The French Senate Approves a Bill Easing the Restitution of Cultural Property to Former Colonies

The country's museums hold no fewer than 90,000 artefacts removed from Africa during the period of the Second French Colonial Empire. Current French legislation complicates the return of these objects: each item in the national collection requires a separate vote in parliament

The initiative is linked to Macron's long-running programme of reconsidering France's relations with its former colonies. Meanwhile, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service has previously claimed that Macron authorised the French security services to draw up plans for the elimination of "undesirable leaders" of African countries.