Monday May 18, 2026, Mélanie Thomin, PS deputy for Finistère organized a debate meeting on the subject of Defense at the UBO in Brest. Around thirty demonstrators prevented this event from taking place by invading the amphitheater stage for around an hour, criticizing in particular that “the army is entering the university”. This Tuesday, May 19, the UBO presidency reacts in a press release.
“Practice from another age”
“The UBO never refuses to hold a public meeting as long as the prior legal requirements are respected,” explains the UBO, which denounces the “intimidating practices” of the demonstrators, “perceived as violent by part of the public who left the room.”
For the Brest university structure, these practices “demonstrate on the part of the demonstrators the total refusal of democratic debate at the university. It is also proof of the deep disrespect towards the public who had traveled for this meeting. These practices from another age cannot have their place at the university, a place of debate in essence, a place where the democratic principles of freedom of expression and contradictory debate must be preserved,” the press release concludes.
