Politics: Lorrainers and Champardennais stand united against Alsatian "separatists"

On one side, Alsatian "separatists" driven by a desire for independence, on the other, elected officials who assure that with the Grand Est, unbreakable administrative links have been established between the former regions over time.

The leading advocate of territorial and administrative unity is none other than the current president of the Grand Est region. Franck Leroy assured us at the beginning of the summer that "having an administrative structure as powerful as the Grand Est region offers advantages." And if unity is strength, the president of the regional executive can count on big names in regional politics to support his position.

In 2024, 36 elected officials from the Grand Est co-signed a letter sent to Emmanuel Macron . A letter in which one could read in particular: "The Grand Est has perfectly found its place alongside the other local authorities" or even "a new modification of the territorial organization would be incomprehensible". This bias assumed by Boris Ravignon, mayor of Charleville-Mézières, Arnaud Robinet , mayor of Reims, Quentin Brière, mayor of Saint-Dizier or François Grosdidier , mayor of Metz, is also assumed by the first magistrates of Strasbourg, Mulhouse, Haguenau and Saverne.

Recently, the divide between those for and against Alsace's exit from the Grand Est region has found another playing field: football. The Grand Est Football League held a vote to try to determine whether to revive an autonomous Alsace League. Here again, the Lorrainers and the Champagne-Ardenne region have dashed the dreams of independence of some Alsatians . By a large margin (61.74%), representing roughly the weight of Lorraine and Champagne-Ardenne, the clubs rejected the request for the Alsace district to split.