NICE, France: With just three days to go until France’s landmark legislative election, the county’s far-right leader on Thursday raised the question of who would be in charge of the military if her party takes over the government after the two-round balloting.
The early elections are plunging France into uncharted territory, and political scientists are scrambling to interpret how exactly President Emmanuel Macron and a prime minister who is hostile to most of his policies will share power if Marine Le Pen’s National Rally wins the majority in the National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament.
Le Pen has repeatedly said that Jordan Bardella, her protegee and her party’s star leader, will lead France’s next government if their party wins. She suggested in an interview that Bardella, 28, will also take over at least some decisions on France’s defense and its armed forces. Macron has three years to serve out his final term as president.
Serving as a commander-in-chief of the armed forces “is an honorary title for the president since it’s the prime minister who actually pulls the strings,” Le Pen said in an interview with Le Télégramme newspaper published Thursday.
The French Constitution states that “the President of the Republic is the head of the armed forces” and that the head of state also “chairs the councils and higher committees of national defense.” However, the Constitution also states that “the prime minister is responsible for national defense.”
Constitutional experts say the exact role of prime minister in foreign policy and defense appears to be subject to interpretation.
France has nuclear weapons and its troops and military personnel have been deployed in many conflict zones around the world.
The last time France had a prime minister and a president from different parties, they broadly agreed on strategic matters of defense and foreign policy. But this time the power sharing concept known in France as “cohabitation” could be very different given the animosity between the far-right and the far-left politicians. Both blocs appear to deeply resent the business-friendly, centrist president.
On the issue of the country’s military command, political historian Jean Garrigues said that “the president is the head of the armed forces, (but) it’s the prime minister who has the armed forces at his disposal.”
In practice, he said this means that “if the president decided to send troops on the ground to Ukraine ... the prime minister would be able to block this decision.”
In March, Macron warned Western powers against showing any signs of weakness to Russia and said Ukraine’s allies shouldn’t rule out sending Western troops into Ukraine to help the country against Russia’s aggression.
Le Pen is confident that her party, which has a history of racism and xenophobia, will be able to translate its stunning triumph at the elections for the European Parliament earlier this month into a victory at the upcoming legislative two-round vote in France.
The first round will take place on Sunday. The decisive second round is scheduled a week later, on July 7.
Polls show that the outcome of the early election remains uncertain amid a complex voting system and potential alliances. Macron is aligned against both the National Rally and the New Popular Front, a coalition of far- to center-left parties that includes France Unbowed of Jean Luc Melenchon.
If the National Rally gets the mandate from a majority of voters to form a new government, Le Pen said Bardella, who has no experience in governance, will aim to be firm but not hostile to the serving president.
“Jordan has no intention of picking a fight with (Macron), but he has set red lines,” Le Pen said. She added: “On Ukraine, the president will not be able to send troops.”
French far-right leader Le Pen questions president’s role as army chief ahead of parliament election
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French far-right leader Le Pen questions president’s role as army chief ahead of parliament election
- Le Pen has repeatedly said that Jordan Bardella, her protegee and her party’s star leader, will lead France’s next government if their party wins
- She suggested in an interview that Bardella, 28, will also take over at least some decisions on France’s defense and its armed forces
Hungary says it will block a key EU loan to Ukraine until Russian oil shipments resume
- Szijjártó said: “As long as Ukraine blocks the resumption of oil supplies to Hungary, Hungary will block European Union decisions that are important and favorable for Ukraine”
- Hungary’s decision to block the key funding came two days after it suspended diesel shipments
BUDAPEST: Hungary will block a planned 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) European Union loan to Ukraine until the flow of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline resumes, Hungary’s foreign minister said.
Russian oil shipments to Hungary and Slovakia have been interrupted since Jan. 27 after what Ukrainian officials said was a Russian drone attack damaged the Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian crude across Ukrainian territory and into Central Europe.
Hungary and Slovakia, which have both received a temporary exemption from an EU policy prohibiting imports of Russian oil, have accused Ukraine — without providing evidence — of deliberately holding up supplies. Both countries ceased shipping diesel to Ukraine this week over the interruption in oil flows .
In a video posted on social media Friday evening, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó accused Ukraine of “blackmailing” Hungary by failing to restart shipments. He said his government would block a massive interest-free loan the EU approved in December to help Kyiv to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years.
“We will not give in to this blackmail. We do not support Ukraine’s war, we will not pay for it,” Szijjártó said. “As long as Ukraine blocks the resumption of oil supplies to Hungary, Hungary will block European Union decisions that are important and favorable for Ukraine.”
Hungary’s decision to block the key funding came two days after it suspended diesel shipments to its embattled neighbor and only days before the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Nearly every country in Europe has significantly reduced or entirely ceased Russian energy imports since Moscow launched its war in Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Yet Hungary and Slovakia — both EU and NATO members — have maintained and even increased supplies of Russian oil and gas.
Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has long argued Russian fossil fuels are indispensable for its economy and that switching to energy sourced from elsewhere would cause an immediate economic collapse — an argument some experts dispute.
Widely seen as the Kremlin’s biggest advocate in the EU, Orbán has vigorously opposed the bloc’s efforts to sanction Moscow over its invasion, and blasted attempts to hit Russia’s energy revenues that help finance the war. His government has frequently threatened to veto EU efforts to assist Ukraine.
On Saturday, Slovakia’s populist Prime minister Robert Fico said his country will stop providing emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine if oil is not flowing through the Druzhba by Monday. Orbán’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, said earlier this week that Hungary, too, was exploring the possibility of cutting off its electricity supplies to Ukraine.
Not all of the EU’s 27 countries agreed to take part in the 90-billion-euro loan package for Kyiv. Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic opposed the plan, but a deal was reached in which they did not block the loan and were promised protection from any financial fallout.
