It is 7:25 p.m. this Monday, May 18, 2026 when MP Mélanie Thomin announces she is throwing in the towel. In the Florence-Arthaud amphitheater of the UBO in Brest, it is chaos. The debate meeting entitled “Finisterians facing war: bringing citizens closer to defense issues at a time of new conflicts”, has just been cancelled. An hour earlier, around thirty demonstrators invaded the room with this objective in mind.
Shortly before 6 p.m., the PS deputy for the Châteaulin-Carhaix constituency nevertheless came to meet the demonstrators, on the steps of building C of the UBO, in Bouguen. They were then around twenty gathered at the call of the Ferc Sup CGT UBO, Sud education and the Pirate Union to protest against this meeting. “War propaganda. There is a desire to bring the army into school programs and establishments at all costs,” the demonstrators denounced. “She has no place at the university!” To which the elected official replied: “I am not in favor of conflicts. But we are supposed to protect the French.”
Shortly before the start of the meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m., around thirty demonstrators entered the room shouting: “Money for the public service, not for the Army” or even: “Macron, we are not going to the front!”.
In the amphitheater, in front of an audience of around fifty people, including the Maritime Prefect, the demonstrators took possession of the stage and the microphones. They displayed an anti-militarist banner.
Their speeches followed one another, preventing Mélanie Thomin from regaining control of the evening, despite several attempts. “We will not make any concessions to the military,” proclaims one of the demonstrators into the microphone. A few people from the public also asked to speak… To no avail.
The demonstrators displayed an anti-militarist banner on stage and ended up canceling the debate meeting on Defense, this Monday, May 18, 2026 at the UBO. (Le Télégramme/Isabelle Jaffré)
Finally, after an hour of slogans, the reading of the poem “The Deserter” by Boris Vian and speeches, Mélanie Thomin announced the postponement of the debate, her speech covered by the slogans of the demonstrators, happy with this victory. “You wanted a debate with the youth, you got it!” exclaims a demonstrator as the audience leaves the amphitheater.
![“You wanted a debate with the youth, you had it”: in Brest, demonstrators cancel a debate meeting on Defense [Vidéo]](https://media.letelegramme.fr/api/v1/images/view/6a0c4ecc635dfaee9a0f9f84/web_golden_xs/6a0c4ecc635dfaee9a0f9f84.1 "“You wanted a debate with the youth, you had it”: in Brest, demonstrators cancel a debate meeting on Defense [Vidéo]")
