Allies of French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday sought to cast the country’s far-right forces as bedfellows of the Kremlin as the centrist alliance launched its campaign for European Parliament elections.
Speaking in the northern city of Lille, 34-year-old Prime Minister Gabriel Attal lambasted the far-right National Rally (RN), which leads Macron’s alliance by a wide margin ahead of the June elections, and accused them of betraying the interests of France and Europe.
“They have always said ‘no’ to Europe,” France’s youngest prime minister said.
“The only difference now is that they are hiding it a little and the ‘no’ has turned into a ‘nyet’,” Attal said, accusing Marine Le Pen’s party of flirting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Edouard Philippe, Macron’s former prime minister and leader of the Horizons party, warned about the risks of appeasement, citing British statesman Winston Churchill to castigate those who are feeding “a crocodile” hoping it will eat them “last”.