Prime Minister Gabriel Attal judged Tuesday that there was “reason to wonder if Vladimir Putin’s troops (were) not already in our country”, specifically targeting Marine Le Pen, in a tense skirmish with the leader of the RN in the National Assembly. The member for Pas-de-Calais questioned the head of government about the statements made on Monday evening by Emmanuel Macron, who had indicated that he did not rule out the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine.
“I’m talking about you and your troops, Ms. Le Pen”
“Emmanuel Macron has taken a further step towards belligerence, posing an existential risk to 70 million French people, and more particularly to our armed forces already deployed in the east of Europe,” she judged. “I am told that it is in the interest of humanity. But what is this divine right which has made France the soldier of all just causes in the world, while the only existing world empire, the United States, refuses to do so against them?”, she quipped.
“You were waiting for the first opportunity to recall the true loyalties that are yours” and “show the true face that is yours”, retorted the Prime Minister. He estimated that “when we read the investigations that are carried out”, such as that of the Washington Post on December 30 accusing the RN of persistent links with Moscow with a view to weakening support for Ukraine, “there is reason to wonder if Vladimir Putin’s troops are not already in our country”. “I’m talking about you and your troops, Ms. Le Pen,” he said again.
“If we had listened to you at the time, we would not have supported the Ukrainians in the face of this aggression,” he added, judging that “the Kremlin is banking on the forgetfulness and complacency of those who supported, defended, even idolized”. “When we look at the positions which are yours, which have been yours, you defended a military alliance with Russia”, and this “only two years ago: it was in your program for the presidential election”, he observed. And added: “If you had been elected in 2022, we would be supplying weapons to Russia to crush the Ukrainians, that’s the reality.”