Poisonous greetings to Berlin: Le Pen's election victory would be "catastrophic for Europe"

Created: 04/22/2022, 08:15

By: Marc Beyer

France election: The candidates on February 24 - Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron.

© Joel Saget/Eric Feferberg/AFP

Elections are held in France, which also has an impact on Germany.

Under President Le Pen, the relationship between Paris and Berlin is likely to change fundamentally

Munich/Paris – Unpleasant things can also be said with a friendly expression.

Marine Le Pen smiled a lot during her televised duel with Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, but her charming demeanor, a lesson learned from the tragic 2017 presidential campaign, didn't hide the harsh content.

France election: In Berlin, everyone knows what to expect from Le Pen

On the other hand, when it comes to her relationship with Germany and what France has to prepare for under President Le Pen, she doesn't even bother to conceal her reservations.

The critical attitude towards the neighbor is deeply rooted in their election platform.

That hardly played a role on Wednesday because it was mainly about the outstanding issues such as war and climate protection or nationally important issues such as strengthening purchasing power.

But in Berlin you know what to expect from Le Pen anyway.

France: Le Pen criticized "blindness towards Berlin"

Last week, the head of the right-wing extremist Rassemblement National presented her foreign policy program.

Germany featured prominently in it – as the addressee of poisonous greetings and the antithesis of everything she aspires for her own country.

She accused German politics of standing for "the absolute negation of French strategic identity".

There are "irreconcilable differences" to which she will react consistently.

Le Pen announced that in the event of an election victory he would end the existing arms cooperation with Berlin.

The joint development of a battle tank and a fighter jet would be affected.

Both projects should be replaced by purely French programs.

Such tirades are not new.

In the past, Le Pen has already criticized an alleged "blindness towards Berlin", which means that national interests are not sufficiently recognized in the Élysée Palace.

Le Pen also expressly pointed out that under her leadership, France would no longer support a German bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Le Pen's election victory would fundamentally change relations with neighbors

All of this leads to the conclusion that if Le Pen were to win the election, France's relationship with its neighbors would change fundamentally.

A relationship that Macron praised in glowing terms on Wednesday and that has been a stable axis within the EU for decades.

But Le Pen, together with other nationalist politicians, wants to completely overhaul it and turn to countries like Poland and Hungary.

When she is not working towards giving her country a special status internationally, largely free of obligations to allies.

Munich MEPs: Le Pen's election victory would be "catastrophic for Europe"

An election for Le Pen would be "catastrophic for Europe," says Munich MEP Henrike Hahn (Greens).

"The Franco-German engine, which is particularly needed at the moment, would start to stutter." Nevertheless, she considers the continent "stronger than the legislative period of an extreme right-wing government can be".

The latest figures speak for Macron anyway: 59 percent of those surveyed found him more convincing in the TV duel, only 39 his challenger.