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Hungarian city ready to host the unwelcome statue of Joan of Arc in Nice
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Mátészalka, in Hungary’s north-east, has offered to be home to a statue of Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc), which is to be removed from France’s Nice, the co-ruling Christian Democrat party (KDNP) said in a statement.
Joan of Arc statue in Nice
Joan of Arc is one of the patron saints of France. This 15th-century military leader led a demoralized French army to several key victories in the Hundred Years’ War with the English before being imprisoned and burned at stake by her opponents at the age of 19.
Three months after his unveiling, a huge bronze statue of Joan of Arc was ordered to be removed following a court ruling that Nice had breached public procurement rules.
The city’s conservative mayor, Christian Estrosi, commissioned the €170,000 (£144,000) sculpture from Atelier Missor. This local sculpture group focuses on French patriotic heroes and has been criticised by some for its right-wing bias.
Jean-Marie Le Pen, a politician who died this month at the age of 86, has adopted Joan of Arc as the symbol of the far-right National Front.