French elections | Le Pen teamed up with Putin and received millions in election support from Russia – This is what the victory of the French far-right would mean for Ukraine

On Sunday the French will decide who will win the second round of elections for the lower house of the French Parliament. In Europe, and especially in Ukraine, the biggest source of tension is whether the far-right National Alliance (RN) could even reach a direct majority, which could make it difficult for the president Emmanuel Macron the ability to make foreign, security and European policy the way they want.

RN received a third of the votes in the first round on June 30. Based on France’s complex electoral system, the party has the potential to win more than half of the parliamentary seats with its allies, which would give it considerable power in foreign policy, especially through budget policy.

The 28-year-old leader of the party Jordan Bardella stated before the first round in a TV debate, that he would not accept Macron’s idea of ​​sending French soldiers to Ukraine. In addition, he has assured that France should not give Ukraine long-range missiles that could strike deep into Russian soil.

A true leader of the RN Marine Le Pen in turn Has said To Le Télégramme, that the president’s role as commander-in-chief of the armed forces is ultimately just an “honorable title” because the prime minister holds the budget strings. Without money, many foreign policy goals may not be achieved, even though the French president has a lot of power.

in Europe and in France there has been concern that in recent years Le Pen’s friends Vladimir Putin with and received millions of euros in election support in the form of loans from a Russian-owned bank. Something about the amount of concern says that the one that focuses on the promotion of tourism in Ukraine Also the Visit Ukraine website published on Monday a reflection on the prospects of the French elections.

In 2011, Le Pen stated that she “admired” Putin. Two years after Russia occupied the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and launched a war in eastern Ukraine, Le Pen still had a very positive attitude towards Putin.

“I think Putin has managed to do a great job, no matter what one says about him. He has brought Russia back to the stage of nations. It was not self-evident,” Le Pen said In an interview with HS 2016.

In Le Pen’s opinion, it was time to stop waging a cold war with Russia and “put an end to this Berlin wall, which was put on wheels and moved eastward to keep Russia outside of Europe.”

One day after Russia launched its major offensive against Ukraine in February 2022, Le Pen said: “Everyone kind of admires Vladimir Putin. But I find his action highly reprehensible and it partly changes my view of him.”

It took another month for Le Pen to be told that she “has no friendship with Vladimir Putin”, Le Monde newspaper reported in his quotation mark.

The same in the warlike spring, the old statements and other actions favorable to Putin came to haunt Le Pen, when she ran for the presidency for the third time. Macron barked at his opponent unreservedly in the election debate: “When you speak Russia [presidentin] with, you don’t talk to any foreign manager, you talk to your banker.”

Since then, the RN has separated from Russia and assured that supporting Ukraine is in the interest of the French and that Russian imperialism will not be allowed to swallow Ukraine. Thus, one would not necessarily see any quick movements in France’s Ukraine policy.

Honorary Professor at University College London Mark Galeotti stated however For Radio Free Europe, that RN might “clip Emmanuel Macron’s wings”. At least when it comes to sending troops, Macron has appeared as a Russia hawk among European leaders. In addition, RN might slow down EU policy and put a brake on Ukraine’s accession to the Union, without actually having to visibly oppose it.

“It’s enough that you crawl. You make it difficult. You’re wasting time,” Galeotti said Monday.

If France becomes a more reluctant supporter of Ukraine, Ukraine’s ability to defend itself may weaken and the small victory attitude may spread to other EU and NATO countries as well. RN’s potential parliamentary majority combined Donald Trump election victory in next November’s US presidential election would be a really promising new setup for Russia.