Macron’s party kicks off EU election campaign

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and Renaissance’s EU list leader Valérie Hayer launched the party’s European election campaign in front of around 3,000 supporters and government members in Lille on Saturday.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Morretti and former prime ministers Élisabeth Borne and Édouard Philippe were also present at the meeting.

“During this campaign, we will be the only ones to defend Europe”, said Hayer, adding that “we are proud of it, we need Europe.”.

She commented on her nomination to lead the party’s EU list stating she was “the choice of youth, boldness, dialogue and convictions (…), of the territory and rural areas”.

“I’ve heard it said that I’m a choice by default. I dare to hope that people aren’t just saying that because I’m a woman. I intend to play my part to the fullest”, Hayer added.

During the event, Renaissance members also continued to hammer on with its key campaign talking points, which include the war in Ukraine and the fight against Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National (RN, ID), whose list for the EU elections is headed by Jordan Bardella.

“The term of office of the Le Pen clan in the European Parliament can be summed up in a few votes at most. It is a litany of betrayals against the interests of the French people”, Attal told attendants in Lille.

“Do we want to continue building Europe? Does France want to leave Europe? Our answer is clear, it is frank, it is clear: yes, we believe in Europe, yes, we want to stay in Europe, yes, we are Europeans,” he added, after calling out Bardella’s project for being equivalent to “Frexit”, even if it is not clearly stated by name.

Similarly, Darmanin accused Le Pen of wanting to “ruin the fishermen with a Frexit”, claiming that he “knows the outcome of the RN’s programme thanks to Brexit”.

“There will be those who believe in Europe and […] those who don’t”, Hayer added.

At the same time, Renaissance’s members spoke about support for Ukraine, echoing Macron’s recent statements that all options should be on the table when it comes to Ukraine.

“The main issue will be support for Ukraine”, said Sylvain Maillard, leader of the Renaissance MPs, on Friday on CNews, accusing the RN of being “Putin’s conveyor belt in France”.

In Lille, Attal pointed out RN’s proximity to Putin, while for Hayer, “treason means serving Russia’s interests before those of France”.

Hayer also made a parallel between Ukraine and World War II. “Yesterday, Daladier and Chamberlain, today, Le Pen and Orban. We are in Munich in 1938, it’s one minute to midnight”.

With just three months to go before the European elections, the latest polls show that Hayer’s list is ten points behind that of the RN’s Bardella.

(Clara Bauer-Babef | Euractiv.fr)