#63: ZEMMOUR SAYS FRANCE IS SLIPPING INTO "ETHNIC" CIVIL WAR

German finance minister tells voters to pick communists + 39% of Poles accuse EU of trying to overthrow conservatives + Vienna to host migration summit with Hungary and Serbia + MORE!

ZEMMOUR WARNS FRANCE IS ON BRINK OF ETHNIC CIVIL WAR

The leader of the right-wing Reconquest party, Éric Zemmour, has warned of the risk of a "civil war" and slammed President Emmanuel Macron after another night of riots in several French cities.

The riots were sparked by the death of a young man, Nahel, who was shot by a police officer while fleeing a stop in Nanterre on Tuesday.

Zemmour, who has contended for the presidency, said on Europe 1 radio on Friday that the situation was "much more serious" than the 2005 riots, which were triggered by the death of two teenagers.

He said that the current violence was an "ethnic, racial war" and that it affected "all of France", not just the suburbs, because of the "policy of distribution of immigrants" that had been implemented for 20 years.

“We are in the prodromes of a civil war,” said Zemmour. "It's an ethnic, racial war, we can see the forces involved."

He also criticized Macron for saying that Nahel's death was "inexplicable" and "inexcusable" before the justice had ruled on the case. He accused him of "going to bed" and being weak.

He said that if he had been in power, he would have stopped immigration, abolished birthright citizenship, ended family reunification, limited student visas, deported delinquents, criminals and long-term unemployed.

The riots have spread to several cities, including Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux and Toulouse.

GERMAN FINANCE MINISTER RECOMMENDS COMMUNISTS OVER AfD

In a surprising move, the leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Germany’s Finance Minister Christian Lindner, has urged Germans to vote for the communist Left Party instead of the conservative Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Lindner made this remark at a "citizens' dialogue" event in Weimar, where he argued that voting for the Left Party would be a better way to express discontent and protest than supporting the AfD.

Lindner's statement contradicts his previous stance on the Left Party, which he had often criticized as being radical and irresponsible. It also raises questions about the role and relevance of the FDP, which has been struggling to gain support and influence in recent years.

The FDP, which used to be a liberal and pro-market party, has been accused of shifting its positions and principles depending on its potential coalition partners.

Some observers have suggested that the FDP is now courting the Green Party, which is expected to perform well in the upcoming federal election, as a possible ally.

Lindner's advice to vote for the Left Party also comes after a shocking electoral defeat for the mainstream parties in Thuringia, where an AfD candidate won the district administrator election in Sonneberg with an absolute majority, despite a united front of all other parties against him.

39% OF POLES BELIEVE EU IS TRYING TO OVERTHROW CONSERVATIVES

A new poll has revealed that a large proportion of Polish citizens suspect that the EU and Germany are trying to undermine or overthrow the current conservative Polish government led by the Law and Justice (PiS) party.

The poll asked two questions to the respondents. The first one was if “the European Union authorities are trying to remove the current Polish government from power through various actions.”

The second one was whether they think “Germany is seeking to take over power in the European Union.”

The results showed that 39% of the respondents agreed with the first statement, while 32% didn’t agree and 29% didn’t know.

The majority of PiS supporters (82%) and Confederation party supporters (53%) believed that the EU authorities are hostile to the Polish government.

The PiS government has been involved in several disputes with the EU over issues such as immigration and freedom of religion. The results also showed that 37% of the respondents agreed with the second statement, while 35% disagreed and 28% had no opinion.

VIENNA TO HOST MIGRATION SUMMIT WITH HUNGARY AND SERBIA

Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer will welcome Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic for a summit on migration issues in Vienna next week.

The meeting, which will also involve the foreign and interior ministers of the three countries, is part of a series of talks that started last year to curb irregular migration along the Balkan route.

"The aim of the third summit is to expand the strong axis in the fight against illegal migration and to further strengthen joint measures for effective border protection,” said Austria’s Chancellery.

The summit aims to strengthen the cooperation and coordination among the three countries in preventing and combating illegal migration and enhancing border security.

Nehammer said that the results of the past meetings were positive, but that more efforts were needed to reform the EU asylum system and eliminate the incentives for illegal migration.

SWEDEN’S SOCIALISTS WANT TO CENSOR CRITICAL MEDIA

The leader of the Social Democratic Party, Magdalena Andersson, has called on the ruling government to put and end to the media criticism of her party by media that’s sympathetic to the populist Sweden Democrats (SD).

She challenged Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who leads a minority government with the support of SD, to take action against the SD leader Jimmie Åkesson and his party's YouTube channel Riks.

Andersson, who is known for having a short temper and has been nicknamed "Angry Andersson", reacted strongly to a recent review by the social democratic newspaper Aftonbladet of the Riks channel.

The review claimed that the channel, which has a large audience and often criticizes the social democratic policies and politicians, called the SD “traitors” and other negative terms.

“The question must be asked of Ulf Kristersson, where is his limit? When will he speak up against Jimmie Åkesson? It is very serious that you spread messages with that kind of tone. It is something that Jimmie Åkesson must be held accountable for. And not just him – Ulf Kristersson chooses to collaborate with Jimmie Åkesson and thus gives SD a completely different legitimacy,” said Andersson.

Andersson said that such a tone was very serious and could incite violence against her party members. She also blamed Kristersson for collaborating with Åkesson and giving him and his party more legitimacy and influence.

Kristersson and Åkesson have not yet responded to Andersson's remarks. However, SD's press manager Oskar Cavalli-Björkman issued a press release in which he accused Andersson of having no self-awareness and being ashamed of her party's years of slurs and hatred against SD.

"After all the years of slurs and hatred as Magdalena's party in the East over the Sweden Democrats, her statement is actually a rather frightening example of a total absence of self-awareness. She should be ashamed,” said Cavalli-Björkman.