They do not participate in the vote, not hold meetings and are thousands of miles away from the French polling stations. However, Donald trump, and Vladimir Putin have become influential players in the French presidential campaign. The presidents of the United States and Russia have an impact on the campaign, which, until now, the international issues are discussed very superficially. In the first televised debate of the five candidates last week, the topic surfaced at the end of the program, somewhere around midnight, that speaks for itself.
And trump and Putin have different influence on the French campaign, given their different attitudes to France and its political class.
— Donald trump is hostile and eccentric leader of a friendly power does not have in France enough supporters.
— Vladimir Putin has split French society: how a strong government, he fascinates some and frightens others.
What marine Le Pen is under the gun these two leaders, which indicates changing world in which we live.
The fee for the photo shoot
Last Thursday, marine Le Pen made a surprise meeting with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, and photographed in the company of the powerful Russian leader. Despite the fact that the Russian President denies any intervention in the French election, he made clear that he supports the candidate natsfronta, pushing into the background another of his French friend, Francois Fillon. Previously, marine Le Pen has used the financial support of a Russian Bank, which later became bankrupt, and this time, she denied the information that came back for help. It seems that her photo with Putin is enough to give credibility to its political status in the face of their opponents, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel.
The fee for this photo shoot in the Kremlin was in full agreement with the positions of the Russian leader, whether it is a question of the annexation of Crimea, which Le Pen supports, denying any interference of the Russian military, or the abolition of EU sanctions imposed against Russia after the annexation of Crimea.
For marine Le Pen full rapprochement with Moscow, doesn’t seem to affect the voter base, especially in a time when Vladimir Putin is trying to rebuild the world order, from Syria to the border with Europe. It do not care about the concerns of neighbors of the former Soviet “revenge of the Empire”, nor repression during demonstrations of the opposition in Moscow, two days after his visit.
This closeness of the positions of the character for some members of the “Republican” type françois Fillon, who during televised debates compared the Crimea, annexed by Moscow from Kosovo, separated from Serbia with the assistance of NATO forces, although the legal basis of the two operations are not the same.
Domino theory
The impact of Donald trump’s more indirect. The new President of the United States is not familiar with European political Affairs and do not have much time to pay attention to the French election campaign, which he called would be very strange. During a visit to new York in early January, Le Pen was able to visit only in the lobby of trump Tower, where she was probably hoping to sit with the new President in front of the gilded Elevator, as Nigel Farage (Nigel Farage), the leader of Breccia.
But the possible election of the Republican candidate, opposed the system in November last year, largely contributed to give credibility to the hypothesis of a possible victory of marine Le Pen, as in the name “Domino theory”, that after Breccia and the United States would perpetuate a populist traction in the world, and because of the similarity of program abstracts (an anti-immigration and Islam, protectionism and antiglobalization). And the President of the United States likes candidate from NetFront is not more than the European Union.
It now remains to understand whether the American far-right web sites to actively support the campaign of the “National front”. Proconservation news site Breitbart News, formerly led by Steve Bannon (Steve Bannon), who became the right hand of trump, has announced its intention to launch a version in French, but this project does not appear before the presidential elections.
Mélenchon: “Peace above all”
The shadow of the two great “godfathers” on the campaign caused a wave of controversy. So, Jean-Luc Mélenchon feel the need to condemn the meeting of Le Pen and Vladimir Putin, although in the past he himself was favorable to Russia. “Ms. Le Pen made two mistakes,” he said during his rally in Rennes. “First, you shouldn’t have to meet with Mr. Putin in the midst of the election campaign. Now I hope everything has become clear, isn’t it? Those who attributed to me is some acquaintance with Putin, because I said from the beginning that for us Russian partners regardless of the situation. I have no attachment to that person or point of contact with him. But the decision to meet him in the midst of the election, to shake his hand, discreditied the one who shook her, given the situation in the country.”
“She made a terrible mistake, the Russian leaders are more sentimental than I on matters of international relations. They believe only what exists only in those who are stronger. They see, first of all, your interest, and I do not condemn it”.
“I think we have common interests, the French are primarily interested in the world on the continent. We never enter on the warpath, any matter the external reason”.
“The second mistake was that she had met with anti-Semitic homophobe Vitaly milonova, which acts against homosexuals. No, it’s not France!”, he exclaimed to the applause.
By the way, Mélenchon settles scores with Benoit Hamon, who criticized its ambiguity towards Russia. In response, he has condemned the visit of Amun to the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels.
This indirect exchange of barbs allows you to think about that at the next debate before the first round of elections, but especially on the eve of the second held a heated debate on international issues. Donald trump and Vladimir Putin will not be invited back, but they will mention in the debate as friends who opened the way, or as enemies from whom to defend. The French decided to.
