Marine Le Pen, the face of the French far-right party National Alliance (RN), has criticized France’s participation in European defense programs and hinted that France could end military cooperation with Germany, reports Politico.
Le Pen has stated that participation in European defense programs is a waste of money, and the country should spend money on its own army instead. The politician told the French parliament on the 10th of December that President Emmanuel Macron is constantly encouraging Europe to interfere in French defense policy.
Criticizing the European Defense Fund and the European Peace Facility, as well as military cooperation projects with Germany, Le Pen said that a large amount of public money has been wasted and the military industry, the French army and the people have lost valuable time.
Le Pen addressed the parliament after discussions on increasing the defense budget. 411 of the 522 parliamentarians present voted in favor of increasing spending, but the Green Party and the Socialists warned that they would not let the social budget suffer.
The far-right RN is skeptical of both the European Union and military cooperation with Germany.
Le Pen criticized Macron’s suggestion in the summer to seek a strategic dialogue with European countries on how France’s nuclear arsenal could serve European security. The politician also spoke harshly about the plan to jointly create the next generation of fighter jets with Germany, calling it a senseless mistake. Le Pen made it clear that if she manages to participate in the presidential election and win, she would end all military cooperation programs with Germany.
The right-wing politician announced that France’s military spending law requires participation in EU funding, meaning that the funds are spent on foreign military companies. She stressed that the cuts in the national defense budget in favor of joint European programs would mean that the military industries of the United States, Korea and Israel would benefit.
The French government has long sought to make the use of EU funds conditional on purchases being made within Europe. Le Pen said that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was not listening to France and instead promising to buy large amounts of weapons from the United States.
Contrary to Le Pen’s claims, the EU-US trade agreement signed this year does not include a legally binding clause on mandatory purchases of American weapons.
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