France removes EU flag from Arc de Triomphe after rightwing anger

French authorities removed a temporary installation of the European Union flag from the Arc de Triomphe monument in Paris on January 2, after right-wing opponents of President Emmanuel Macron accused him of "erasing" French identity, Report informs referring to AFP.

Junior European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune, who on December 31 had said the flag would remain for “several days”, said it had been taken down as planned, Reuters informs.

“It was scheduled that the flag was to be taken down this Sunday, we hadn’t established an exact time”, Beaune told France Inter radio. He dismissed the idea that the government had given in after far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Saturday said she would appeal to France’s Council of State to remove the EU flag.

“The government has been forced to remove the EU flag from the Arc de Triomphe, a beautiful patriotic victory at the start of 2022”, Le Pen said on January 2. “We didn’t back down, there was no change of plan...I fully assume France’s destiny is in Europe,” Beaune said.