The leader of the French far right extends his hand to the German Chancellor. He talks about “common points”
— I see common ground with Chancellor Merz regarding the reduction of bureaucracy and the need to build a competitive Europe, Bardella said in an interview for the German newspaper FAZ.
Conflicting messages
The leader of the far-right National Rally (RN), who may become his party's presidential candidate if Marine Le Pen's ban from running in the elections is confirmed in an upcoming appeals court decision, is trying to build its international imagetraveling to the UK and Italy in recent months.
His apparent closeness to the German chancellor contrasts with a recent interview with the French right-wing newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, in which he adopted a defiant tone towards Berlin, accusing the European Union of yielding to “German interests”.
In an interview for “FAZ”, Bardella confirmed his tough position on migration, promising to introduce “national preference” in the field of social benefits, which is one of the flagship proposals of his party. He also proposes a referendum on migration to enshrine stricter migration rules in the French constitution and ensure that they “have priority over European law.”
