Lyhanna Case Sparks Judicial Crisis; France OKs Chlordecone Debt

The discovery of a body near Fleurance in the Gers on June 4, believed to be that of 11-year-old Lyhanna who vanished on May 29, forced the question that critics had been asking since the man was taken into custody: why was a 41-year-old father of two with multiple prior accusations of child sexual abuse never stopped? Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told parliament on Wednesday that he had formally requested the Justice Ministry to open an administrative inquiry into how those earlier allegations were handled. The case, which has exposed what child-protection advocates describe as a systemic failure to act on serial abuse complaints, drew comparisons to earlier French scandals over the same institutional blindness. France summoned the Russian ambassador over the Romania drone strike the same week the public's attention was consumed entirely by the Gers.

At the Assemblée nationale, parliament unanimously passed a bill acknowledging state responsibility for the harm caused by the organochlorine pesticide chlordecone in France's overseas territories of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Chlordecone was applied to banana plantations from 1972 to 1993 on the islands; France banned it on the mainland in 1990 but continued its use in the DOM for three additional years after that. Approximately 90 percent of the population of Guadeloupe and Martinique has been contaminated. The chemical is linked to prostate cancer, rates of which in the two territories are among the highest recorded anywhere, as well as stomach and pancreatic cancer. The unanimous vote represents a formal legislative acknowledgement of a harm that had been the subject of demands for recognition for more than a decade.

France's arms and diplomacy decisions were also contested. Israel's Economy Minister Nir Barkat, speaking to FRANCE 24, called France's decision to ban Israeli offensive weapons from the Eurosatory defence fair 'shameful' and warned Israeli companies would 'bypass France and get to our customers.' Paris had barred both Israeli officials and Israeli offensive systems from the biennial show -- a step it took after French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot earlier threatened to exclude Israeli delegations if fighting in Lebanon did not stop, a position France has now formalised. Barkat's statement came as Israeli strikes continued inside Lebanon despite the ceasefire framework announced in Washington.

On the NATO eastern flank, France joined Britain, Italy, Spain, and Greece in reinforcing air-defence systems after a Russian Geran-2 drone crashed into a residential building in Galati, Romania, on May 29, injuring two civilians. Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Toiu confirmed the allied response on June 3. France separately supported the broader NATO-Ukraine Council meeting in Kyiv on June 4 that brought all 32 alliance ambassadors alongside Secretary General Rutte.

In his separate international diplomacy, Macron endorsed the US-brokered Lebanon ceasefire while visiting Montenegro, saying France stood 'ready to advance on this path' and invoking a Franco-American coordination mechanism. He paid respects to a Serbian peacekeeper killed in Lebanon by Hezbollah mortar fire, describing the loss as a reminder of 'the fragility of the agreement reached.'

France will host Israeli and Palestinian civil society representatives in Paris on June 12, Foreign Minister Barrot announced. The meeting, intended to advance a two-state solution, proceeds even as the Eurosatory arms-ban dispute strains the formal bilateral relationship with Israel.