France’s far-right presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, today rejected criticism from her rival, Emmanuel Macron, who accused her of maintaining her “authoritarian” and extremist views, despite showing a softer image in the current campaign, Reuters reported.
“It makes me smile because we have never had a president who shows more signs of extremism than Emmanuel Macron,” Le Pen told France 2 television, citing police actions against political demonstrations such as the yellow vest movement.
In an interview, Le Pen reiterated that if elected president, she could still hold a public referendum on the reintroduction of the death penalty.
Earlier, Le Pen said he would personally vote against such a move.
Marine Le Pen: I will propose strategic rapprochement between NATO and Russia
Marine Le Pen supports NATO-Russia rapprochement.
“When hostilities are over, I will propose a strategic rapprochement between NATO and Russia,” Le Pen said. She added that the key principles of its foreign policy would be independence, equity, and permanence.
Marine Le Pen also said that if he wins the presidential vote, he intends to withdraw France from NATO’s Joint Military Command.
“I want France to leave NATO’s Joint Military Command. I will never agree that our troops are under the command of NATO or European command. “France must return to the alliance’s status from 1966 to 2009,” Le Pen said.
She added that she would still adhere to NATO’s key Article 5 on mutual protection.
In addition, Macron’s rival has said she does not want the country to leave the EU but will seek to reform it from within.
