The far-right Marine Le Pen, which made it to the second round of the French presidential election, has shed light on its foreign policy goals this week.
The French president leads the country’s foreign policy and is a familiar sight on the international stage.
The far right Marine Le Pen has put a sitting president Emmanuel Macronin surprisingly tight in the French presidential election. They will face a second round of elections on April 24th.
Macron has gained prominence during the election campaign as a liaison between Russia and Europe.
Instead, Le Pen’s foreign policy goals have remained more questionable as he has focused his campaign on citizens ’purchasing power.
Known as pro-Russia, Le Pen shed light on its foreign policy goals this week, including a separate press conference.
The national coalition Le Pen said it wanted to correct “misunderstandings” about its foreign policy.
Would like France out of NATO’s joint command structure
At a news conference on Wednesday, Le Pen said he wanted to intensify NATO-Russia relations once the war in Ukraine is over.
He estimates that this is in the interests of France, Europe and the United States so that Russia and China do not get too close.
Le Pen maintains his previous position on the defense alliance NATO. He would like France out of NATO’s joint command structure when the war in Ukraine is over. The reason is that France would not “submit” to US rule.
The decision drove American soldiers out of the country and moved NATO headquarters from Paris to Brussels.
Le Pen believes that by seceding from NATO’s joint command structure, France would regain sovereignty over matters of international security.
However, he would not reject the safeguards under Article 5 that Member States are committed to helping in the event of an attack on a Member State.
On Le Pen’s connections: I have just defended French interests
Le Pen has spoken to the Russian president Vladimir from Putin admirably, received election money from Russia and supported the annexation of Crimea to Russia.
However, the French did not seem to punish Le Pen for his connections with Russia, at least in the first round of the election.
In the election, the French have been more concerned about Ukraine ‘s own economy and purchasing power – themes that Le Pen has raised in his campaign.
However, Emmanuel Macron is expected to hit Le Pen’s Russia connections with grief in the second round of the campaign.
Le Pen said at a news conference that his earlier Putin statement has been misunderstood.
He only considers that he has defended French interests in his relations with the Kremlin.
Le Pen has condemned the Russian attack but has opposed tough economic sanctions on Russia, citing French purchasing power.
He cited the reason he did not want the French to suffer the consequences of the sanctions.
Le Pen has supported the reception of Ukrainian refugees in France.
Le Pen wants to get rid of “Brussels straitjacket”
Le Pen also said at the news conference that he wants a looser version of the EU but would like to be a member of the French Union.
He stated that “Frexit”, ie France’s separation from the EU, is not the party’s goal.
– No one is against Europe. We want to reform the EU from within. The more we get rid of the straitjacket in Brussels while staying in the EU, the more we look at the wider world.
Le Pen is no longer demanding a euro difference either.
However, it is known that his aim is to replace the current European Union with a “union of free and sovereign European nations”. It would put an end to the current kind of EU, which Le Pen believes is an ideologically driven federalist superstate.
His program aims, among other things, to reduce French membership fees and to make French national laws take precedence over EU law.
Also used as sources: Le Figaro, BFMTV, France Inter, TF1
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