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France to summon US ambassador over comments on far-right activist's death

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced on Sunday that he is summoning U.S. Ambassador Charles Kushner over controversial American remarks regarding the recent killing of a far-right activist.

Reuters WORLD
Published February 22,2026
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French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Sunday that ⁠he would summon ⁠the U.S. ambassador to France, Charles Kushner, over comments on the killing of ⁠a French far-right activist last week.

"We refuse all political opportunism around this drama, which is the bereavement of a French family," he said during an interview with French media outlets France ⁠Info, ⁠France Inter and Le Monde.

French far-right activist Quentin Deranque was beaten to death in a fight with alleged hard-left activists, in an incident that shocked the nation ⁠and has been called "France's Charlie Kirk moment", referring to last year's shooting of the U.S. conservative activist.

The U.S. Embassy in France and the U.S. State ⁠Department's Bureau ‌of ‌Counterterrorism said they ⁠were monitoring the ‌case, warning on X that "violent radical leftism was ⁠on the rise" ⁠and should be treated as ⁠a public safety threat.