Laurent Wauquiez removes "all regional aid" from Lyon 2 University

He is no longer president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, but he is the one responsible for making announcements to fuel his campaign of excesses and media stunts for the Republicans' primary. Laurent Wauquiez, president of the LR group in the National Assembly, announced this Wednesday morning that he had " decided with the president of the region (Fabrice Pannekoucke, Editor's note) to cut all regional aid to this university until light is shed on their excesses ."

Laurent Wauquiez mentioned, among these excesses, " Islamo-leftism ," " prayers, " and even " iftars ." A few minutes later, Fabrice Pannekoucke confirmed the decision in a message posted on X. " We are suspending all regional aid to Lyon 2 University, which is sinking into unacceptable excesses by yielding to pressure from the academic far left ," he said.

As a reminder, the university's vice-president for budget, Willy Beauvalet, resigned on May 5, while he is the subject of an investigation by the Lyon prosecutor's office following messages published on social networks paying tribute to the former leader of Hezbollah, a terrorist organization. Laurent Wauquiez also welcomed this resignation, which he considers to have been " obtained ." A decision taken by the person concerned " following the harassment and public smear campaign to which I have been subjected for several weeks due to personal positions relating to the situation in Palestine and Lebanon, itself linked to the one targeting Lyon 2 University as a whole and its president in particular, " he indicated.

These messages were unearthed as the university president was criticized for not having sufficiently supported the lecturer and elected official in Caluire-et-Cuire, Fabrice Balanche, whose class was interrupted by masked individuals shouting " racists, Zionists, you are the terrorists ." Responsibility for this action was claimed by the lyon2autonome group, which claims to be "anti-colonial" and "anti-France." Fabrice Balanche was criticized in particular for opposing the breaking of fasts during Ramadan within the university, but also for his positions on the CNews channel denouncing " Islamo-leftism " at Lyon 2.

In an interview with our colleagues at Tribune de Lyon following these events, the president of Lumière Lyon 2 University, Isabelle Bueltzingsloewen, indicated that she was "not surprised " by the interruption of Fabrice Balanche's course, a lecturer in geography, particularly because of his " positions on Gaza ." While she deplored the " intolerable facts ," the university president expressed to our colleagues his regret at Fabrice Balanche's " distressing, conspiratorial, and harmful words for the university ."

Read also : Professors, ex-ministers... They are demanding the resignation of the president of Lumière Lyon 2 University

These remarks have sparked the ire of a section of the political class, particularly on the right. Deeming her reaction " unacceptable ," the LR president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Fabrice Pannekoucke, and his predecessor, now a special advisor, Laurent Wauquiez, asked the Minister of Higher Education for an inspection mission into " the worrying excesses " within Lyon 2. In the Lyon metropolitan area, the LR mayor of Bron, Jérémie Bréaud, also called for the resignation of the president of Lyon 2 after meeting Fabrice Balanche, who is also an elected member of the Caluire-et-Cuire municipal council.

The "Balanche affair" reached the highest levels of government. Prime Minister François Bayrou denounced " unacceptable communitarian pressure." National Education Minister Elisabeth Borne supported the Lyon academic on X: "What happened at Lyon 2 University on Tuesday, April 1st is unacceptable ." As for the Minister of Higher Education, he issued a press release: "Nothing can justify masked and hooded individuals threatening a professor and forcing him to interrupt his class. We cannot accept this and we will not accept it." In an interview with Le Parisien, Philippe Baptiste added that "banning a professor from teaching is extremely serious. These are acts that are the opposite of what a university should be: a place of debate and openness.

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