“We want the French to be proud of themselves: of their identity, culture, language and customs. More broadly, we want France once again to fulfil its duty as a great power,” Jordan Bardella, the front-runner in France’s presidential election, said on TV Republika. Speaking on the programme “Sakiewicz’s Cabinet,” he admitted that in many countries, court proceedings against opponents of the “elites” are “multiplying,” and expressed hope that, together with patriotic voices from other countries, including Poland, it would be possible to build “a new European architecture.”
At the beginning of July, a verdict is expected in the court proceedings that will determine whether Marine Le Pen may run in France’s presidential election. Speaking on TV Republika, Bardella admitted that he is currently preparing to assume the office of prime minister. However, if the verdict is unfavourable to his party, he will enter the presidential race himself. In his view, many of the allegations in the case are political in nature.
“In many great countries, in many great democracies, court proceedings are multiplying against those who question the way the system functions, against those who challenge the seizure of power, power that belongs to the nation, by an elite that for too many years has been selling off the sovereignty of our countries in the face of mass migration and the economic disarmament of our nation. In France’s case, this has been to the benefit of the European Union,”
he said.
He added that his party is being tipped to win the second round of the presidential election and enjoys the highest level of support among the French people in the polls.
“Our goal is to restore their freedom, sovereignty and independence, and control over their own borders and migration policy. We want them to be proud of themselves: of their identity, culture, language and customs. More broadly, we want France once again to fulfil its duty as a great power,”
he declared.
“The European Union is drifting today, whether because of the Green Deal, free trade agreements such as Mercosur, which weaken our agriculture, or, finally, the migration pact. […] In response, we are offering a different vision of Europe, a new European architecture. Poland is a great country that has been able to speak in Europe with its own distinct voice. I believe Poles have every right to be proud of the uniqueness of their state, a state that knows how to defend its identity, values and sovereignty on the European stage,”
he said.
Referring to comments made on TV Republika by Donald Trump’s pardon attorney, Edward Martin, who said that democracy in individual countries is being restricted, Bardella replied that “we have grown too accustomed to the belief that democracy is given to us once and for all.”
“Meanwhile, it turns out that those who present themselves as champions of so-called human rights and democracy are in fact weakening it. We have court proceedings being brought against political opponents in several major Western democracies, including in a country as great as France. In recent years, we have also seen increasingly worrying attempts by the European Commission to encroach on the freedom of nations. I often cite the example of border protection. Poland and Hungary did not want to accept migrants for ten years. They preferred to defend their identity and their borders, and they were right. In response, the European Commission withheld subsidies that normally belong to these two countries,”
he said.
A chance for a new Europe?
He admitted that the European Union does not always defend the interests of all nations, and that “Germany may have benefited, among other things, from linking the euro exchange rate to the former German mark.” He assessed, however, that the government of Friedrich Merz has “evolved significantly in terms of the policy defended by Ursula von der Leyen.” As examples, he pointed to the restoration of border controls and the introduction of a policy aimed at simplifying Green Deal regulations.
“This change is very interesting because it is moving in the same direction as our proposals and what we defend. It is clear that in the future, great countries – France, Germany, Italy, and Poland; I have great admiration and respect for President Karol Nawrocki, who also speaks with a distinct voice on the European stage – together with all these patriotic and sovereignty-minded voices, will be able to build a new European architecture. Contrary to what they say, we are not against Europe. We are in favour of a different Europe, and we love European civilisation so much that we want two European constructions: a Europe of great powers and a Europe of borders, with respect for every nation and every people,”
he declared.
Bardella assessed that migration is the greatest threat facing France and European nations. He announced that if his party leads the French government, its first actions will be to equip the state with more decisive measures on migration.
“We want, for example, to abolish birthright citizenship, and for asylum applications to be examined not in France, but in consulates and embassies abroad. We want foreign criminals to be systematically expelled. These are decisive measures that the French people are demanding, and, of course, we will reject this migration pact on the relocation of migrants arriving in Europe,”
he said.
He added that for Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen, migration is not a problem, but “a civilisational project.”
“I live with the fear that tomorrow France will cease to be France, that Europe will cease to be Europe, and that France and Europe will become another country, another continent. I do not accept that. I want France to continue to stand by its identity […] so that the whole world may love France as France. The whole world also does not want to watch France become another country. This presidential election must be a civilisational stakes moment for our country,”
he said.