Dossier presidential election 2022The far-right candidate claims to agree with the sanctions against Moscow. In the European Parliament, however, his party consistently voted against the sanctions aimed at Russia until the invasion of Ukraine.
During the second round of debate, Marine Le Pen said she agreed with “all sanctions” against Moscow. “The only sanction I disagree with is blocking imports of Russian gas and oil,” she said. The candidate does not indicate how long she has held this position. But until the invasion of Ukraine, the National Assembly in the European Parliament systematically voted against the sanctions against Moscow.
systematic resistance
After the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the start of the war in Donbass, Marine Le Pen has made numerous statements and trips in support of Moscow. And in the years that followed openly and consistently resisted the sanctions decided by European diplomats.
The Décoders du Monde team has collected the results of the votes of the members of the National Assembly in the European Parliament on the various sanctions votes against Russia or in support of Ukraine. Of the ten votes cast between February 2019 and February 2022 before the Russian invasion, their opposition was systematic.
Against loans to Ukraine
For example, the party voted unanimously against the European Parliament’s April 2021 resolution aimed at condemning Russia for its gatherings on the Ukrainian border, its persecution of Alexei Navalny and Moscow’s involvement in the 2014 sabotage of a Czech ammunition depot . The same on February 16: the National Assembly unanimously opposed another parliamentary resolution approving a €1.2 billion loan to Ukraine, which was struggling financially in response to Russian threats.
After the Russian aggression on February 24, RN deputies voted on March 1 for the first time in favor of sanctions against Russia. Everyone voted in favour, except Thierry Mariani, who abstained, and Jean-Paul Garraud, who was absent. Since then, RN MPs have voted against a disinformation law that targeted Russia, among others, and unanimously abstained on two other resolutions against Moscow. The first called for an embargo on Russian gas and oil, while the other aimed to condemn an intensification of the country’s internal repression.