A few hours before the debate between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, the war in Ukraine erupts again in the presidential election, Wednesday April 20. In an interview with BFM-TV, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky invited the National Rally (RN) candidate to review his position on Russia and Vladimir Putin.
“If the candidate understands that she made a mistake, (…) our relationship could change”he said from kyiv. “I mean that of course I have relations with Emmanuel Macron and I would not like to lose them”, Mr. Zelensky continued. But, added the Ukrainian head of state, “I am not convinced that I have the right, today, to influence what happens in your home”.
Mme Le Pen was banned from Ukraine in January 2017 for advocating Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea in 2014, which the international community deemed illegal. The RN candidate condemned Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, but she again pleaded last week for a “strategic rapprochement between NATO and Russia” once the war was over, during a press conference on his foreign policy. ” It is in the interest of France and Europe, but also, I believe, of the United States, which has no (…) no interest in seeing the emergence of a close Sino-Russian union”estimated the far-right presidential candidate, contrary to the current French position.
On Russia, “The trial that is being done to me is particularly unfair (…), I only defended the interests of France”she had defended herself, claiming « similarities » with Emmanuel Macron, when he received the Russian president in France. At the end of March, the RN candidate had however refused to qualify Vladimir Putin as “war criminal” car “we do not negotiate peace by insulting one of the two parties”. Favorable to the transmission of ” information “ to Ukrainians, she is also “more reserved on direct arms delivery”car “the line between aid and co-belligerence is thin”, she thought. The RN candidate has also repeatedly spoken out against economic sanctions against Moscow – including an embargo on Russian oil and gas – in the name of protecting the purchasing power of the French.
« Corruption »
A few minutes after the broadcast of the interview with Mr. Zelensky, it was around the Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny to take a position in favor of Emmanuel Macron, from the prison where he is. “It is without hesitation that I call on the French to vote for Emmanuel Macron on April 24”, the activist wrote in a series of tweets. Imprisoned in Russia since January 2021, Mr. Navalny said in particular “shocked” the loan of 9 million euros taken out in 2014 by the former National Front party (now National Rally) from a Russian bank.
“It’s corruption. And this is a sale of political influence to Putin”, denounced the opponent. The RN continues to repay this loan which had initially been taken out in 2014 with a Russian bank, the First Czech Russian Bank (FCBR), closed in 2016. The debt had been transferred to a Russian car rental company, Conti, then resold to Aviazapchast, a firm run by former Russian soldiers.
“This bank [FCBR] is a well-known money laundering agency that was created at the instigation of Putin. Would you like it if a French politician got a loan from Cosa Nostra? », launched Wednesday Mr. Navalny, who built his notoriety with his investigations into the networks of corruption of the Russian elite. To justify the fact of having turned to a Russian financial institution, the FN accuses him, the French banks of not having granted him loans.
Considered the main opponent of Vladimir Putin, Alexei Navalny was the subject, in Russia, in 2020, of a serious poisoning attempt for which he holds the Kremlin responsible. The latter denies but has never opened an investigation.
Mme Le Pen, who was received by Vladimir Putin during the 2017 presidential campaign, is regularly accused by her opponents of acquaintances with Russian power. His press conference last week had also been briefly interrupted by a collective reproaching him for his “complacency” with the Russian leader. A young woman in the audience held up a heart-shaped sign on which was displayed a photo of the National Rally candidate and Vladimir Putin. She was immediately expelled by the security service of the National Rally.