Jordan Bardella announces that the National Rally will abstain in the vote

MPs will debate the question of France’s support for Ukraine in the National Assembly on Tuesday March 12. It will then be the senators’ turn to do the same on Wednesday. The debates will be followed by a non-binding vote. The Élysée indicated in a press release that Emmanuel Macron had asked the government to make a declaration “relating to the bilateral security agreement concluded with Ukraine” on February 16 in front of Parliament.

The discussions already promise to be lively, after the recent remarks of the Head of State, who declared on Thursday that he did not want “no limit” in support of kyiv and asserted that sending ground troops should not “be excluded”. Guest of “4 Truths” on France 2, Tuesday, the president of the National Rally (RN) says he does not want “that Emmanuel Macron has a blank check.” “I think that the escalation in which Emmanuel Macron is engaged is an irresponsible, dangerous path, which worries the French. Consequently, we will abstain on this text in the National Assembly”announces Jordan Bardella.

Two “red lines”

“The RN will abstain for a very simple reason, that is that on this text, the principle of which we can support, there are red lines”explains the president of the RN. “First red line: Ukraine’s accession to the European Union”he specifies, arguing that an entry from kyiv “would weaken European economies (…), but could also increase the risk of escalation from the moment we require military assistance to a country at war within the Union”.

“The second red line is this principle of active deterrence which is mentioned in the text, which provides precisely that between the signatories of this text, namely France and Ukraine, there is a duty of assistance and in particular a commitment to active deterrence”continues Jordan Bardella.