CatalàEnglish Site map Back to main page
in brief
‘I'm proud to be a Jacobin, and to only speak French and Spanish’
French senator defines Breton schools as 'sects' during the second debate on minority languages.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the French senator for Essone, really excelled himself yesterday during France’s second institutional debate on minority languages, this time in the upper house. While a Breton senator was speaking in defence of Breton-language education and the role of the federation of schools known as Diwan, Mélenchon interrupted him, shouting “They are a sect!”.
When it was his turn to speak, and without backing up his previous accusation, he said he was “proud to be a Jacobin, and to only speak French and Spanish”, which he said was his grandparents’ mother tongue. As if that weren’t enough, he then accused the Breton language of being “collaborationist” because, as Agence Bretagne Presse explains, one of the most famous Breton grammarians was later accused of collaborating with the Nazis.
Further information:
- Speech by Mélenchon, in Oui au breton
- Agence Bretagne Presse: Le sénateur Jean Luc Mélenchon accuse Diwan d'être une secte
- Oui au breton: Mélenchon perd la tête
