The head of the Republican list in the European elections was the guest of “Demain l’Europe”, Monday March 18, 2024.
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Reading time: 52 min
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François-Xavier Bellamy, head of the Republican list for the European elections, was the guest of “Demain l’Europe”, Monday March 18, 2024. War in Ukraine, presidential election in Russia, abortion, “megatrucks”… He answered questions from Salhia Brakhlia, Jérôme Chapuis, Renaud Dély, Mihaela Antoche, correspondent for Romanian public television and Ana Navarro Pedro, correspondent for the Portuguese press.
The Russian regime, a dictatorship? “It is a fact !”
The presidential election held in Russia from March 15 to 17 “is obviously not a democratic election”, believes François-Xavier Bellamy. Outgoing President Vladimir Putin was re-elected with more than 87% of the vote. Does the head of the LR list in the European elections describe the Russian regime as a dictatorship? “It is a fact !”replies the MEP before adding: “How do we call for a regime whose opponents are murdered in prison?”
For François-Xavier Bellamy, the re-election of Vladimir Putin should allow us “to also learn lessons for our own democracies. Democracy is never won”he assures. “We have the duty to preserve as a treasure the principles but also the exercise of our democracies and to always worry about their health.”
🔴 Re-election of Vladimir Putin➡️ “This is obviously not a democratic election […] We only understand it in the light of this terrible event which said everything about the reality of the Russian regime, which is the death of Alexei Navalny,” assures François-Xavier Bellamy. #TomorrowEurope pic.twitter.com/IViTBtDyUj
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) March 18, 2024
Western troops in Ukraine: “it’s quite irresponsible”
François-Xavier Bellamy judges that Emmanuel Macron’s comments on sending Western troops on the ground in Ukraine “first served to Vladimir Putin as a spectacle of the division of Europeans”. Several European Union countries, such as Germany, Romania and Poland, have rejected the idea of sending ground troops. “It’s quite irresponsible on the part of a head of state who is responsible for guaranteeing the unity of Europe”estimates the MEP, for whom Emmanuel Macron “is expected in action”, “to support Ukraine concretely, in material, in equipment”.
🔴War in Ukraine ➡️ “France is the 15th country donating equipment and ammunition to Ukraine, very far from where the 1st European army should be today,” asserts François-Xavier Bellamy. #TomorrowEurope pic.twitter.com/Y9fDbcAKLF
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) March 18, 2024
IVG does not fall “within the competence of the European Union”
After the inclusion of the freedom to resort to voluntary termination of pregnancy in the French Constitution, François-Xavier Bellamy believes that abortion has no place in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, contrary to the wish from Emmanuel Macron: “This is not a question that falls within the competence of the European Union”estimates the head of the LR list in the Europeans.
For the MEP, the divergences are such between the Member States that a debate on a European scale would be “doomed to fail” and invite “national public debates” to seize “of this question”. François-Xavier Bellamy, on the other hand, calls for building a “real European policy to combat rape”.
🔴Protecting abortion at the European level ➡️ “There are so many threats weighing on Europe today that we should focus on what is actually endangered,” says François-Xavier Bellamy. #TomorrowEurope pic.twitter.com/WyW9VXOoXj
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) March 18, 2024
Megatrucks: “it’s an aberration”
The European Parliament adopted at first reading, Tuesday March 12, a text authorizing “megatrucks” to circulate on the roads of Member States. “An aberration”, for François-Xavier Bellamy, who voted against. These heavy goods vehicles are already circulating in certain countries of the Union with the stated interest of reducing carbon emissions by transporting more goods, while reducing the number of journeys.
“Put yourself in the place of Europeansannoys the head of the LR list, to whom we say: ‘You have to abandon your thermal car’, but we are going to run “megatrucks” on your roads. It’s madness.” François-Xavier Bellamy calls for instead “invest on the train” : “the real solution for logistics transport is freight”, he believes.
Find the entirety of “Demain l’Europe” from Monday March 18: