Official launch. Around Gabriel Attal, the government, almost in full, meets in Lille on Saturday March 9 for the start of the campaign European elections, which take place on June 9. The executive wants to stand up against the National Rally of Jordan Bardella, well ahead in voting intentions, and rally around candidate Valérie Hayer. The head of the list and Renaissance MEP, unknown to the French and appointed late, should for her part highlight the “need for Europe”, the official slogan of the campaign, after the health crisis and the war in Ukraine, by questioning the support of its opponents for this country invaded by Russia. Follow our live stream.
A campaign focused on supporting Ukrainians. “The main topic will be on support for Ukraine”said the leader of Renaissance deputies Sylvain Maillard on Friday, accusing the RN of being “the transmission belt of Vladimir Putin in France”. Emmanuel Macron called on his ministers to “beat toe to toe” and to mobilize against the RN, affirming that it was not necessary to pose “no limit” in France’s support for Ukraine, after having raised the possibility of sending soldiers to this country.
The left in the viewfinder. In addition to the RN, Valérie Hayer will be keen to rally center-left voters, who were those of the original macronie. She therefore intends to chase away votes from the Socialist Party list led by Raphaël Glucksmann, whom she accuses of being “subservient to the PS”himself “under the cut” by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of La France insoumise. She could also attack LFI, which Sylvain Maillard accuses of courting “the anti-Semitic electorate” through the candidacy for the European elections of the Franco-Palestinian activist Rima Hassan.
The leaders of MoDem and Horizons expected. François Bayrou for MoDem and Edouard Philippe for Horizons will also speak at the Grand Palais. The Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, elected from the department, should also make a speech, against the backdrop of upcoming battles for the presidential election. In Lille, he should also be a question of the composition of the list, which is not finished and is causing tensions.