The National Assembly approved by a large majority the bilateral security agreement signed between Paris and kyiv on Tuesday March 12.
372 votes for, 99 votes against and 101 abstentions. This Tuesday, March 12, the deputies largely approved the bilateral security agreement concluded between Emmanuel Macron and the Ukrainian president, which notably contains military cooperation, but also financial aid to the tune of three billion euros this year. “Today, the National Assembly sent a clear message to the Ukrainian people: France is with you,” the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Séjourné, rejoiced on X. Following the vote, Emmanuel Macron announced that he will give an interview on Thursday to the 20 Hours of TF1 and France 2 on the situation in Ukraine.
Tuesday evening in the Assembly, if the Renaissance deputies, unsurprisingly, all voted in favor, the majority camp was particularly united on this subject. In addition to those from Renaissance, the deputies from Horizons and MoDem all voted in favor. The LIOT group also voted favorably, while the Republicans mostly said they were in agreement, with 49 in favor and 11 abstentions. As warned this Tuesday in Telematin Jordan Bardella, the 88 deputies of the National Rally abstained. The leader of the European party had estimated in the morning that “red lines” had been crossed, in particular concerning Ukraine’s accession to the European Union and NATO. He also denounced the recent comments of Emmanuel Macron who had not ruled out sending troops to Ukrainian soil and affirmed that there were “no limits” to support for kyiv. “The escalation in which Emmanuel Macron is engaged is an irresponsible, dangerous path which worries the French.”
On the other hand, on the left of the political spectrum, opinions were more divided. On the LFI side, the 75 deputies voted against. Here again, no real surprise, party coordinator Manuel Bompard notably deplored Sunday on RTL “total madness” in the president’s words. In the Communist Party, all 22 deputies also voted against. On Europe 1the party’s general secretary, Fabien Roussel, affirmed again on Sunday that his group would vote against “if the Prime Minister’s speech resumes[ait] the elements that are in the treaty that Mr Macron signed with Volodymyr Zelensky”. For Fabien Roussel, the mention of Ukraine’s possible entry into NATO is “a provocation”. He had even accused Renaissance to become “the party of war”. On the other hand, the socialists and ecologists mainly voted for: 51 deputies out of 52. The senators will speak this Wednesday on the subject.