During the presentation of her foreign policy guidelines on Wednesday, the far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen announced that she would withdraw France from the Integrated Command of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
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"We are not talking about leaving the bloc, but about leaving its command structure," she explained and stressed she does not want her country to remain "under an American protectorate" or to participate in "certain American wars."
Although Le Pen emphasized that she harbors "no hostility towards the German nation", she also pointed out that the French have "irreconcilable differences" with it on both security and energy issues.
Among these differences is the fact that Germany "considers NATO as something natural for maintaining its own security," she said and recalled that President Emmanuel Macron himself once defined the NATO as “in a state of brain death.”
While Le Pen forged her political career on the basis of anti-Europeanism, she specified this time that an exit from the European Union (EU) "is not at all in our plans." Nevertheless, she stated that France needs to "free itself from the Bruxelles addiction," stressing that the EU "needs to reform itself from within."
The ultra-nationalist candidate also stated that NATO and Russia should have a "strategic rapprochement" once the Ukrainian conflict is over.
While she was presenting her foreign policy agenda, furious pro-Ukrainian activists tried to enter the place. They accused Le Pen of operating underhandedly in favor of Russia and President Vladimir Putin.