French MEP urges US to return the Statue of Liberty
Photo: Statue of Liberty in New York City (wikipedia.org)
A French member of the European Parliament has called on the US to return the Statue of Liberty, originally gifted by the French people to commemorate the centennial of American independence. He claims that Washington no longer embodies the values that led Paris to give the statue, informs France 24.
"We're going to say to the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom: 'Give us back the Statue of Liberty,'" said center-left politician Raphael Glucksmann said at a convention of his Place Publique center-left movement.
The member of the European Parliament added that the United States seemingly holds the Statue of Liberty in contempt.
"We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently, you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home," Glucksmann continued.
France 24 specifies that the French lawmaker is a staunch supporter of Ukraine, who has rarely criticized the radical shift in US policy on the war under President Donald Trump.
When the Statue of Liberty was unveiled
It should be noted that the Statue of Liberty was unveiled in New York Harbor on October 28, 1886, to mark the centennial of the US Declaration of Independence. It was a gift from the French people to the United States and was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi.
Paris also has a Statue of Liberty, though it is a much smaller replica located on a small island in the Seine River, which flows through the French capital.
