The candidate for the European elections from the presidential camp Valérie Hayer arrived Wednesday morning in kyiv for a two-day visit intended to bring Ukraine “all the support” of MEPs from the centrist Renew group, which she chairs.
“The security of Ukrainians is the security of Europeans.
Russia cannot win and we must show Ukraine all the support of Renew MEPs and the presidential majority in this campaign,” explains those around him.
Welcome to Kyiv.
🇺🇦
I will lead a @RenewEurope mission there intended to work on new concrete solutions to help Ukraine win.
Our support for the country is and will remain unwavering.
It is the security of all of Europe that is currently at stake. pic.twitter.com/ymYm4q0T54
— Valérie Hayer (@ValerieHayer) March 27, 2024
A campaign theme
The war in Ukraine has become a central theme of the majority's campaign for this election.
Supporters of the candidate from the Macronist camp denounce in particular the supposed connections of the extreme right with the Russian regime, while in the polls the nationalist parties are on the rise in Europe in these elections.
Upon her arrival, Valérie Hayer met Ukrainian parliamentarians before speaking with the Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure, Oleksandr Koubrakov, then the President of the Ukrainian Parliament (Rada) Rouslan Stefantchouk, in the presence of several leaders of political groups.
Also read “We are all for peace, but…”: the left is torn apart (again) over the security agreement with Ukraine
At the launch meeting of her campaign on March 9 in Lille, the candidate from Emmanuel Macron's camp called for a "judgment" to "thwart the worst-case scenario", "in the face of those who want to bring down" Europe, while the majority remains behind by around 10 points in the polls by the president and head of the National Rally list Jordan Bardella.
An intensification of the campaign
The candidate's program will also be revealed at the beginning of May, her campaign director Pieyre-Alexandre Anglade said on Wednesday, who is "not worried" about the delay in the polls because the election will be decided in the last weeks according to him.
Satisfied with "a good entry into the fray" from his candidate, the latter announced, during a press conference, an "intensification of the campaign" in April, particularly in areas where Renaissance is scoring well like the Western France, because the European elections are above all “an election to mobilize” its electorate.
Two national meetings and 135 public meetings are currently planned, including a meeting in Besançon with Valérie Hayer and Édouard Philippe on April 5.
In mid-April, Renaissance will distribute a leaflet adapted to each department, printed in 650,000 copies.
Read alsoEuropean elections: Emmanuel Macron's big pressure on the majority
The program “is being finalized with the desire to begin to take somewhat strong measures by mid-April and an overall presentation at the beginning of May,” he said.
“This program will obviously pull the thread started by the President of the Republic in 2017, that of the independence of Europe and Europe as a power in a context of return from war,” summarized Pieyre-Alexandre Anglade, Chairman of the European Affairs Committee in the National Assembly.
On the composition of the list, which will have to make room for Renaissance partners - MoDem, Horizons, UDI and Radical Party - the MP pleaded for "a form of continuity" in favor of outgoing MEPs, even if there will be “a part of renewal”.
“I prefer to have candidates who are recognized for what they do in Brussels (…) rather than witnessing poaching like on certain lists of personalities who, occasionally, can contribute something but will disappear for five years in the European Parliament,” he summarized.
The campaign director is "not concerned" about the majority's delay of around ten points over the RN in the polls because "the crystallization"
(the choice of voters)
will take place at the end of the campaign according to him.
“Everything we are putting in place now is to be in
the starting blocks
at the time of the launch of the final sprint which takes place in the last three weeks of May” with at least five or six televised debates planned, said -he points out.