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French Far-Right Leader Marine Le Pen Threatens to Cut Support for Ukraine if Elected
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Marine Le Pen has cast doubt on whether France would continue backing EU funding for Ukraine if she wins next year’s presidential election, the Financial Times (FT) reported on October 14.
Le Pen, who is leading in opinion polls, has already pledged to end bilateral financial assistance to Kyiv apart from some operational support and training for Ukrainian soldiers, arguing that France can no longer afford it.
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Le Pen had previously been barred from running for public office after a French court convicted her over the misuse of European Parliament funds. That ban no longer prevents her from running in the 2027 presidential election.
Le Pen indicated that, if elected president, she could oppose further EU financing for Ukraine if it required additional French spending, the Financial Times reported.
“The honest thing to do with Mr. Zelenskyy is to tell him, to warn him in fact: listen, we can’t do more, we can’t manage more,” Le Pen told the FT.
She pointed to the EU’s €90 billion ($100.7 billion) loan package for Ukraine, arguing that France’s share amounts to €18 billion ($20.1 billion).
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“We’ve already done €90 billion of loans, that’s €18 billion for France. €18 billion is really a lot,” she added.
The EU’s draft seven-year budget includes a dedicated Ukraine financing instrument worth up to €100 billion ($111.9 billion). Le Pen has also threatened to block an agreement on the wider EU budget by withholding half of France’s contribution, FT wrote.
Le Pen maintained that she supported French financial and military assistance to Kyiv after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022 and reiterated her “absolutely total condemnation” of Russian aggression.
She nevertheless reaffirmed her opposition to Ukraine joining the EU, describing membership as “hara-kiri” for France because of what she characterized as a loss of sovereignty and major economic costs.
Asked whether Russia represented the principal security threat to Europe, Le Pen responded: “You know, I can’t read Mr. Putin’s mind and I don’t know his plans.”
France has meanwhile been moving toward deeper military support for Ukraine. Earlier this month, Paris began preparations to train Ukrainian pilots on Rafale fighter jets, with an initial batch of 16 aircraft agreed and plans eventually extending to 100 jets.
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