By raising for the first time the idea of sending troops to Ukraine, the French leader “has taken a further step toward belligerence,” blasted his rival Marine Le Pen, of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party. She accused him of “posing an existential risk to 70 million French people, and more particularly to our armed forces already deployed in Eastern Europe.”
"You’ve been waiting for the first opportunity to remind people of your true loyalties [and] “show your true colors,” retorted Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who had left the Paris Agricultural Show to attend the verbal joust. “When you read the investigations that are being carried out, [such as one published by the Washington Post on December 30, showing the RN’s persistent links with Moscow], you have to wonder whether Vladimir Putin’s troops aren’t already in our country,” he continued. “I’m talking about you and your troops, Ms. Le Pen.”
Personally I have always thought Attal to be unqualified and inapt for the role. Why is he not arguing about the political program of the opposition instead? Does he have any evidence of this accusation? Seems like a childish way to try to rule out and delegitimize the opposition (which is authoritarianism, not democracy). Le Pen’s far right populism is b…it but this is NOT the way to contrast it.
As loathe as I am to defend Attal, there are multiple documented instances of Le Pen and her party taking money from Russia. Not to mention that until 2022 they were outwardly supportive of Putin.
If you’d taken the time to read the article, this link is right there.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/30/france-russia-interference-far-right/