National Liberation Front of Corsica

The National Liberation Front of Corsica (Front de Libération Nationale de la Corse, or FLNC) is the largest and most violent of the Corsican nationalist movements. Formed in 1976 from two smaller groups seeking self-government for Corsica through force, the FLNC has engaged in more than 20 years of violence. The group has been responsible for thousands of bomb attacks on property of non-Corsican settlers, police stations, government offices (in both Corsica and France), and other symbolic targets of the “colonial state” in Corsica. Successive French governments have denied Corsica any distinctive regional autonomy, never recognized inhabitants of Corsica as a distinct nationality, and never given official status to the Corsican language. As a result, the FLNC claims to be fighting French “internal colonialism.”

Corsica has always expressed discontent with French rule, even before its annexation in 1769. Although the Paris-based government provides funds for public services and infrastructure, a wide economic gap between the island and the mainland still remains. This, coupled with the settling of non-Corsicans on the island, has continued to fuel Corsican nationalism.

During the 1980s the FLNC split into two groups: the Canal Historique (Historical Faction) and the Canal Habituel (Usual Faction). A series of new, smaller divisions formed, and a number of other terrorist organizations followed, most of which lasted only a few years. The FLNC-Canal Historique and the FLNC-Canal Habituel thus remained the most important terrorist organizations; the latter, however, ended activities in 1997.

In the 1990s the FLNC became more violent. Dozens of people were killed, including mayors, policemen, and other state workers. The violence culminated in the 1998 assassination of Prefect Claude Erignac, the highest representative of the French Republic on the island. The assassination was highly publicized and criticized so strongly that the FLNC publicly denied—and abjured—the attack.

In 1999, the FLNC-Canal Historique merged with some of the other underground organizations, taking the name “FLNC” again. With an estimated 600 members (organized horizontally into independent cells), the FLNC remains most active in Corsica, only occasionally bombing a building in mainland France. Although it has carried out 200 to 800 bombings a year, the FLNC has caused few deaths. The group funds itself through armed robberies of banks and extortion of what it refers to as “revolutionary taxes.” Most Corsicans wish to protect Corsican identity and stimulate peaceful economic growth; only a small minority supports the radical autonomists, but the “see nothing, say nothing” attitude is generally accepted.

Despite the frequent bombings, the FLNC is considered relatively unthreatening. Thus, the French government has had little incentive to come to the bargaining table. In the early 2000s, however, the French government took a more conciliatory approach, providing new aid for infrastructure development and for the teaching of the Corsican language in primary schools.

In 2003, Corsicans voted in a referendum on whether to merge the island's three governmental councils into a single assembly. The measure, which was designed to give Corsica a more unified and autonomous government, was regarded as insufficient by militants and was narrowly defeated [Page 422]in July. Two days before the vote, police arrested Yvan Colonna, the suspected gunman in the Erignac assassination, who was eventually sentenced to life in prison.

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