Sparks tonight on France 2 between the secretary of the Democratic Party, Enrico Letta and the candidate of the Rassemblement National in the French presidential elections in April, Marine Le Pen.
Expressing himself in perfect French, the former premier and president of the Institut Notre Europe-Jacques Delors defended the fundamental role of the European Union in front of the nationalist candidate in responding to global challenges, from the Russian war against Ukraine, to the Common Defense up to the recent action by the EU Commission against coronavirus, or the #NextGenerationEu recovery plan which for the first time introduced a form of debt mutualisation in the Union.
The confrontation began over the war in Ukraine.
To Le Pen, who evoked the risks of too heavy sanctions against Vladimir Putin's regime, Letta replied that rosewater sanctions would be of little use.
If as Europeans "we pay nothing - warned the former Sciences Po professor - the Ukrainians will die".
Le Pen retorted accusing him of hypocrisy.
Letta reminded Le Pen of the presidential elections of 2017, when he came to the ballot against the candidate of En Marche.
"At the time - Letta reminded her - she looked at the whole of Europe".
"Her friends were Trump who finished his term with the assault on Capitol Hill and Putin who is massacring the Ukrainian people. Among his enemies were the European Commission".
"The same EU executive, Letta pointed out, that" is taking us out of this pandemic with the joint purchase of vaccines "and that has implemented the recovery plan worth 750 billion euros." You are foreign policy - he then joked - like Special Agent 117 "(popular French spy-comedy character, ed).
"Mr. Letta, you are an ideologue. Like the communists who said there was not enough communism and they wanted even more. The same goes for the European Union, you always want more", attacked Le Pen, arguing that instead the EU "does not work" and has "failed".
She prepared Letta's answer: "I told you about Camembert and Bordeaux, no ideology".
"Even Salvini, her great ally, wants to leave her", replied the former premier, recalling that the leader of the League currently supports the government of Mario Draghi.
And she?
Would Mario Draghi support it? "." Fortunately I don't have an Italian system ", she replied.
