A Russian victory would be a 'disaster' for the French: Prime Minister Gabriel Attal defended the Ukraine aid strategy on Tuesday before MPs, who should largely support it, despite divisions on the left and a far-right party abstention. Marine Le Pen.
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At a “turning point in the conflict”, the Prime Minister began the discussions by praising the “extraordinary resistance of the Ukrainian people”, which the permanent representatives praised.
He insisted on the “concrete” and “concrete” risks of a Russian victory to the “everyday life” of the French, which represented a “disaster for their purchasing power”: “food inflation to the power of ten, an explosion in food prices. energy to the power of ten.”
Voting against the French aid strategy would mean “turning our back on our history.” “Abstaining from voting means fleeing,” he said, targeting the “La France Insoumise” (radical left, LFI) party and the National Rally party led by Marine Le Pen.
He stressed, after the controversial statements of Emmanuel Macron, who did not rule out sending Western forces to the ground, “We do not set limits on Russia, which does not set any limits.”
The vote, without a binding value, is expected to take place around eight in the evening (7 p.m. GMT), with a result that may be in favor of the government, thanks to the support of the right-wing Republican Party and the Socialists. And environmental scientists.
This concerns the Franco-Ukrainian security agreement signed on February 16. It was concluded for a period of ten years and includes strengthening military cooperation, especially in the fields of artillery and air defence.
The group's president, Jordan Bardella, announced that Marine Le Pen's group would “abstain” from the vote, citing “red lines” including sending ground forces and possible Ukrainian membership in NATO and the European Union.
“War camp”
Marine Le Pen said: “You (…) have transformed, exploited and exploited a major international crisis to put it in the service of a short-term electoral agenda” before the European elections.
Explaining her choice to abstain from voting, she declared: “Either we are supporters of Macron, or we are accused of being supporters of Putin.”
In his statement, the Prime Minister defended the French-Ukrainian security agreement signed on February 16. It is concluded for a period of ten years, and includes strengthening military cooperation, especially in the fields of artillery and air defense.
In 2024, Paris promised “up to three billion euros in additional support.”
“These three billion are not a check for Ukraine. This value corresponds to the maximum value of our military aid in 2024, in particular the requests made to our French defense industries,” Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu explained.
Three months before the European elections scheduled for June 9, aid to Ukraine has become one of the main topics in the election campaign, especially since Emmanuel Macron’s statements at the end of last February, in which he did not rule out sending ground forces and did not want to put “anything” in place. . Limits on support for Kyiv.
Since these statements sparked strong controversy in France and Europe, especially in Germany, Sébastien Lecornu confirmed that sending “combat ground forces is not on the table and that President Volodymyr Zelensky wanted to reassure on Monday by telling the French media that” “As long as Ukraine holds out, the army can The Frenchman is to remain on French territory.”
President Emmanuel Macron has placed increasing aid to Ukraine at the heart of his priorities, but support for this financial and military support is declining in French opinion.
A poll conducted by Ilapi for BFMTV and La Tribune newspaper on Sunday showed that 39% of French people believe that France should continue to support Kiev economically and financially as it currently does, that is, 11 points less since June 28, 2023. Moreover, the French (26%, +3 points) believe that she should reduce her support.
The same trend applies to military support: 43% (-9 points) believe that their support should continue as it is now, and 22% (+4) believe that it should be reduced.
