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The French vote Sunday in the second round of the presidential election and every vote counts as the difference between incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and his challenger Marine Le Pen is small.
In a televised debate Wednesday, Emmanuel Macron tried to stress the links between Marine Le Pen’s far-right party and Russian President Vladimir Putin. In 2014, Marine Le Pen’s party took out a loan from a Kremlin-linked bank.
“For our country, this is bad news, because you depend on the Russian regime and you depend on Putin,” Mr Macron said. The far-right leader said no French bank would give her the loan, so she turned to Russia.
But for many political analysts, this is not an easy task. They raise the question of what problems for the security of Europe at this time the conflict would create Mrs. Marine Le Pen, if she took over the leadership of France.
Its stance on Russia is in stark contrast to that of most Western leaders.
“Once the Russian-Ukrainian war is over and resolved through a peace treaty, I will call for the implementation of a strategic rapprochement between NATO and Russia,” Le Pen said.
It has also criticized Ukraine’s supply of heavy weapons and wants to weaken French ties with NATO.
“Once I am elected president, we will leave NATO command, but I will not give up the application of NATO Article 5 on collective security,” she said.
A Le Pen victory would severely weaken Western unity against Russia, says analyst Renaud Foucart.
“She was one of the first, if not the only French candidate to recognize Crimea, the annexation of Crimea by Russia. So it is very clear, it will not be in favor of stronger sanctions. “She has opposed them and has been very vocal in opposing sanctions on fossil fuels, gas and oil from Russia.”
But in recent weeks, Le Pen’s positions have strengthened in opinion polls.
“She is somewhat distanced from Putin. It has condemned the attack on Ukraine. Secondly, you know that in France, as in the US, elections are decided not on foreign policy issues, but on domestic policy issues. “And just like in the US, France is facing a wave of inflation,” said Gérard Araud, France’s former ambassador to the United Nations.
Marine Le Pen has focused her campaign on the cost of living and has accused Mr Macron of being a president “obsessed with the affairs of Europe and not France”.
For years, Le Pen campaigned for France’s exit from the EU. Now she says the so-called “Frexit” plan is no longer on her political agenda. But she says she wants to reform the bloc.
“In fact it will change the European bloc dramatically. It will either implement its program or leave the European Union“, Thinks the former ambassador of France to the UN.
A surprise victory for Ms. Le Pen is likely to create major upheavals for NATO and the European Union.
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