“Give us back the Statue of Liberty”

The Statue of Liberty, erected on Liberty Island in New York, was gifted by the French to the Americans to emphasize the friendship between the two nations as well as their alliance during the War of Independence.

This symbol of the United States, created by the French sculptor and architect Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, was unveiled on October 28, 1886, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence.

«We will tell the Americans who chose to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who shunned researchers for demonstrating scientific freedom: Give us back the statue of Liberty. It was a gift to you, but apparently, you disdain it. So, it will be very well here with us», declared the socialist MEP to the cheers of about 1500 activists.

«We’re tired of having a tiny one,» says Glucksmann, referring to the Parisian version of the Statue of Liberty, located at the Grenelle Bridge.

«We want the big one and we want the poem that is written below», he added.

«The second thing we are going to say to the Americans is: If you want to send away your best researchers, if you want to get rid of all the people who, through their freedom and sense of innovation, their taste for doubt and research, have made your country the world’s leading power, well, we will welcome them».

Glucksmann protested against the disengagement of the Donald Trump administration in the Russia-Ukraine conflict during the rally.

The MEP also denounced the freeze of American military aid during an interview with BFMTV: «We are facing our destiny to save Europe. […] We cannot replace the United States overnight, but what we can do, we must do». According to him, the security of Europe is at stake against Russia, which poses «a threat to NATO countries and to European Union countries».

During the Place publique congress, Glucksmann also made a call for a «democratic resistance» to counter «the Trump and Musk fan club in our country», which he considers to be far-right.

In a document, of which AFP has a copy, he urges to build «a force that weighs, that acts, and that preserves [the French motto] Liberty, equality, fraternity!», in the face of «the far-right international», of which American and Russian presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, as well as Marine Le Pen in France, are part according to him.