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Le Pen responds to Mbappé: 'French people are fed up of being lectured'
03:55 - Source: CNN
Paris CNN —
As Ukraine bleeds territory to Russia, support from one of Kyiv’s strongest backers looks set to falter if the far right sweep to power in Sunday’s French parliamentary elections.
MarineLePen,figurehead of the French far-right National Rally (RN) party, vowed a prime minister from her party would prevent Kyiv using French-supplied long-range weapons to strike inside Russia and would stymie French President Emmanuel Macron’s suggestionhe mightput French boots on Ukrainian soil.
“If Emmanuel Macron wants to send troops to Ukraine and the prime minister is against it, then there are no troops sent to Ukraine,” she told CNN. “The prime minister has the final say.”
MarineLePengave a wide-ranging interview to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Thursday ahead of the second-round vote in France’s snapparliamentary election, calledby MacronafterNational Rally’s stunning European election results in May.
She tore into the national soccer side’s star striker,Kylian Mbappé,refused tocommit toimmediately throwingout racist candidates in her party and signalled astarkshiftinFrance’s level ofsupport for Ukraine, if elected.
Presentingherself firmly asin the French political mainstream,three-time unsuccessful presidential candidate LePenstruck a confident, combative figure, days away from perhaps the greatest political victory of her career.
With polls pointing towards the National Rally holding the biggest share ofthe 577seats in the National Assembly comeMonday morning,although potentially not achievinganabsolute majority,Macron will likely offer them the chance to choose the country’s next prime minister.Le Pen’s youthful disciple and party leader Jordan Bardella has previously said he will only accept the premiership if National Rally wins by a large enough margin.
Even without an RN prime minister, any legislative action in the French parliament will have to navigate around a far-right center of gravity.
If there is an RNpremiership, it wouldset up a tense “cohabitation” with Macron’s centrist presidency, especially over centerpiece policies like French support for Ukraine’s war against Russia.
Ukrainian servicemen of the 55th Artillery Brigade "Zaporizhzhia Sich" fire a French-made CAESAR self-propelled howitzer toward Russian positions, in the Donetsk region, on June 27, 2024.
Beyondblockingpotentialtroop deployments to Ukraine – mooted by Macronas a way to boostmilitaryinstructors’ efficiency –Le Pentold CNN that Kyiv’s permission to use French-supplied long-range missiles inside Russia would also be rescinded.
Macron was one of the firstleaders publicly to allow Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia with Western weapons, setting the stage for Washington to do the same. This has allowedKyivto target Russian military bases, formations and artilleryused to launch attacksinto Ukraine.
Aside from troop deployments, Le Pen said her only “red line” on Ukraine was stopping France becoming a “co-belligerent” in the conflict via the use of long-range French missiles against targets on Russian soil. Most Western leaders currently do not consider that such supplies constitute co-belligerence with Ukraine.
Le Pen: Mbappénot representative
Le Pen directedmost of her ire closer to home.
Speaking from her party’s seat in Paris,LePenlashed out at French soccer starMbappé,who has maderepeated comments in recent weeks seemingly haranguing the far right.
Undoubtedly the brightest star of French football today, he joined a host of celebritiesthis weekin calling on votersto mobilizeto keep the far-right from power.
“There’s an emergency. We can’tleave our country in the hands of these people,”MbappésaidThursday, following National Rally’s strong first-round showing. “It’s really urgent. I think that we’ve seen the results, it’s catastrophic.”
French soccer star Kylian Mbappé, center, leaves the stadium after a training session in Hamburg, Germany, on July 4, 2024.
Speaking last month, earlierin the Euros2024 soccer tournament in Germany, the striker,whose family originally come from Algeria and Cameroon, stressed that he didn’t want to “representa country” thatdidn’t embody his “values.”
Le Pen rejected his comments, dismissing him as unrepresentative.
“French people are fed up of beinglectured and advised on how to vote,”LePentold CNN.
“Mbappédoesn’t represent French people with an immigration background, because there are far more of them living on the minimum wage, who can’t afford housing and can’t afford heating, than people like Mr. Mbappé,” she said.
Accusations of racism
If National Rally wins big enoughin Sunday’s election,LePencan expect tosee her loyal lieutenantBardella installed as France’s prime minister. She will have unquestionably succeeded in bringing her party into the political mainstream.
Having won nearly a third of French votes cast in the EuropeanParliamentelectionsin May,LePenrefused to be labelled as a “far-right” politician, which she said carries a stigma.
“It does not correspond to what we are. And not at all to what the far right is in the United States,” sheclaimed.
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'You're kidding me, right?' Amanpour challenges Le Pen on being 'far-right'
01:16 - Source: CNN
LePen’s party currently supports ending the automatic right to citizenship for people born to foreign parents in Franceandseverely restricting citizenship by naturalization.Additionally, the party proposes restricting the rights of foreigners to access some social services, including housing, with preferential access given to French nationals.
Thesecondpledgelisted in National Rally’s manifestois a law targeting Islamist ideologies, although it does not elaborate on how.
LePenfended off accusations of racismmadeagainst some of the hundreds of candidates her party fielded for the election.
“I think that in any political movement, there can be what we call ‘black sheep,’” she said.
One candidate, Florent de Kersauson,reposteda promotional picture showing a mixed-race child as “false Brittany,” another, Daniel Grenon, reportedly said North Africans have no place in “high places” in France during a recorded local debate, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV. Grenon has claimed this was an “erroneous” quotation.
“I’m not contesting the existence of these comments,”LePensaid, referring to the accusationslevelled against her candidates. She promised to seecomplaintstackled internally by the party’s conflicts commissionbutrefused to have such candidates removedimmediatelyfrom the ballot. “That’s not my vision of justice,” she said.
Ties with Russia
Cohabiting with the staunchly pro-European Emmanuel Macron will have its complications for the keenly anti-Brussels National Rally.
Top of the list of sensitivities is likely to be foreign policy, whereLePenand Macron rarely see eye to eye. A far-right governmentwouldbe welcome news for Russian President Vladimir Putin though.
LePenhas landed in hot water in the past over Russia. She’s boasted of her admiration for Putin, refused to condemn Putin’s illegal annexation of Crimeain 2014, and even took out ahuge loan from a Russian bank.
Marine Le Pen gives a speech as results come in for the first round of the French parliamentary elections in Henin-Beaumont, northern France, on June 30, 2024.
Many held similar suspicions ahead of the election ofhard-rightculture warrior Italian Prime MinisterGiorgiaMeloniin 2022.But in office, she’s proved a team player in Europe’s support for Kyiv.
There’s no such absolutionyetforLePenthough.
On Wednesday, Russia’s foreign ministry posted apicture ofLePenon X, stating that French voters are seeking “a break from the dictate of Washington and Brussels.”
Pressed on the post’s relevance,LePen’s answer may point to her following Meloni’s hard shoulder to Moscow.
“It’s a form of interference, and in that sense, I find it unacceptable,”LePensaid of the post.
She’s broken many molds already in her time in politics; the weight of real political power for National Rally may change her further still.
CNN’s Henry Hullah contributed to this report.
