Overview

• On July 8, Higher Education Minister Philippe Baptiste told LCP that there is no movement of 'islamo-gauchisme' in French universities and that the term has no academic standing
• Laurent Wauquiez sent a July 11 letter to François Bayrou demanding a clear government position after citing threats against a Sciences Po Grenoble professor and an assault on researcher Fabrice Balanche at Lyon II
• Former Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer compared denying 'islamo-gauchisme' to claiming the Earth is flat and argued that ties between Islamist and extreme-left currents can fuel campus intimidation
• Les Républicains deputies have called for stronger preventive measures to uphold secular republican values and counter alleged ideological infiltration in higher education
• The dispute builds on a May report warning of Muslim Brotherhood 'entrisme' in associations and echoes Frédérique Vidal’s 2021 warning that 'islamo-gauchisme' was undermining university life