Foreign policy: Where the candidates stand
PARIS: The foreign policy positions of the French presidential contenders are perhaps their starkest divide, with centrist Emmanuel Macron urging close cooperation with international institutions and the far-right Marine Le Pen championing France-first nationalism.
Here is how France’s relationship with the world could change depending on who clinches the presidency on Sunday:
France’s future in the EU was a central battleground during the campaign.
Le Pen’s disdain for Europe runs deep. She has predicted the EU “will die” and has vowed to hold a “Frexit” referendum on France’s membership in the bloc.
She has also long wanted France to drop the euro single currency and return to the franc, as well as leave the Schengen area, Europe’s visa-free travel zone.
Macron, a former economy minister, wants to reform as well as bolster the EU. He even paid a visit to Europe’s most powerful leader, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, during the campaign.
He is for setting up a separate budget for the euro zone — the 19 countries that use the common currency. He also proposes giving the euro zone its own parliament and finance minister.
Macron has indicated he would not give Britain an easy ride in the divorce negotiations.
“What the UK is experiencing is that Brexit is not a walk in the park,” he said on a campaign stop in southwest France on Thursday.
Le Pen, on the other hand, has applauded Britain’s decision to quit the bloc as an act of “retaking control of its destiny.”
Ties with Moscow would likely be a key part of Le Pen’s foreign policy, both in the battle against terrorism and as a partner that shares nationalist ideals.
Her big international coup during the campaign was a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in March, when she said he represented a “new vision” of the world.
She has called for closer ties with Putin and approved of Moscow’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 which saw the US and the EU impose sanctions against Russia.
Macron opposes a unilateral lifting of the sanctions and, unlike Le Pen, has insisted that Russian-backed Syrian President Bashar Assad must go.
Le Pen was the first French political leader to congratulate US President Donald Trump on his shock victory in November.
The real estate mogul’s anti-establishment appeal resonates deeply with core ideas of Le Pen’s National Front party.
Le Pen, however, said she was “surprised” that Trump, after campaigning as a non-interventionist, ordered airstrikes in Syria in response to a suspected chemical attack on an opposition-held area.
Macron has said he wants to work closely with the US, especially on intelligence sharing and combatting terror. He, however, urged Trump not to go back on former US president Barack Obama’s commitments to fight global warming.