Alexandre Benalla hasn't finished causing trouble for the French president.
Emmanuel Macron's former security aide is again at the heart of a political scandal, just as the president is struggling against yellow vest protests that have undercut his legitimacy at home and abroad.
Benalla, 27, was sacked in July after public uproar over his beating of a protester , and courted controversy by showing off a gun and other perks of his murky but powerful position. Benalla's actions — and the way Macron's office clumsily handled them — caused the French leader's first major presidential crisis and discredited his efforts to clean up politics.
And now this week, news reports suggest Benalla is leveraging his former presidential connections for personal gain.
Le Monde reported that Benalla traveled to Chad and Cameroon this month for high-level meetings, and investigative website Mediapart reported that he used diplomatic passports to do so . The visits came just before Macron himself visited Chad, raising questions about whether Benalla was acting as some sort of intermediary.
Benalla has said the trip was totally private and rejected suggestions he was abusing his former position, according to French media reports.
Macron himself has stayed silent. An official with the presidential palace insisted that Benalla no longer has any links to Macron's office. The official said Macron remains "determined to break with the system of intermediaries" long used by French leaders, notably in former colonies in Africa.
The French Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, is threatening legal action for possible misuse of diplomatic passports.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll said the ministry asked Benalla in July to return his two diplomatic passports but he hasn't complied. In a statement Thursday night, she said that based on the recent media reports, the ministry "is examining next steps, including legal ones."
Benalla was already handed preliminary charges over the protester beating in May.
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgarians began withdrawing euros for the first time on Thursday after the former communist nation joined the euro currency union as its 21st member.
Cash machines in the capital, Sofia, dispensed brand new euro banknotes, replacing the lev, which will still be in use for cash payments in January. However, people will receive only euros in change.
The country of nearly 6.7 million people was one of the poorest when it first became a member of the European Union in 2007. Joining the European single-currency system means deeper EU integration after its 1989 transition from a Soviet-style economy to democracy and free markets.
However, the historic milestone arrives amid political instability, with the conservative-led government forced to resign earlier this month following nationwide anti-corruption protests, and skepticism among ordinary people, fueled by fears of price rises.
The government had to beat down inflation to 2.7% earlier this year to comply with EU rules and win approval from EU leaders. But its resignation left the country without a regular budget for next year, hampering reforms and the use of the 27-member bloc's support funds, fueling protests.
Nationalist and pro-Russian groups in Bulgaria have also exploited fears that the switch to the euro will allegedly lead to more poverty and loss of national identity.
Countries that join the EU commit to the euro, but actually joining can take years and some members are in no hurry. Croatia was the last to join in 2023.
A woman poses as she holds new euro coins with Bulgarian symbols in Sofia in front of Bulgarian National Bank, Saturday Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
A map of Bulgaria with the EU symbol is projected on the Bulgarian National Bank as people celebrate New Year's Eve and Bulgaria's adoption of the euro in Sofia, Bulgaria, Thursday Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
A woman holds sparklers during the celebration of the New Year and Bulgaria's adoption of euro in front of Bulgarian National Bank in Sofia, enlighten by Euro coins projection, Thursday Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
Bulgarians sing and shout as they celebrate the New Year and Bulgaria's adoption of the euro in front of the Bulgarian National Bank in Sofia, Bulgaria, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
