OPINION:
There has been no shortage of issues for President Trump to address in his return to the White House. Among them has been stemming the tide of tens of thousands of illegal immigrants pouring across the southern border, slowing down runaway inflation and reestablishing America’s leadership role in international affairs. What’s the next major issue the Trump administration is tackling? Violent crime in America’s biggest cities.
The United States is not the only country facing some alarming crime statistics in recent years. Other civilized Western countries have seen high-profile criminal activity making headlines. Some people, so it seems, no matter what the country or the culture, think hurting others for their own gain is perfectly acceptable. The key question, of course, is what any nation is willing to do to stop it.
France makes an interesting contrast with Mr. Trump’s American crackdown on crime. As French President Emmanuel Macron reshuffles his government for the second time in six months, the French state appears paralyzed in the face of a surge in violent, international crime and doesn’t seem to have any plan to deal with it. While Paris remains absorbed in cabinet intrigue, a darker reality is emerging on the streets: The security system is under strain, and foreign criminal networks appear to be increasingly exploiting the gaps.
Such institutional weakness was on full display this summer when Kakhramonjon Olimov, a 48-year-old Uzbekistan banker and the founder of Anorbank, was kidnapped in central Paris, less than a mile from the Elysee Palace. His story sounds like something straight out of a spy novel. Mr. Olimov was entrapped by a woman, grabbed and placed in a van, and taken on a trip of nearly 600 miles to the south of France, where he was tortured and extorted for millions of dollars before eventually being released two days later near Nice.
Suspicion in the case rests heavily on eastern European organized crime groups. Batyr Rakhimov, a former underworld enforcer turned businessman whose family is connected to Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, has been named as a person of interest. Despite Paris claiming to have made multiple requests, no international cooperation has been forthcoming. Perhaps the issue should be placed on the agenda for a scheduled late October meeting between European leaders and Mr. Mirziyoyev, who thus far has been a positive influence on the EU-Uzbekistan relationship.
The brutal Olimov case is not an isolated incident. In May, a masked gang tried to abduct the daughter and young grandson of a cryptocurrency chief in Paris. The botched kidnap bid failed but was captured on video by an onlooker and reminded a wary French public of the brazen lawlessness in their streets.
While Mr. Trump’s administration lowers the boom on international drug lords and inner city street gangs, France seems oblivious to the variety of criminal syndicates operating from Marseille to Montreuil. Criminal organizations from Russia, Poland, Chechnya, the Balkans and North Africa all seem to be growing in size, scope and influence.
The question that must be asked is whether the rise of crime in France is directly linked to political instability or has to do with something else. The French famously hate confrontation. Are they unwilling or unable to acknowledge the scope of the issue? Is it easier to let crime fester rather than face it head-on?
Mr. Macron has been seen everywhere on the world stage — from Ukraine to the Middle East — offering grand diplomacy advice. Has it come at the expense of domestic order? His revolving-door governments and repeated ministerial reshuffles have left the French administration without coherence or continuity. Critics argue that his attention to international affairs has distracted from domestic security concerns.
In the U.S., detractors of Mr. Trump’s tough-on-crime policy have largely been complaining about questions of jurisdiction. Few, however, are questioning the effectiveness of his efforts as crime numbers have plummeted.
In France, the contrast is stark. Rather than the government formulating a specific plan to squelch the growing problem of shameless violent crime, the Olimov case has ignited debate about whether the government has lost control over criminal networks that appear to be operating with growing regularity across its borders.
• Tim Constantine is host of “The Capitol Hill Show.”
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