and under pressure from the extreme right, arouses a flood of reactions of solidarity from associations of elected officials, who demand more than ever support from the State. The mayor, who blames the "lack of state support", not only announced his resignation after fifteen years of city council, but also his move from the city where this general practitioner by profession has lived for 32 years.

Denouncing Thursday "an umpteenth manifestation of the violence that elected officials must increasingly face", the Association of Mayors of France (AMF) urgently called for answers "up to the stakes". "It is shameful that a mayor is in this situation of refusal to continue living in the city of which he was mayor for so many years," responded André Laignel (PS), first vice-president of the AMF, criticizing the "scandalous resignation of the State which has not been at the side of Yannick Morez", while it is the State itself that decides on the location of the Cada.

Support from the "permanent" state

"There are measures that have been taken, following a certain amount of intimidation, including specific protection, especially in the home. Regular patrols of the national gendarmerie, especially after the fire, "assured the prefect of Loire-Atlantique, Fabrice Rigoulet-Roze, at a press briefing in Nantes. "He had very recent exchanges with the soldiers of the national gendarmerie to assess the intimidation and pressure he felt," he added.

The prefect assured that "the support of the State" had been "permanent, throughout the construction process of this project from Cada to Saint-Brevin". "The support of the State, since 2021, has always been constant, both with the mayor, with the municipal council of Saint-Brevin, with the participation in particular, from the outset, of the State, alongside the municipality, in the context of public meetings, consultations, exchanges," continued Fabrice Rigoulet-Roze.

"Intellectual and sometimes physical terrorism"

Saint-Brevin is not an isolated case. Far-right demonstrations and threats against elected officials have defeated the project to welcome refugees in Callac, in Central Brittany. In Belâbre, in the Indre department, a project to install Cada with 38 places has also sparked an outpouring of hatred. "For months, we have been warning about the small groups of the extreme right that reign an intellectual and sometimes physical terrorism on elected officials," said André Laignel, elected representative of Indre.

Faced with the outcry, the Minister Delegate of Local Authorities Dominique Faure said she would unveil next week "new means to prevent and fight against attacks on elected officials". It had already announced in mid-March the creation of an "analysis and fight cell" dedicated to the fight against attacks on elected officials. A measure still not followed by effects, according to the AMF. A law promulgated in January also allows associations of elected representatives to bring civil actions.

  • Society
  • Loire-Atlantique
  • Pays de la Loire
  • Mayor
  • state
  • Death threats