Alexis Delafontaine (at the National Assembly), edited by Gauthier Delomez with AFP
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8:10 p.m., October 03, 2022
The National Assembly resumed its work in the hemicycle on Monday with a debate on the war in Ukraine and its consequences in France, with a call from Elisabeth Borne to “continue the sanctions” to “make the cost of the war unbearable for Russia”. The discussion was marked by a few spades between the majority and the National Rally, which criticizes the impact of “counterproductive” sanctions for the purchasing power of the French.
The unemployment insurance debate promises to be electric
In the evening, the debate on unemployment insurance promises to be electric. This unfair measure for the left is decried, in particular by Alexis Corbière, one of the figures of La France insoumise, who is preparing to confront the government. “It’s the fight that begins”, launches the deputy at the microphone of Europe 1. “It’s the social fight, in the sense that we have to create the conditions so that it does not pass because it is a social setback,” he said.
If certain LFI deputies threaten to engage in parliamentary obstruction, by tabling thousands of amendments, in the ranks of the majority, this escalation of confrontation is refused. Prisca Thévenot, Renaissance deputy for Hauts-de-Seine, calls the oppositions to responsibility. “We must not oppose but add up,” she says. The Macronist deputies especially hope to receive the support of the Republicans to pass this bill.
Ukrainian ambassador given standing ovation by MPs
Before this expected debate, and the speech of the Prime Minister, the President of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet, on her return from Ukraine where she met President Volodymyr Zelensky, had insisted on “the unwavering support of the French National Assembly to Ukraine and its people”. Present in the stands, Ambassador Vadym Omelchenko received a standing ovation from the deputies. This debate without a vote, organized under article 50-1 of the Constitution, will also take place in the Senate on October 26.
In the majority, the head of the Renaissance deputies Aurore Bergé challenged “those who call to question the sanctions” and “play with the fears of our fellow citizens”. “Speak directly to your creditors”, she launched in the direction of the RN. The far-right party contracted in 2014 a loan of 9 million euros from a Russian firm, Aviazapchast, led by former soldiers, still being repaid.
The RN defends itself on its loan contracted with a Russian bank
The RN puts the blame on the French banks and their refusal to lend him money at the time. Speaker of the RN, Jérôme Buisson castigated “the negligence of defense policy” and “the negligence of energy” of the government. Instead of comprehensive sanctions, his party favors “targeted sanctions” aimed at the oligarchs, he explained. The National Rally also maintains its opposition to the delivery of offensive weapons, believing that it would make France a “co-belligerent”.
France is considering new deliveries of military equipment to Ukraine, in particular 6 to 12 Caesar guns taken from an order intended for Denmark.
LFI leader booed after statement
On the right, Jean-Louis Thiériot (LR) returned back to back “Stalinist atavism” from “the far left” and the “cult of the strong man” from the “ultra right”. On the left, the boss of the socialist group Boris Vallaud pleaded in a motion for a resolution for “the full sovereignty of the borders of Ukraine recognized in 1991” (with Crimea and Donbass), an increase in French military aid and of welcoming Ukrainian refugees.
The socialist also promised an amendment to the budget so that “dividends and other gains from” French “companies residing in Russia are seized and paid to Ukraine”. The oil group TotalEnergies “cannot receive without qualms the 440 million euros in dividends in the 1st half of 2022 for its stake in (the Russian company) Novatek”, he launched. The leader of LFI Mathilde Panot condemned like the other speakers the Russian aggression. Then she was booed by the majority when she said that “the war in Ukraine cannot be used as an argument to wage a social war against the French”.