After the institutions on Tuesday, place for foreign policy: Marine Le Pen tackles delicate ground on Wednesday against Emmanuel Macron, with the objective of establishing his presidential stature.
The campaign for the second round got off to a flying start and is getting worse, the two finalists clashing at a distance on pensions, purchasing power, Europe and the sovereign.
Everyone is also eyeing the voters of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who came in third place on Sunday evening with 21.95% of the vote.
Clearly on the offensive, the candidate-president multiplies the walkabouts and long exchanges with the citizens, as in the north of France on Monday in Lepenist lands, then in Mulhouse and Strasbourg on Tuesday, two cities in which Mr. Mélenchon had arrived on your mind.
He who entered the campaign late seems to want to make up for lost time, aware that his duel with the far-right candidate on April 24 promises to be tight.
Emmanuel Macron (C) addresses his supporters during a campaign rally in Strasbourg, April 12, 2022
© POOL – Eliot BLONDET
And he does not miss an opportunity to tackle his adversary, accusing him of saying “rubbish” about Europe and of having a project that induces “nationalism” and “the return of war”. He also accused the far right of being “a permanent Potemkin village: they never move, they never go to see their opponents”, he added.
Marine Le Pen is not to be outdone, accusing Emmanuel Macron “of being afraid of the people” and saying that he has “no confidence” in the outgoing president who said he was ready, for example, to “move” on his reform of retreats. She lambasted Tuesday evening on TF1 its policy “extremely hard with regard to the most modest”, ensuring to have “the most protective project” of the social protection system.
– Europe divides them –
Wednesday morning, the Head of State regains his role as President with a Council of Ministers, then he will participate in 8:00 p.m. on TF1 the day after his rival.
Mrs Le Pen will be in Asnières-sur-Seine to talk about “France which works”. She will continue in the afternoon with a press conference in Paris on the theme of diplomacy and foreign policy.
For the RN candidate, who can claim to have campaigned extensively since the fall, the goal is now to broaden her base and appear presidential.
As evidenced by his new campaign poster, all in sobriety, with the slogan: “For all the French”.
She multiplies the thematic press conferences, on the institutions Tuesday in Vernon, in the Eure, where she said she wanted to propose a “referendum revolution”.
Mrs. Le Pen wants a revision of the Constitution to include in particular the principle of “national priority” and the primacy of national law over international law.
On foreign policy, everything opposes the outgoing president and his rival.
Neither Atlanticist nor multilateral, Marine Le Pen focuses all her diplomacy on the idea that France would no longer be “respected” in the world. She sees Europe as a brake and wants, for example, to renegotiate the Schengen agreements in order to reinstate border controls or lower France’s financial contribution to the EU.
Emmanuel Macron has, on the contrary, made Europe the central pillar of his diplomacy for five years, as he said again on Tuesday evening in Strasbourg, stressing that this election is also “a referendum on Europe”.
“The battle we are fighting is not just for France, but for Europe,” he said in Châtenois (Bas-Rhin).
For him, nationalism leads to “an alliance of nations who want to go to war” in Europe, warning against the return of “dreams of empire”, citing Russia which invaded Ukraine.
The conflict in Ukraine should figure prominently in Ms. Le Pen’s press conference, as she tries to forget her closeness to Russia and Vladimir Putin. The candidate nevertheless unequivocally condemned the Russian invasion and said she was very early in favor of welcoming refugees from this country to France.
On the other hand, it remains hostile to economic sanctions against Moscow, which alter the purchasing power of the French.
The candidate also cultivates close relations with nationalist leaders in Central Europe, including Viktor Orban in Hungary.
“A funny club”, estimated Emmanuel Macron, “not good for France, not good for Europe, not good either for Strasbourg”, one of the capitals of Europe with the seat of the European Parliament.
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