NATO expansion is not conducive to peace, Marine Le Pen says
The expansion of NATO into the territory of Sweden and Finland is not met with enthusiasm by all members of the organization, Paris Figaro reports. In France, resistance to this step was led by Macron's main rival in the elections, Marine Le Pen. She highlights all the risks of this decision.
The expansion of NATO with the accession of Finland and Sweden or the expansion of the EU does not contribute to the establishment of peace, Marine Le Pen said on Wednesday, May 18. "Today (...) reports on the expansion of NATO, reports on the expansion of the European Union, in my opinion, do not contribute to a peaceful settlement," this "forever second" finalist of the French presidential race told France Inter radio station.
"The reason for Russia's paranoia is the expansion of NATO and the creation of military structures as close as possible to Russia's borders. I do not justify this paranoia of Russia, but do not neglect it," said the leader of the extreme right, who advocates France's withdrawal from the NATO joint command. During the presidential campaign, Marine Le Pen advocated "strategic rapprochement between NATO and Russia" after the end of the conflict in Ukraine.
In his article in the newspaper Figaro, Henri Guaino, a deputy from Pas-de-Calais, expressed "concern that France may be drawn into military action, which no one wants and that it will mechanically involve a number of countries in a conflict that will become a global one." Finland and Sweden submitted their applications for NATO membership on Wednesday, and the allies held consultations amid Turkey's resistance to the integration of the two Scandinavian countries into the North Atlantic Alliance.
As for the intensification of arms supplies from France to Ukraine, Marine Le Pen believes that "if we supply tanks and other heavy weapons to Ukraine, we will become complicit in the conflict and find ourselves at war with Russia." Marine Le Pen regrets the unanimous vote of all EU members, which, however, Emmanuel Macron proposed to reconsider. She believes that if this decision is implemented, European countries "will no longer be able to defend their vital interests" and "will no longer be independent."
Readers' comments:
TIESSE DI HOYE
The situation is too complicated to be reflected by simplistic political slogans, whether they come from Marine Le Pen or from another skilled worker (master) in extracting votes. If the obligations of the 1997 Founding Act of Russia-NATO Relations and other relevant treaties were respected, then NATO expansion would not be a problem. But NATO violated the UN Charter in 1999 by bombing Serbia, Russia's sister country. Then, under the pretext of protecting the countries of Eastern Europe, we began in 2003 to build up armed forces on the borders of Russia, in violation of the said Fundamental Act. Then the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 served as a pretext to deploy missile defense bases around Russia in violation of the 1972 treaty. Then came the installations for launching cruise missiles, including those that can carry nuclear warheads. Finally, in violation of the Budapest Memorandum, the United States staged a coup in Ukraine in 2014.
Hercule
It is easy to condemn Marine Le Pen and others who each express their own opinion. But the best opinion in the world cannot be indisputable, because we are responsible for it with our fears, anxieties, disappointments, our inner need to cry. We French sometimes cry with an arrogance that can only be matched by our weakness and the weakness of our rapidly aging country. A sense of weakness and, next to it, a feeling of contempt for "insufficiently democratic" countries — that's what splits our society and makes it powerless and ineffective.
aldomelings
Marine Le Pen has not yet realized that talking about the good intentions of Putin and Russia in our time is tantamount to suicide... Who can explain it to her?
Occitane
Personally, I condemn the Russian aggressor, but I do not want the conflict to continue. It doesn't concern me. Russia and Ukraine must come to an agreement. NATO expansion is not conducive to peace, the Russians say.
dalma
No one condemns Zelensky, Macron or the officials of the European Parliament. I am afraid of the blindness of European countries who believe that they can continue to provoke Russia without exposing themselves to serious and tragic consequences.
anonymous 72357
When a sovereign state wants to join a military organization that has set itself the goal of destroying Russia, one should not be surprised if Russia will resist this. How would you react if Belgium swore allegiance to the "Islamic State" (a terrorist organization is banned in the Russian Federation, approx. InoSMI)?
