The French politician has warned of massive economic losses and vowed to slash financial aid to Kiev<\/p>\n
Admitting Ukraine to the EU would amount to \u201chara-kiri\u201d for the bloc and inflict immense damage on France, right-wing French politician Marine Le Pen has warned, using the Japanese term for ritual suicide.
\nLe Pen has long criticized military and financial support for Ukraine, repeatedly pledging to end France\u2019s direct aid to Kiev and calling for sharp cuts to EU-wide assistance.
\nThe politician has emerged as the frontrunner in France\u2019s 2027 presidential race, according to the latest opinion polls, and is projected to defeat both left-wing and centrist rivals in potential runoffs.
\nLe Pen made the remarks in an interview with the Financial Times published on Wednesday, arguing against Kiev\u2019s longstanding ambition to join the bloc. Making Ukraine a member would be tantamount to \u201ccommitting hara-kiri,\u201d a scenario bound to result in \u201cabsolutely huge economic losses\u201d and the effective loss of sovereignty for France, Le Pen stated.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Majority of EU citizens oppose fast-track membership for Ukraine \u2013 poll<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, the EU rejected Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky\u2019s demand that Ukraine be admitted by January 2027. EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos described the deadline as completely unrealistic, stating Kiev must meet all requirements for \u201cmerit-based\u201d membership. A recent survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation indicates support for facilitating Ukraine\u2019s accession has continued to wane, dropping below 50% across the bloc.
\nLe Pen also reiterated her position on aid to Ukraine, arguing that France, as well as the EU as a whole, could no longer afford to bankroll Kiev.
\n\u201cThe honest thing to do with Zelensky is to tell him, to warn him, in fact, that, listen, we can\u2019t do more, we can\u2019t manage more. [The EU] has already done \u20ac90bn of loans; that\u2019s \u20ac18bn for France. \u20ac18bn is really a lot,\u201d Le Pen told FT.
\nSeparately, she made similar remarks to the Dutch VRT NWS broadcaster, insisting that Paris must tell Zelensky it \u201ccan no longer provide this financial assistance\u201d and that the Ukrainian leader should seek monetary help elsewhere. \u201cPerhaps there are other EU countries that are in better financial shape,\u201d Le Pen said, without specifying any candidates for footing France\u2019s bill on Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The French politician has warned of massive economic losses and vowed to slash financial aid to Kiev Admitting Ukraine to the EU would amount to \u201chara-kiri\u201d for the bloc and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t