France: what is fuelling the unrest?

France correspondent Stefan Brändle comments in Der Standard:

“The underlying reason for the tensions is that the French Republic makes a promise to its young citizens that it is unable to keep: the promise of equality – égalité. Those who grow up in the banlieues generally experience this failed promise first-hand. … The greatest responsibility, however, lies with two political extremists. On the right, Marine Le Pen is challenging the existing order simply by standing as a presidential candidate. For his part, left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon is adding fuel to the fire of the student protests on a daily basis, and what’s more, undermining the authority of the state and the police – who have never acted particularly intelligently in France. … The clash between these two extremists is dividing and eroding democracy in the country, and inevitably bringing the conflict to boiling point.”