In the run-up to the first round of French elections on Sunday, opponents of Emmanuel Macron slammed him in a televised debate over his comment on not ruling out putting French troops on the ground in Ukraine.
ADVERTISEMENTNational Rally president Jordan Bardella said he would not let "Russian imperialism absorb an allied state like Ukraine", adding that he would, however, refuse to send French soldiers to Ukraine if he became prime minister during a televised debate.
"My position on this conflict is very simple. I have upheld it throughout this European campaign. It is one of support to Ukraine and avoidance of escalation with Russia, which is, I remind you, a nuclear power," he said.
His comments were an apparent rebuttal to President Emmanuel Macron's remarks in May in which he said he hadn't ruled out putting French boots on the ground in Ukraine if Russia breaks through the frontlines.
The debate, which featured the three major parties and coalition leaders, took place days before France's first round of snap legislative elections to choose all 577 members of the National Assembly.
Olivier Faure also blasted Macron's remarks, saying not even the Ukrainians expected French troops to fight alongside them.
"It is absolutely useless. And when the President of the Republic proposed it, he simply succeeded in dividing the Europeans and even worse. In sending Putin information that he did not yet have, which is that the Europeans are not prepared to go to the ground," he said.
Faure insisted that the New Popular Front coalition would be against sending troops to Ukraine but would not be opposed to sending long-range missiles to the country.
But Macron's position was defended by his Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.
"When we fight for Ukraine, we fight to defend our values and their freedom, but we also fight for our daily lives. What the President of the Republic did was to simply recall that faced with a Vladimir Putin who does not set any red lines. If we started by setting red lines for ourselves, then we would be doing a disservice to Ukraine," he said.
Elections like no other
French voters are being called to the polls on Sunday for an exceptional moment in their political history: the first round of snap parliamentary elections that could see the country’s first far-right government since the World War II Nazi occupation — or no majority emerging at all.
The outcome of the vote, following the second round on 7 July and an exceptionally brief campaign, remains highly uncertain as three major political blocs are competing: the far-right National Rally, President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance and the New Popular Front coalition that includes centre-left, greens and hard-left forces.
Emmanuel Macron called the snap parliamentary elections on 9 June, the night his Renaissance party lost badly to the far-right National Rally in the EU elections.
The latest polling shows that the far-right National Rally is in the lead with 36%, followed by the left-wing coalition New Popular Front at 27%. Macron's Renaissance party is trailing, polling at just 20%.
On Monday, Macron warned French voters that political "extremes" could lead "to civil war".