French press review 26 February 2016

Migration, political colors, Iran and... farming are all on the menu for today's French press review.

DR

Right-wing Le Figaro headlines on the European migrant crisis.The paper devotes three pages to the subject this morning and does a pretty good job at showing us what's at stake.

The editorial might be a tad dramatic... it starts with the words "Rest In Peace Shengen space"...

One of the articles is an  interview with historian Pierre Vermeren who says Europe hasn't the power to stop migrants from coming in.

"Europe is overwhelmed and has trouble defining a policy. Some states are barricading themselves, while others are letting the storm reach their neighbor" he says. "Migrants don't care, because this is incomprehensible. At the individual level, their strategy is to try as long as they can".

"The last one to enter before the border closes will say he was right" Vermeren adds.

Left-wing Libération headlines on Iran, after all the country is going to the polls today for parliamentary elections.

"The nuclear agreement of last July marked the return of Teheran in the international community, making some hopeful to see the start of a democratisation," reads an editorial.

"But today's elections prove that this process will be long, complex and uncertain despite the hopes of the youth and the middle class" it continues.

Also important, according to Libé, is the impact of the elections on Iranian foreign policy. "Will the Islamic Republic continue on its path or will it work to end the Syrian conflict" it wonders.

Catholic La Croix spoke to Stéphane Le Foll, the French Agriculture Minister. The paper devotes two pages to the interview.

The Minister mainly talks about the current farming crisis in France... and offers some solutions.

It's all quite technical, but there are a few interesting things, like a proposal to de-liberalise the European market. Le Foll also wants to see a shift happen when it comes to farming: the end of high-intensity agriculture.

Did you ever wonder why the left is traditionally associated to the color red and the right to the color blue?

Le Monde spoke to an historian, Michel Pastoureau, who has things to say on this topic.

For example, green was chosen by Green parties across Europe because it remind people of... the environment.

Another interesting example is why the American Democrats use the color blue, while the Republicans use the red, the exact opposite of what is done in the rest of the western world. Simply put, it's because Red was the color of the British royalty during the American revolution.

Now let's say you wanted to start a new political movement, what color would chose?

"Brown is disliked, yellow isn't a choice because it's linked to traitors and grey is disturbing" says Pastoureau. "The future will likely be purple, it's probably the last political color available" he says.