After holding a press conference on his reforms on Tuesday “for democracy”Marine Le Pen unfolded on Wednesday April 13 her vision of diplomacy and the foreign policy that she wishes to put in place if she manages to be elected during the second round of the presidential election which will oppose her to outgoing President Emmanuel Macron.
“France is not an average nation, but a great power that still counts”declared Marine Le Pen in the preamble, praising “independence, equidistance and constancy” for his diplomacy.
“Strategic rapprochement between NATO and Russia” after the war in Ukraine, number of permanent members of the UN Security Council, Paris climate agreement, France’s place in the world… Overview of the positions taken by the candidate of the National Rally (RN ) during this press conference organized on Wednesday in the VIIIe district of Paris.
Relations between France and Algeria
After returning at length to the close relationship between France and Lebanon, Marine Le Pen addressed relations between France and Algeria. The candidate of the National Rally pleaded for “condition any new visa for the benefit of Algerian nationals, any authorization to transfer funds or any acquisition of property in France by an Algerian dignitary, to several elements including an effective implementation of readmission by the Algerian consular authorities in France”.
“It is better to tackle this from the outset, which none of my predecessors had the courage to do, and then gradually establish normal sovereign-state to sovereign-state relations”she defended.
“We are not economically dependent on Algeria, nor on Algerian gas. It is above all in the interest of Algeria that its relations with France be healthy and peaceful.estimated the far-right candidate, judging that this relationship must be forged “without forgetting anything of the past, because recognition of the past, of these glorious events and these shadows does not mean repentance”.
“Strategic rapprochement between NATO and Russia” after the war in Ukraine
The RN candidate then pleaded for a “strategic rapprochement between NATO and Russia”, “as soon as the Russian-Ukrainian war is over and settled by a peace treaty”. “It is in the interest of France and Europe, but also, I believe, of the United States, which has (…) no interest in seeing the emergence of a close Sino-Russian union”, estimated the far-right presidential candidate, contrary to the current French position. Marine Le Pen does not want “submission to Moscow”ni “following the Biden administration”particularly in the Asia and Oceania region, she said.
The far-right leader, 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 was 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 placard on which was displayed a photo of the National Rally candidate and Vladimir Putin. She was immediately expelled by the security service as captured by a journalist from Radio Classique in a short video posted on Twitter.
The video of the evacuation of a disrupter from the international press conference of @MLP_officiel. https://t.co/X1OdcGSVV5
On Russia, “The trial against me is particularly unfair”, “I only defended the interests of France”she said on Wednesday, claiming « similarities » with Emmanuel Macron, when he received the Russian president in France.
On April 4, Marine Le Pen spoke of “war crimes” in Ukraine after the discovery of hundreds of civilian bodies in the kyiv region, particularly in Boutcha. At the end of March, the RN candidate had 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 “more reserved on direct arms delivery”car “the line between aid and co-belligerence is thin”, she said on Wednesday, when she recently made a distinction between light and heavy weapons. It remains hostile to economic sanctions against Moscow, in the name of protecting the purchasing power of the French.
In 2014, the RN had used to a Russian loan of nine million euroswhich he is still repaying, following a “rescheduling” obtained in 2020 from its creditors, a Russian firm run by former soldiers, Aviazapchast.
“I am completely independent of any link, of any power, of any firm of any nationality. I made a loan to a Czech-Russian bank because I never managed to obtain one in France or in Europe”underlined Marine Le Pen on Wednesday, denouncing a situation “scandalous”.
“Transforming the European Union into a European Alliance of Nations” to “save Europe”
Marine Le Pen criticized the fact “that Emmanuel Macron seeks to create ambiguity at the heart of the election”. “There is no ambiguity. I mean that we are all defenders of Europe, and I consider that to transform the European Union into a European Alliance of Nations is to save Europe”insisted the candidate of the National Rally.
“The project that I am supporting is a project that will reconcile the French people with a European organization that is a European organization that respects free and sovereign nations”she said. “It’s true, these two visions are different but they are not two visions, one pro-Europe and the other anti-Europe. These are just two visions of the organization of Europe”further estimated the candidate of the RN.
“I want a Europe of cooperation which is freely consented cooperation. I want a Europe of Airbus, a Europe of Ariane, a Europe of a large police station, for example, European at sea”she advocated. “I am not for a threatening Europe. I am not for a Europe that blackmails”she defended herself again.
“I do not believe that leaving multilateral organizations constitutes withdrawal or stunting. I say this all the more willingly since the Frexit is in no way our project”continued M.me Le Pen, in his presentation on his foreign policy.
While the exit from the European Union appeared in the presidential programs of 2012 and 2017 of the candidate, the latter is, in terms, no longer a campaign promise of the candidate. Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly attacked his far-right opponent in recent days on this subject, claiming that Mme Le Pen still wanted to get out of Europe “without saying”through the measures it proposes.
Increase the number of permanent members of the UN Security Council
The far-right candidate wants to revive the idea of an increase in the number of permanent members of the UN Security Council if elected. “To restore some legitimacy to the Security Council, I will revive the idea of expanding the list of its permanent members”, she said. She cites India, but also “a representative of Africa, even of South America”as a potential new member of this executive body of the UN created after the Second World War.
The Security Council has fifteen members. Five (China, United States, France, United Kingdom and Russia) are permanent members, with a right of veto. The ten others are elected by the General Assembly for two years. If the far-right candidate thinks that this idea “will be difficult to implement”she “must be offered again” for “to help rebalance international relations”.
“It is up to us to justify the legitimacy, today, [du] permanent seat [de la France] through the renewed influence of our external actionestimated Mme Le Pen. If we will not neglect the G7, G20, we want to strengthen bilateral relations with each of the approximately two hundred States with which we maintain diplomatic ties. »
“I will also end French support for the German claim to a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council”said the far-right candidate.
To sum up her foreign policy philosophy, Mrs Le Pen said she was in favor of a “concert of nations”and not to “a so-called “international community” or “global governance”, pure utopia or disguise of the hegemony exercised by one or two superpowers”.
Do not leave the Paris climate agreement
“The international environmental issue will not be the alpha and omega of my foreign policy”, finally warned Marine Le Pen during her press conference. According to the candidate of the National Rally, “the Paris agreement on the climate, which mobilized almost all French diplomatic personnel for many months, is considered a success for France, but we no longer concern ourselves with the defense and interests of France “she denounced, mocking “The sacro-sainte COP21”.
“However, I will not go out of the Paris agreement »she said. “I am in fact in favor of the orientations of this agreement since I wish to abandon fossil fuels as much as possible in favor of civil nuclear energy”explained Marine Le Pen.
“Although this issue of the climate crisis is not the priority of my foreign policy, I will particularly support small island states, including in the Indian Ocean. I am not thinking only of the climate crisis, but simply of punctual aid in the event of cyclones, earthquakes, natural cataclysms”she said, saying she was in favor “to the protection of the environment and biodiversity”.