Stephen Lendman

Her anti-establishment-sounding comments rankle Western politicians.

Her March 24 meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow reflected support for closer ties with Russia.

With first round presidential voting scheduled for April 23, she hopes her meeting and calls lifting sanctions will boost her popularity among undecided French voters.

“The fight against terrorism can only be effective if the largest nations stand side by side and join forces,” she said.

If elected president, she pledged withdrawal from the EU and NATO. French citizens “must have the opportunity to vote for the liberation from slavery and blackmail imposed by technocrats in Brussels to return sovereignty to the country,” she stressed.

NATO exists “to serve Washington’s (imperial) objectives.” Le Pen wants French sovereign independence restored, free from alliances harming its interests.

In February 2015, she called Brussels an “American lackey” over EU policy on Ukraine - at the time, accusing Washington of wanting “war in Europe,” along with provocatively expanding NATO to Russia’s borders, risking East-West confrontation.

EU nations “do not have the wisdom to refuse to be dependent on” America’s geopolitical agenda, she said. Europe has no sovereign independent states.

Washington dominates them. Brussels “blackmailed” them “to choose between Europe and Russia.” War on the continent will be catastrophic, she stressed.

Last June, she called Brexit “the most important moment since the fall of the Berlin Wall.” She blasted what she called “lies of the European elites.”

“For four years, I’ve been demanding that a referendum be organized in France, to ask the French people what they think of the EU - if they want to leave,” she said.

“The Brits got the first shot in, so to speak. If I win the presidential election, there will be a referendum...The question should be asked in every EU country.”

She blasted Obama for telling
Brits what to do, calling his actions “shameful.”

“We paid a high price to defend our freedom…We made a lot of sacrifices to get where we are today. We didn’t do it to obey Obama or Merkel.”

Yesterday on the BBC, she accused Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis of war-mongering, saying “(y)ou want war at all costs.”

“What is your problem? You want to go to war. Do you like war? You want conflicts. You want us to start WW III.

She blasted Washington for “put(ting) the Berlin Wall on wheels, and push(ing) it back to Russia’s borders.”

She called for resolving disputes diplomatically. “I think France’s voice has weight as long as France is France, not a region of the EU,” not subservient to Washington, she said.

She blasted the notion of Russia posing a threat to Europe or countries elsewhere, calling the notion “mistaken.”

Russia deserves to be treated with respect, not “prejudice…Putin’s government must be pretty popular (to) constantly (be) reelected” overwhelmingly.

Calling herself the “anti-Merkel,” she said “(t)he EU is almost over. Rather than waiting for its chaotic collapse, I suggest we organize its transformation to a Europe of nations, while respecting the (sovereign) wishes of” its people.

She’s favored to win first round April voting, then fall short in a May runoff - unless able to enlist enough support from undecided voters to achieve an Alfred Hitchcock ending to France’s presidential election.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at http://www.sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.
Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.