There are 154 friendship groups with foreign countries in the National Assembly and the battle for the distribution of the presidencies of each group was therefore very long. Since the legislative elections in June, the deputies were unable to agree and again on Wednesday, October 26, it still took more than four hours of negotiations.
Negotiations which have taken a very political turn since the macronists no longer pull all the strings on their own. Their goal was not to let the National Rally preside over the most influential groups. Renaissance will therefore chair the most strategic friendship groups: France-Ukraine, those with Armenia, Russia, China, the United States… A sign that the matter is serious: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and that of Armies had even drawn up a “black” list of countries not to be left in the hands of the National Rally. Two countries were ticked in red, Israel and Lebanon, which Marine Le Pen’s troops were eyeing. Moreover, the RN was even supported in these two countries by Les Républicains. But in the end the majority prevailed, benefiting from the unexpected support of ecologists.
This says a lot about the weight of the Rassemblement national in the authorities of the Assembly. These 154 friendship groups can be a diplomatic and institutional asset in the service of its process of normalization, even of notabilisation, in spite of complex relations with certain countries. The RN, for example, did not seek to chair friendship groups with Italy, Hungary or Russia. In total, he will chair friendship groups for the first time, around twenty, including the very strategic France-India. But Marine Le Pen has asked for a new vote on the distribution of African countries. A new vote which should not however change anything.
These friendship groups are strategic because they are part of a diplomacy, not parallel, but parliamentary. They mainly serve “for sightseeing”, mocks a regular at the Palais Bourbon. But their presidents are in direct contact with the French ambassadors in the countries concerned and they accompany Emmanuel Macron during visits abroad. “Sometimes MPs can pass messages that the president or ministers cannot directly pass”, explains a Macronist pillar. But be careful, he warns: “If friendship groups do not suit it, a country can go so far as to break diplomatic relations with France”.