hi you guys im worried about this putin lover running for pres in france mess up nato if she wins like putin wants send her to eastern ukraine
The White House has begun to harbor fears that Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN could soon notch his biggest victory of the invasion of Ukraine — in Paris.
There is growing concern within President JOE BIDEN’s administration about the narrowing polls in the French presidential election that show a tight race between incumbent EMMANUEL MACRON and far-right challenger MARINE LE PEN.
A possible victory by Le Pen, a Putin sympathizer, could destabilize the Western coalition against Moscow, upending France’s role as a leading European power and potentially giving other NATO leaders cold feet about staying in the alliance, according to three senior administration officials not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations.
Senior U.S. officials have watched warily across the Atlantic for any signs of possible Russian interference in the first round of the elections, which will take place Sunday. Polls suggest that Macron and Le Pen would likely then advance to a showdown on April 24 — and that the potential two-person race would be close.
The worst-case scenario, according to White House officials, would be that Le Pen could win and then pull France from the coalition currently standing alongside Kyiv against Moscow. Macron’s government has already walked a fine line with Moscow, with the French president attempting to play the role of mediator in the days before Putin’s invasion. Since then, France has supported the Ukrainians with weapons and assistance, but they’ve been quiet about it, refusing to release details on what and how much they’re sending.
Washington fears that a Le Pen in the Élysée would upset this delicate balance. Her victory could then prompt other European leaders — some of whom were already nervous about getting tough on Russia — to bail on the alliance as well.
“Her election would be a disaster for Europe and the trans-Atlantic front to support Ukraine,” said BENJAMIN HADDAD, senior director of the Europe Center at the Atlantic Council. “She’s against sanctions and arms delivery, has always aligned on Kremlin talking points on Ukraine or NATO. Her platform includes leaving NATO military command and a series of anti-EU blocking measures that would de facto amount to a Frexit down the road, though she has taken Frexit off her program this time so as not to spook voters.”
A Le Pen win, most analysts believe, remains unlikely. In her run five years ago, polls were tight for a time before the race turned into a substantial Macron win. And when the field is narrowed to just two, she may simply become unpalatable to many voters. But if Macron were defeated by Le Pen this time, it could put a huge crack in the trans-Atlantic wall built by Biden and his European counterparts.
“If she leads France, it will be incredibly difficult to maintain the relative unity the trans-Atlantic community has shown so far in the war in Ukraine,” said LAUREN SPERANZA, director of the Transatlantic Defense and Security program at the Center for European Policy Analysis. “Her election would play directly into Putin’s goal of exacerbating cracks in the NATO alliance.”
