BRUSSELS — Two weeks before a French election where the NATO-skeptic far right could win the most votes, the alliance’s chief appealed to France to play its part and “keep NATO strong.”
A victory for the National Rally poses grave security concerns for the West. National Rally’s presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, has pledged to pull France — one of only three nuclear powers in the alliance — out of NATO’s integrated command. A 2023 French parliamentary report also accused her party of serving as a mouthpiece for the Kremlin.
Jens Stoltenberg, the outgoing NATO secretary-general, spoke to POLITICO after a defense ministers’ meeting on Friday where the French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu was absent, presumably busy with electioneering.
Ever careful not to be drawn into domestic political debates, the former center-left Norwegian premier was still concerned about the future of an alliance that’s split on how far to go in backing Ukraine, not least because many far-right leaders remain sympathetic to Russia.
“There is a ongoing election campaign in in France now, and I will not be part of that domestic discussion,” Stoltenberg said. “What I can say is that I strongly believe it is in the interest of France, and all the allies, to keep NATO strong, because we live in a more dangerous world.”
Jordan Bardella, the likely next prime minister if the National Rally wins the snap election, said in an interview with POLITICO that his party would wait for the war in Ukraine to end before pulling back from NATO commitments.
“The proposal we’ve always advocated … did not factor in war,” Bardella said, asked about the party’s pledge to quit NATO’s integrated command. “You don’t change treaties in wartime.”
The centrist Emmanuel Macron has vowed to stay on as president regardless of the results on July 7, the second round of the parliamentary elections.
But the results will come only a few days before a high-stakes NATO summit in Washington. The French president would be severely weakened politically if he arrives in the U.S. with the prospect of having to name a far-right government.
French presidents have significant influence on the country’s foreign affairs and defense policy. However, a government led by the far right would have control over the budget. That would allow it to derail military aid to Ukraine. Macron’s €3 billion security deal with Ukraine is not properly budgeted, making it easy for the far-right party to sit on the pledges.
“If we really want a peaceful negotiated solution, the best way of achieving that is to provide military support to Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said.
“I cannot tell you what the next crisis or the next war will be, but what I can tell you is that as long as we stand together — North America and Europe — we will be able to manage to tackle whatever next crisis will be,” he added.
He also downplayed Hungary’s decision to opt out of a new NATO mission to coordinate military aid and training for Ukraine. “There have been differences between allies on different issues, but we have always also been able to find solutions and to move on,” he said.
On his NATO proposal to pledge €40 billion per year on supporting Ukraine, which still lacks the full support of countries, Stoltenberg said it would be necessary to keep the support at the same level as in the last two years.
“I strongly believe that we must prevent what we saw this winter, where there were big delays and gaps in the provision of support, and that had real consequences on the battlefield,” he said. “War is too serious to be dependent on ad hoc, short-term, voluntary contributions. We need long-term commitment to Ukraine.”
Laura Kayali contributed reporting.
Stoltenberg appeals to France to ‘keep NATO strong’ as far right surges
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