Senator Bruno Retailleau (Les Républicains), at the Sénat in Paris, November 19, 2025. ISA HARSIN/SIPA
The French right is bringing back one of its favorite subjects: the debate over the headscarf. "It is far from just a simple piece of fabric," Bruno Retailleau, president of the right-wing Les Républicains (LR), said of the clothing item on Wednesday, November 26, on the TV channel Franceinfo. "Islamism and 'frérisme' [which alludes to the Muslim Brotherhood] see it as an instrument of submission, of women's subjugation." Retailleau, a former interior minister, was invited to respond to a new report from LR senators, unveiled the previous day and written by Jacqueline Eustache-Brinio.
Back on the floor of the Sénat, Retailleau "praised the quality of the work" of the 29 senators. Among the report's 17 recommendations, some threaten to ignite public debate and took President Emmanuel Macron by surprise. Over the summer, the president had asked the government led at the time by François Bayrou to propose new measures to counter the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, a movement founded in Egypt in 1928.
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