Did the MEPs labeled National Rally really shine by their absence during the votes in the European Parliament on the sanctions to be taken against Russia, after the offensive in Ukraine?
Emmanuel Macron underlined on RTL this Friday morning, on the last day of the official campaign before the first round on Sunday, "the culpable absence of all the parliamentarians of the National Front (sic) in the European Parliament when it came to sanctioning the Russia”.
What is true is that none of the 19 MEPs from the National Rally who sit in Strasbourg - within the Identity and Democracy group - was present this Thursday, during the vote on sanctions against Russia.
This is not the first time that the latter have dried up the benches, but they have an excuse for this plenary: "Everyone was in Perpignan", exclaims Thierry Mariani, himself alongside the candidate Marine Le Pen for his last trip before the first lap.
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“We are not talking about a campaign trip like the others, we are talking about the last one, I imagine that other MEPs were absent yesterday!
How do you want to vote at 2 p.m. in Strasbourg and be in Perpignan at 7 p.m.?
», Annoys the MEP.
Twelve other deputies absent
Macron 1 - 1 Mariani, because in reality, among the 79 French MEPs, others were absent this Thursday outside the RN family and many because of the presidential campaign.
Twelve absent outside RN in total, if we rely on the report of Parliament.
Within the Renew group, Sylvie Brunet and Marie-Pierre Vedrenne (Democrats) as well as Irène Tolleret and Nathalie Loiseau (LREM) were absent.
Raphaël Glucksmann (Public Square) among the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) did not vote either.
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On the side of the Republicans, Geoffroy Didier (European People's Party - EPP) was not in Strasbourg, but in Lyon to support his candidate, Valérie Pécresse.
In the left group in the European parliament, Manuel Bompard and Younous Omarjee (LFI) did not vote, but Manuel Bompard is Jean-Luc Mélenchon's campaign director.
Finally, among the ecologists (groups of the Greens / European Free Alliance), the candidate Yannick Jadot was in a meeting in Nantes with Mounir Satouri, his campaign manager.
Two members of Reconquest!
abstained
And the four MEPs passed under the bosom of Reconquest!, the party of Éric Zemmour, in all this?
Half of them - Gilbert Collard and Maxette Pirbakas - were absent and therefore did not vote on Thursday either.
As for Nicolas Bay and Jérôme Rivière, they were indeed present but abstained.
They are an exception, in this respect, within the French MEPs, but this interests less Emmanuel Macron, who focuses his energy on his potential opponent in the second round while Éric Zemmour, he continues his drop in voting intentions.
If Emmanuel Macron tackled this Friday morning "the ambiguity of some with (Russia) despite the war", this criticism is therefore more appropriate for MEPs Reconquest!.
Especially since Thursday was the second big sanction vote against Moscow: the first took place on March 1, and RN MEPs were all present and all voted in favor of these sanctions.
All, except one: Thierry Mariani.
“I vote against all sanctions.
Can you tell me a single country that has changed its policy with sanctions?
” answers us this Friday the interested party.
