In two new interviews with the Italian and German press, Marine Le Pen, the parliamentary leader of France’s National Rally (Rassemblement National), expressed her thoughts and opinions on a variety of topics, including—but not limited to—the Russo-Ukrainian war, NATO, Euroskepticism, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and President Macron.
While speaking to the Rome-based newspaper La Repubblica, Marine Le Pen, whose father Jean-Marie was hospitalized last week after suffering a minor heart attack, was keen to distance herself politically from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, rejecting the idea that she and Meloni are cut from the same political cloth.
Le Pen criticized Meloni for being too moderate, supporting weapons shipments to Ukraine, being pro-EU and pro-NATO, and failing to live up to her campaign promises to put a stop to illegal migration.
“I am not Meloni’s twin sister, I remain faithful to Salvini,” Le Pen told the newspaper, saying that with her 89 Rassemblement National lawmakers in the National Assembly—the second largest political faction in the French parliament—she refuses to take what she described as a pro-NATO, pro-EU “Melonist” turn.
“I remain a Euroskeptic, convinced that France should leave NATO’s integrated command,” Le Pen said, adding that she, unlike Meloni, is opposed to the delivery of offensive weapons to Ukraine. “Every day that passes, I become even more Euroskeptic,” she emphasized.
In addition to disagreeing with Meloni’s foreign policy positions, Le Pen told the newspaper that she supports Lega party leader Matteo Salvini, who is a fellow member of the Identity & Democracy (ID) European parliamentary grouping.
“There are parts of [Meloni’s] project that I don’t agree with,” she began. “Politically I feel closer to Matteo Salvini and I don’t adapt my speech to the electoral results: I am a loyal person.”
Lega’s position, and thereby Salvini’s, on the Russo-Ukrainian war is closer to that which is held by conservative leaders like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Marine Le Pen, and Herbert Kickl, the leader of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), which at present is the most popular party in Austria.
Regarding migration, Le Pen asserted that Meloni’s government so far “has not proposed any real solutions” to the problem. Under Meloni’s leadership, migrant arrivals in Italy have increased by over 50%.
Despite whatever difference they may have, however, Le Pen made it clear that certainly she prefers Meloni to her left-establishment political predecessor, Mario Draghi.
Shifting gears to French President Emmanuel Macron and his recent statements concerning the need for Europe to develop strategic autonomy from the United States, Le Pen said:
I agree with him, but Macron’s problem is … on one hand, he makes such statements, but on the other hand, he subordinates himself to the EU’s diplomatic agenda, which we all know is heavily influenced by the USA. He contradicts himself because he has Commission President Ursula von der Leyen with him, who does not represent anyone diplomatically.
Furthermore, despite Macron’s strong rhetoric, Le Pen says she is not at all convinced by his concept of European sovereignty, telling Die Welt:
Macron has been selling us for years on European sovereignty, but there is none. In order to be able to speak of sovereignty, you need a people. There are no European people. The EU does have a large market, but that alone doesn’t do diplomacy. Europe has no mandate and no voice vis-à-vis major powers like the U.S. and China.
Lastly, Le Pen suggested that she may run for president in 2027, saying: “Today I am the natural candidate of my political family, but not a candidate for life.” She ran unsuccessfully for the French presidency in 2012, 2017, and 2022.
