For the first time Marine Le Pen calls arms sales

For the first time, Marine Le Pen calls arms sales to Ukraine ‘irresponsible’

By Amber Xerri

Posted 54 minutes ago, updated 18 minutes ago

Marine Le Pen, President of the RN Group at the gathering EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP

Emmanuel Macron announced on Tuesday, July 11, the delivery of long-range Scalp missiles to support Ukraine in its counter-offensive. The opportunity for Marine Le Pen to make her position clear.

She had expressed her reservations about their delivery several times without taking a clear position. This Wednesday, July 12, Marine Le Pen declared for the first time that she was firmly opposed to the supply of arms to Ukraine, which has been at war with Russia since February 24, 2022.

On the sidelines of a visit to Beauvais in the Oise, the leader of the RN deputy in the National Assembly considered the continuation of missile deliveries to Ukraine “irresponsible”. And too many: “I don’t understand why Emmanuel Macron is not fully focused on organizing a peace conference to end this war.”

A longstanding reluctance

This position follows the Head of State’s announcement on Tuesday, July 11, that it would deliver Scalp-type long-range missiles to help Ukraine conduct its counter-offensive. Marine le Pen, who is regularly singled out for her past acquaintance with Vladimir Putin, has been careful not to be categorical on the subject.

And with good reason, refusing to bail out Ukraine would risk fueling the discourse of its critics, who accuse it of supporting Russian power. A recent report by the National Assembly’s commission of inquiry into foreign interference specifically accused the RN of being a “transmission belt” of Russian power.

Since the outbreak of the conflict, Marine Le Pen has repeatedly expressed her reluctance to sell arms to Ukraine. “That makes us all comrades-in-arms,” argues the candidate for the presidential election on March 1, 2022 on BFMTV.

However, Marine Le Pen justified her position at the time with “the completely new role” that the European Union had assumed. “The problem is that going to war requires democratic confirmation,” stresses the MEP for Nord-Pas-de-Calais. And to add: “This raises questions about our country’s military sovereignty.”

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