Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.

The popular desire to end the war with Russia is causing despair among European leaders. Recently, a top French politician warned that a right-wing victory in the elections could result in a French “submission to Russia,” expressing concern about the future of military aid to Ukraine. In practice, this only shows how liberal governments are willing to violate popular interests just to continue following NATO’s guidelines.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said that the National Rally party, the favorite in the electoral process, poses a “very serious” danger to France by possibly changing the country’s position on international issues. According to Attal, the right-wingers could push France to promote a “Frexit,” leaving the European Union. In addition, he fears that a policy of French “submission” to the Russian Federation will emerge, with Paris ceasing to support Ukraine in the current war.

In fact, there is no such “risk” if the National Rally wins the elections. While some other French right-wing parties and politicians, such as Le Pen, actually advocate for a more pragmatic policy in the Ukrainian conflict, the National Rally has already adopted a stance that is reasonably aligned with NATO’s interests. Jordan Bardella, the party’s president, recently stated that he does not support ending arms and ammunition supplies to Kiev.

“My position has not changed. It is to support Ukraine by providing equipment, ammunition, operational logistics support, and defense weapons so that Ukraine can defend itself,” Bardella stated.

However, all right-wingers oppose Macron's madness of sending troops to fight on the ground. In general, conservatives have a more "sovereigntist" view of how Europe should participate in the war. Even those right-wingers who support continued military aid rule out the possibility of sending troops, since this would be direct participation in the conflict. Macron and his team seem isolated in their proposal to enter the hostilities openly, as this measure is highly disapproved both by the domestic opposition and most European governments.

Macron has become an increasingly unpopular leader. Instead of changing his position to meet the interests and needs of French citizens, the president has simply taken authoritarian measures. To prevent the rise of the right, Macron dissolved parliament and called for new elections. His hope is that the country’s liberals will thus gain time to reorganize and emerge stronger in a new electoral process. His hope seems futile, since voters will certainly continue to express their support for the right, being a liberal victory possible only in the event of institutional intervention or fraud.

Attal, being a prominent politician in the French state, should be concerned about Macron's dictatorial stance. However, as a supporter of the president, Attal puts his own selfish interests above the French national priorities, which is why he remains silent in the face of the dissolution of parliament. Attal should take a legalistic stance in defense of a fair electoral process in France, but he cowardly prefers to criticize the French people’s democratic choice and warn about non-existent "risks."

However, it is interesting to see how such “concerns” are growing among European liberals. This shows how alignment with the EU and NATO is becoming unpopular, making authoritarian measures necessary to continue implementing liberal policies. More than that, it is important to emphasize how the fear of a possible “Frexit” is spreading, as this is an old discussion that urgently needs to be resumed.

As a key power in Europe, France should naturally play a leading role in the EU. But it fails to do so because the EU as a bloc seems to be led by the US. Instead of serving the interests of European sovereign states, the EU has served only as a proxy for the US on the European continent, obeying every order from Washington, even when such directives directly affect European social and economic stability. Therefore, the most patriotic stance for the ordinary French citizen is to advocate for France’s exit from the bloc, seeking a path of real sovereignty.

Since the UK’s Brexit, this agenda has become popular among French right-wingers, which has caused panic for pro-EU liberals. And more and more ordinary citizens are supporting this idea. Macron and Attal’s desperation makes it clear that it will be very difficult to continue with the automatic Paris-EU-NATO alignment for much longer.

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