Visiting the forgotten French "rust belt", can it help Le Pen copy Trump's success?

In last year's US presidential election, the support of the "rust belt" voters was an important force to push Trump into the White House. Le Pen, often described as "Trumps of Europe", also regards Ayangri, located in the "rust belt", as an iconic constituency, hoping that Ayangri's victory can be replicated in the nationwide presidential election.

When Trump on the other side of the ocean is working hard to achieve a better 100-day ruling score, the French extreme right-wing party National Front, also labeled as "populism" and "anti-elitism", has been carried out in France's "rust belt". Governed for three years.

On the Saturday of the Easter holiday in April, Ayangri’s mayor, Fabian Lun Engelmann, came to the market outside the town hall with a leaflet bearing the National Front presidential candidate Mary Lule Pang. Surrounding the supporters.

Ayangri is located in the Moselle province in the northeast of France. Its affiliated Lorraine region is the French coal and steel center that was ceded to Prussia in the “Last Lesson” of Dude.

There are tall chimneys in the valley, belonging to ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel company. In its heyday, like many factories and mines in China, it provides everything that steel workers need to live: dorms, hospitals, schools, canteens, etc. But now there is a depression here. The gates of the workers who came and went to work in the past were locked. There were uncleaned leaves at the door, and the already cooled steelmaking furnace showed rust.

For a long time, this industrial town was the home of the left, but after the steel-making furnace was stopped for one year, in the 2014 election, the National Front's Engelman was elected mayor.

In last year's US presidential election, the support of the "rust belt" voters was an important force to push Trump into the White House. Le Pen, who is often described as “Trump of Europe”, also regards Ayangri, who is located in the “rust belt”, as an iconic constituency. He hopes that Ayangri’s victory can be replicated in the national presidential election.

The place that was forgotten by the country was at the Easter market, and a market stall owner did not hide his support for the National Front. "France needs to change. Some people say that Le Pen is not good. I don't think so. The National Front is concerned about borders, immigration and work. I agree."

People living in Ayangri saw that the most obvious change since the National Front took office was that the streets in the city had become cleaner and cleaner, and more police officers appeared on the streets.

Bernard Lukhov, who is in charge of environmental affairs at the Ayangri City Hall, said that after Engelmann was elected mayor, they spent the budget of the former Socialist Party Mayor to renovate the theater on the people's livelihood project, adding municipal police force, Construction of a parking lot and free bus for the elderly over 60 years old.

Bernard is a typical Ayan Day resident who has worked as a worker for more than 40 years at a local steel mill. He was originally a supporter of the French Communist Party and later turned to the Socialist Party. He is now a member of the National Front. In the 1970s, he believed that the Republican Party was on the shouting slogan and turned to a more practical Socialist Party. In the 1980s, as his focus turned to dissatisfaction with immigrants, he found resonance at the National Front founder Le Pen.

When Bernard was young, Ayangri’s steel mill belonged to the Wendell family. At the beginning of the 18th century, the Wendel family purchased a steel plant in the Lorraine region. By the beginning of the 20th century, the Wendel family's business had grown to become the largest steel manufacturer in Europe. Today it is part of the French business of the steel giant ArcelorMittal.

In the 2012 presidential election, the storage and abolition of the Ayangri Steel Plant was a focus issue, when ArcelorMittal was considering shutting down the steelmaking furnace. The Socialist presidential candidate, Hollande, came to the scene. He wore a suit and some union representatives to climb the roof of a car. He held a microphone and promised to save the factory after the workers who were present promised to be elected.

But after Hollande was elected for seven months, his Socialist government reached an agreement with ArcelorMittal to close Ayangri's steelmaking furnace. Although the company will continue to invest 180 million euros in other parts of the steel mill, the workers lost their jobs and either retired early or were transferred to another job.

When the red flame of the steelmaking furnace was gradually extinguished, some union members gathered in a protest to protest, and the protest cards were written in capital letters: betrayal. Union member Pascal Grimme no longer supported the Socialist Party from that day and turned to the National Front. He does not agree with Le Pen's claim, but hopes that the mainstream politicians will reflect on the rise of Le Pen through the ballot: What do voters want?

Despite the workers’ dissatisfaction with the Socialist government’s closure of the steelmaking furnace, Engelmann did not seek a restart after taking office. He said, "I don't lie to the voters. I offer them a clear plan: safe, clean, reduce taxes, reduce debt, build roads, improve the school, these things can be done by the mayor." Engelmann used to He is a very left-leading union member who changed his position in 2010 because of concerns about immigration and Islam.

Like other rust belt towns, Ayang Day is too dependent on a single industry. With the decline of the local steel industry, job opportunities are becoming less and less. The problem of high unemployment that plagued France is even more serious in Ayangri: the 17% unemployment rate far exceeds the national 10%.

Visiting the forgotten French "rust belt", can it help Le Pen copy Trump's success?

(Like other rust belt towns, Ayangri is too dependent on a single industry. With the decline of the local steel industry, job opportunities are getting less and less. Photography / Caijing reporter Jiang Yan) In order to find a better job, Ayang The Japanese turned their eyes to Luxembourg, which is less than 40 kilometers away. About one-third of local residents drive across the border to work every working day, mostly in the IT and finance industries.

"If there is no job opportunity in Luxembourg, the unemployment rate in Ayangri may be a disaster," said Hevi Lukhov, head of the National Front Moselle campaign office. In the Fenth Valley where Ayangri is located, the population working in the factory in 1975 was 100,000, and now only 15,000; the number of people working in Luxembourg was 20,000 in 1975 and reached 85,000 in 2017.

“Ayangri used to be an important industrial zone in France, but the country has forgotten it and the factories have closed. Le Pen will reinvigorate the industry,” Hoff said.

During Hollande's administration, a series of liberal reforms he implemented made the Socialist Party lose the support of more and more blue-collar workers. They began to turn to other political parties to find answers, including the National Front led by Le Pen.

Le Pen’s target voters are those who believe they have been forgotten in the process of globalization, especially the residents of the former industrial towns of France, and those who are worried about the influx of immigrants and the loss of French identity.

Le Pen proposed that if the relocated enterprises want to sell the products back to France, they will be taxed heavily. If they do not want to be taxed, they will stay in France. Her idea coincided with US President Trump, who argued that if US companies move their production lines to Mexico or elsewhere and then sell their products back to the US, they will face high border taxes.

Le Pen’s other claim is to restart the French border. If she is elected, an automatic identification card will be set up at the border crossing to check when pedestrians and vehicles pass by.

Ayangri, which borders Luxembourg, will be the frontier to restart the border, which will undoubtedly increase the cost of commuting between the two places. However, Hoff responded that resetting the border is not to let people enter France; before joining the EU, France and Luxembourg originally had borders and would have been subject to inspection.

When the enemies left, when Engelman and his supporters voted for Le Pen, the opponents of the National Front held a comic exhibition against the National Front in Konyyan, a few kilometers away. Organized this exhibition is a satirical cartoon association, which was established after the attack of the editorial department of Paris Charlie Weekly in January 2015.

In the comics on display, Le Pen's head often appears with Trump or the Nazi logo. In one of the paintings, the French word FRANCE is divided into FN (National Front) and RACE (race). Alexander Lufol, who is responsible for organizing the exhibition, is worried about Le Pen’s anti-Muslim attitude.

His association had applied to hold the exhibition in Ayangj, but did not receive a reply, so he chose the neighboring Konyyan. The left is still in power here, but the ruling party has already felt the threat of the National Front. Mayor Fabriès Sebba said that the National Front is occupying their territory and the support rate is closely followed. Konyyan also suffered from the closure of iron ore and steel mills.

One year after the National Front took power, Stephen Luke Casa Grande left Ayan and moved to a village called Saint Nicholas. His great-grandfather immigrated from Italy to France in his early years, to the generation of Casa Grande, is already the fourth generation of Ayan. Casa Grande has lived in Ayangri for more than 40 years, and his father still lives there. He left because he couldn’t stand the National Front’s rule.

“Although the city center has become clean, but the surrounding area has not improved, it is just an image project,” said Casa Grande.

Along with this, subsidies for low-income families were abolished and cultural budgets were cut. Even though the elderly population was taken care of, other groups were still ignored. The conflict is hidden under the peace of Ayan.

Casa Grande is now an ambulance driver. At Ayang Day, he was a steel worker and worked at the ArcelorMittal factory. After Hollande reneged on his words, some of his colleagues turned to support the National Front because of dissatisfaction. But Casa Grande did not change his views on the National Front. In his view, the National Front is a xenophobic fascist party. "Freedom should be the freedom of all people. I can't imagine the freedom of only a few people."

Because of the criticism of the mayor of the National Front, Casa Grande lost his friend. He created a page against Facebook on Facebook and was also threatened. Casa Grande’s father also became a supporter of the National Front, and he had not been with his father for a long time because of his disagreement with his father. The hometown is a past for this person living in a foreign land.

Among the 11 presidential candidates this year, Casa Grande did not find a person to trust. "I will still go to vote, that is my right, but I will vote for a blank ticket."

The anger and loss of atypical Ayangri outside the typical existence exist in many places in France: industrial decline, factory exodus, immigration, political dissatisfaction, fear of the future, and anxiety about social inequality. The National Front’s success in Ayangri has some degree of typicality, but it is not.

Visiting the forgotten French "rust belt", can it help Le Pen copy Trump's success?

Posters posted by the National Front in the Ayangri campaign office called for the cessation of mass immigration. Photography / Caijing reporter Jiang Yan

Ayangri’s steel industry has not completely declined. At the junction with Konyyan, and the British steel plant, it continues to receive orders from the French National Railways; it is home to Morocco, Turkey, Poland, Algeria, etc. Immigrants from the land, of course, they do not tend to support an exclusive political party.

For Ayan Japanese, choosing to support the National Front is more like a protest to express dissatisfaction with reality and politicians. Those who support Engelmann do not agree with all claims of the National Front. In fact, in the 2014 election, Engelman received a limited number of votes. Of the more than 10,000 voters, he only got more than 2,000 votes, and nearly half of them voted.

His victory was also related to the socialist party's decline at that time. The socialist party and the Communist Party that had been cooperating were split before the election, and the socialist party's team was old and did not understand the strategy of election. When Engelman appeared in a young, willing to listen, he won.

After more than three years of ruling by the National Front, the essence of society is still plaguing Ayang Day: the unemployment rate is high, the population is aging, and new immigrants are coming. Some young families moved only because it was adjacent to Luxembourg, they were not interested in local politics and did not vote in local municipal elections.

The central café outside the St. Martin's Church in Ayang is one of the most frequent cafes for locals. People gather to play cards, buy lottery tickets, watch horse shows, drink coffee, and chat. The 71-year-old Lakhov Road Saeed comes almost every day. He was born in Algeria and used to be a soldier. He was a truck driver after he retired.

For Saeed, the time to come to Ayangri has nothing to do with politics, only because his friends who met in the army came from Ayangri, so he also settled here when he retired more than 20 years ago. "I don't object to anyone who doesn't support it. For me, who is in power is the same."

("Financial" reporter Jiang Yan / Wenfa from France A Yangri Yuan Xue / editor)