French anti-terror prosecutors investigate FLNC-UC after armed separatists reject Corsican autonomy and threaten non-Corsicans

Armed press conference revealed

French anti-terror prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation on 6 August after the regional newspaper Corse-Matin revealed a clandestine press conference by the Corsican National Liberation Front, Union of Combatants (FLNC-UC). Around 15 hooded and heavily armed individuals, carrying rifles, submachine guns and sniper weapons, read a five-page communiqué at an undisclosed location on an unspecified date. Corse-Matin was the only media outlet present. One speaker addressed the camera with a voice altered by an electronic device.

The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (Pnat) said the investigation covers suspected "association of criminals with a view to preparing acts of terrorism" as well as the acquisition, possession and transport of Category A and B weapons, ammunition or weapon components in connection with a terrorist enterprise.

Rejection of the autonomy bill

The FLNC-UC strongly rejected the constitutional bill intended to give Corsica greater autonomy within the French Republic, describing the process as a "mascarade". The bill was approved by the National Assembly on 23 June with 271 votes against 202 and is due to be examined by the Senate from 21 October.

The group said the bill "aboutit à la négation de l'existence de notre peuple et au reniement des principales revendications de ces dernières décennies" (leads to the denial of the existence of our people and to the rejection of the main demands of recent decades). They declared they were "already in the post-Beauvau era", a reference to the talks launched by the French government after violent protests in Corsica in 2022. The FLNC-UC accused nationalist parties supporting the process, including Femu a Corsica, Core in Fronte and the Parti de la nation corse, of misleading the island's population, calling it an "unprecedented deception".

Threats against non-Corsicans

The group turned its threats toward foreigners and mainland French residents settling on the island for work or second homes. The FLNC-UC denounced what it called "la colonisation de peuplement galopante" (galloping colonisation of settlement), citing the arrival of nearly 5,000 foreigners per year, a majority of them French nationals.

A member of the group addressed those arriving on the island directly.

En attendant que nos droits nationaux soient reconnus et respectés, nous n'avons qu'un message à leur adresser : restez chez vous, et dans le cas contraire, ne vous considérez pas en sécurité sur notre territoire national.

Another member stated: "Le peuple corse ne sera jamais une vulgaire communauté administrative" (The Corsican people will never be a vulgar administrative community), referencing a term that caused controversy during the drafting of the text adopted by parliament. The group rejected even the notion of a "community", whether "of destiny" or "insular".

Signs of an internal split

The communiqué was signed solely by the FLNC-UC (Union des Combattants) branch. According to Corse-Matin, the October 22 branch, which had appeared in previous communications, was no longer present, indicating "a fracture between the two organs". The FLNC, which marked its 50th anniversary in May, had not held a press conference since January 2024.

The press conference comes just before the international days of Corte in Haute-Corse, organised on the coming Saturday and Sunday by the pro-armed-struggle independence party Nazione. The event brings together independence voices from Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, the Comoros, New Caledonia, Catalonia and the Basque Country.