Le Pen says France would not back EU funding for Ukraine
French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen says that if she comes to power she will seek a sharp cut to the EU budget and Brussels' powers. She repeated that Paris would not support funding Ukraine.
Marine Le Pen, a far-right candidate for the French presidency, has said that if she comes to power she will try to bring about a sharp reduction in the European Union's budget. She also wants to limit the powers of Brussels, which here stands for the EU institutions and their authority over member states.
Le Pen also stressed again that Paris would not support funding for Ukraine. This means that if she became president, France, an EU member state, could change its position on Union assistance to Ukraine, which is affected by the war launched by Russia.
What it means
The statement highlights two main planks of the candidate's platform ahead of the vote: reducing the EU budget and Brussels' influence, and refusing to finance Ukraine. According to the source, this is not the first time Le Pen has voiced the position, since she repeated it.
The source does not specify what budget figures or which powers are at issue, or which responsibilities she would want returned to the national level. It also does not say how the candidate plans to achieve these goals in practice, or how other EU member states might respond.
The essence of the statement is nevertheless clear: Le Pen promises changes both to the internal workings of the European Union and to its foreign-policy support for Ukraine, should power in France change hands.
