PARIS ATTACKS: President Francois Hollande: ‘France at war with cowards’

French president Francois Hollande said France was at war against cowards, and not in a clash of civilisations, after militant attacks killed at least 132 people in and around Paris last Friday.

“France is at war,” Hollande told parliamentarians. “But we’re not engaged in a war of civilisations, because these assassins do not represent any.”

It was the first time in more than six years that a French president addressed both houses of parliament, the Senate and the National Assembly, convened in a so-called Congress at Versailles. It is a procedure reserved for constitutional revisions and major presidential speeches.

“Our democracy has triumphed before over adversaries that were much more formidable than these cowards,” Hollande told the legislators in the former royal palace.

Hollande said France’s constitution needed to be amended to better deal with crisis situations.

He said he wanted French law changed to allow dual nationals to be stripped of their French citizenship if they were convicted of terrorism and dual nationals to be banned from entering France if they presented a “terrorism risk”.

He also pledged to increase budgets for security forces and the army.

“That will lead to higher spending, which I take responsibility for,” Hollande said.

“I consider that in these circumstances, the security pact prevails over the stability pact,” he said, referring to the eurozone budget limits.

Hollande said he would meet US president Barack Obama and Russian president Vladimir Putin in the coming days to discuss action against Islamic State.

He promised more resources for the security forces and said the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier would be sent on Thursday to bolster the military campaign against IS.

Speaking to his country’s congress, Hollande said: “France is at war.

“These attacks were war. It was an attack against our values, against our youth and our way of life.

“Since the beginning of the year, this organisation has attacked Paris, Denmark, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Libya.

“Every single day they massacre and oppress people. That’s the reason why we need to destroy ISIS.

“That’s something which involves the whole international community. I’ve asked for the UN security council to get together as soon as possible in order to mark a resolution for the joint will to fight terrorism.

“We will pursue these attacks throughout the coming weeks.

“On Thursday, aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle will go to the eastern Mediterranean, and that will treble our capacity for action.

“There will be no pity and no fear. The ones who organised the Paris attacks must realise their crimes.

“Rather than making France fear responding, it reinforces our determination to destroy them.”