PARIS: The French government condemned on Wednesday a visa ban imposed by the Trump administration on Thierry Breton, a former European Union commissioner who helped drive the EU’s Digital Services Act, which has recently targeted top US tech companies.
“France strongly condemns the visa restriction imposed by the United States on Thierry Breton, former minister and European Commissioner, and four other European figures,” wrote French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on X on Wednesday.
The Trump administration on Tuesday imposed visa bans on Breton and other anti-disinformation campaigners which it says were involved in censoring US social media platforms, in the latest move in a campaign aimed at European rules that US officials say go beyond legitimate regulation.
Breton, a former French finance minister and the European commissioner for the internal market from 2019-2024, was the most high-profile individual targeted by these bans.
The United States’ Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers described — when outlining the bans on Tuesday — Breton as a ‘mastermind’ of the EU’s Digital Services Act, which was again defended by Barrot on Wednesday.
“The Digital Services Act (DSA) was democratically adopted in Europe to ensure that what is illegal offline is also illegal online. It has absolutely no extraterritorial reach and in no way affects the United States,” wrote Barrot on X.
Breton himself also condemned the visa ban against him.
“Is McCarthy’s witch hunt back? As a reminder: 90 percent of the European Parliament — our democratically elected body — and all 27 Member States unanimously voted the DSA. To our American friends: ‘Censorship isn’t where you think it is.’,” wrote Breton on X.
France condemns US visa ban imposed on ex-EU commissioner Breton
https://arab.news/bma8x
France condemns US visa ban imposed on ex-EU commissioner Breton
- Breton, a former French finance minister and the European commissioner for the internal market from 2019-2024, was the most high-profile individual targeted by these bans
Two killed in suicide attack targeting security forces in Pakistan’s northwest
ISLAMABAD: Two security personnel, including an officer, were killed, while multiple others sustained injuries when a suicide blast targeted their vehicle in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, a police official said.
The suicide bomber hit his explosive-laden motorbike into an armored vehicle of security forces in Sara Darga area of KP’s Bannu district, according to a local police official who requested anonymity.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have carried out similar assaults in the region in past.
“The attack had damaged the armored vehicle, causing deaths and injuries,” he told Arab News, adding that they suspected the Pakistani Taliban to be behind the attack.
Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militancy in KP, which borders Afghanistan, in recent years, with militant groups, particularly the TTP, frequently targeting security forces, law enforcers and government officials in the region.
Earlier this week, Pakistani Taliban militants rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a checkpoint jointly manned by security forces and law enforcement agencies in KP’s Bajaur district, killing 11 security personnel among 12 people, the Pakistani military’s media wing said.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of allowing the use of its soil and India of backing militant groups for cross-border attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi deny this.
