France’s incumbent Emmanuel Macron and his challenger Marine Le Pen in the TV duel before the presidential election
(Photo: AP)
Paris At the start of their TV duel before the presidential election in France, incumbent Emmanuel Macron sharply attacked his challenger Marine Le Pen for her ties to Russia. By taking out a loan from a Russian bank, she made herself dependent on Russian power, Macron criticized on Wednesday evening. He was referring to a bank loan that Le Pen’s party took out in 2014 at a Russian-Czech bank.
Russia is “your banker,” Macron threw at the head of the right-wing Rassemblement National. Le Pen reacted irritably and denied that the Kremlin had them in their pockets. Rather, she is “totally free”.
The 53-year-old has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a clear violation of international law. At the same time, she wants to work for a rapprochement between NATO and Russia if the Ukraine war is over and a peace treaty is in place. The right-wing candidate, who accuses Macron of “blindness towards Berlin”, wants to terminate the armaments cooperation with Germany.
In the TV debate, she also criticized Germany for an energy policy that she described as misguided because it had made the country “very dependent on Russian gas”. She agrees with the sanctions imposed on Russia: But stopping gas imports is out of the question for her: “That’s not the right method.”
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Already at the beginning of the television show, the opponents interrupted each other several times, whereby a controversy ignited over the handling of the rising prices and with Russia. Le Pen presented herself as a consumer advocate who wants to increase their purchasing power: “I will be the president of the cost of living.”
Macron accused the competitor, who is campaigning for a sharp reduction in VAT on energy, that some of her proposals were unrealistic. This also applies to wage increases that she wants to achieve in the event of her presidency. Le Pen countered that her proposals would work better in “real life” than the incumbent’s policies. She wanted to give the French their money back.
Macron and Le Pen have presented contrasting proposals to boost purchasing power – a key issue in the election campaign. Macron promised increases in pensions and the minimum wage, as well as a cap on gas and electricity prices. It is also important to further reduce unemployment. Le Pen proposed lowering VAT on energy and eliminating taxes on 100 basic necessities.
More: Duel for France: This is how Macron and Le Pen want to mobilize