Fabien Roussel, national secretary of the French Communist Party (PCF), said Sunday that France must know how to talk about immigration [1].

The statement comes as a prominent left-wing leader seeks to define the party's position within a broader and often polarized national debate. By addressing the issue directly, Roussel aims to prevent the topic from being dominated exclusively by right-wing political factions.

Speaking from the BFMTV studios on June 14, 2026, Roussel said the necessity of engaging with the subject to clarify the PCF's stance [1]. The party's approach focuses on the complexities of migration and its impact on society, a move intended to bring the conversation into the public sphere without avoiding the core tensions.

"Il faut savoir parler de l'immigration," Roussel said during the interview [1].

The PCF has historically balanced internationalist values with the economic concerns of the working class. Roussel's call for a structured dialogue suggests a strategy to reclaim the narrative on immigration from populist rhetoric while maintaining the party's ideological roots.

This appearance on BFMTV serves as a platform to explain how the party intends to navigate the intersection of labor rights, national identity, and migration. The discussion highlights a recurring challenge for the French left: addressing the concerns of voters regarding immigration without alienating their core humanitarian principles.

“"Il faut savoir parler de l'immigration,"”

Roussel's insistence on 'knowing how to talk' about immigration reflects a strategic shift by the PCF to engage with a high-friction political issue. By framing immigration as a subject that requires a specific vocabulary and approach, the party attempts to bridge the gap between ideological purity and the pragmatic concerns of the French electorate, potentially challenging the right's monopoly on the immigration debate.