A new open letter has been published in France warning of the threat of civil war backed 130,000 signatures from the public.
The message, published in a right-wing magazine, accuses the French government of granting “concessions” to Islamism.
“It is about the survival of our country,” said the text, said to be issued anonymously by soldiers and appealing for public support.
The French government has condemned it, as well as a similar letter last month.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin called the latest letter a “crude manoeuvre” and accused its anonymous signatories of lacking “courage”, AFP news agency reported.
Similar letter to the government last month came from semi-retired generals. The minister in charge of the armed forces, Florence Parly, said they would be punished for defying a law that forbids reservists or serving members of the military from expressing opinions in public on religion and politics.
However, far-right leader Marine Le Pen, a candidate in next year’s presidential election, publicly supported the estimated 1,000 servicemen and women who backed the April letter.
The new text was published late on Sunday by Valeurs Actuelles, however, the numbers and ranks of its original signatories – said to be active members of the military – remain unclear.
The authors of the letter describe themselves as part of a younger generation of soldiers who have served in Afghanistan, Mali and the Central African Republic, or joined domestic anti-terrorism operations.
“They gave their skin to destroy the Islamism to which you are giving concessions on our soil,” they wrote.
According to Analyst and Paris correspondent Hugh Schofield, it is impossible to gauge how far the writers of this new letter represent the rank-and-file of the armed forces Because of their anonymity.
“It would come as no surprise if this kind of generalized pessimism about the state of France were indeed the commonplace of barrack-rooms and officers’ messes the length and breadth of the country.
“Most French civilians are also concerned about violence, drugs and Islamism, so for soldiers – by instinct more attached than most to tradition, law-and-order and authority – to share those views is hardly in itself of note,” he said.
