French far-left party La France Insoumise (LFI) vowed to be the only party that can credibly secure “peace” amid a Europe of “warmongers” at its first EU election rally on Saturday.
Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israel’s continuous bombing of Palestine on Gaza since Hamas’ terrorist attacks on 7 October were raised in almost every speech and roundtable at Saturday’s rally as these are key campaign issues ahead of the EU vote in June.
“There is no military way out of the war in Ukraine,” Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the founder of the LFI but not its current leader, said at Saturday’s rally, referring to President Emmanuel Macron’s recent comments that sending troops on the ground was no longer “ruled out”.
“If you don’t want war, vote [for us],” Mélencon said during his closing remarks as he also warned against “an incapable Europe,” which he said was responsible for “amplifying” the climate crisis, lacking credibility on the world stage, and orchestrating a “permanent economic crisis.”
Mélenchon also clarified that the EU elections are no more than a midterm vote ahead of the country’s 2027 presidential elections, with one clear goal in mind: “France must be at the exclusive service of peace if we want to be useful to universal peace.”
The former member of parliament also had harsh words for Europe’s desire to increase its capacity to produce arms and munitions as war currently rages on the continent – and did not hesitate to take a swipe at Ukraine and Russia.
“There can be no other outcome than one in which there are no winners and losers,” stressed Mélenchon as he called for peace “that gives each of the two parties mutual guarantees” while citing three conditions for lasting peace, which include an immediate and permanent ceasefire, a referendum in Ukraine and Russia once peace negotiations are over, and demilitarised zones around nuclear power stations.
Defending Palestine
Mélenchon’s message was also widely echoed by the party’s lead candidate for the EU elections, Manon Aubry.
“Against tyrants and warmongers, we will remain the camp of peace and international law,” she said, in a thinly-veiled criticism of Macron’s troops-on-ground comments.
Party strategists hope the ‘peace’ narrative will boost polls, as LFI stagnates at 7%, according to a large-scale Ipsos poll published last week.
For that very same reason, as geopolitics are turning out to be key campaign issues, LFI is looking to position itself as the only real defender of the Palestinian cause.
“Cease the massacre, cease fire,” Aubry said about the bombing of Palestine, calling for an end to the delivery of Western weaponry to Benyamin Netanyahu’s government.
The inclusion of Rima Hassan, a legal expert and well-known Palestinian activist, on the party’s election list earlier this month was intended to send another strong signal.
Speaking at a round table, after a minute of silence for the dead in Palestine, Hassan urged Europe to “put an end to the EU-Israel agreement,” in force since 2000, and to sanction “Israel’s colonial policy, [which is] the only obstacle to the creation of the Palestinian State.”
Fight against unfair competition
Meanwhile, Aubry spoke at length about economic and social issues, arguing that action in the European Parliament should include cancelling the “profit margins of agri-food companies that have gorged themselves, [and] putting an end to the cost of living crisis.”
Echoing farmers’ protests that erupted across the EU earlier this year, she reiterated her fight against unfair competition and the “all-competition” narrative — just days after MEPs adopted a new free trade agreement with Chile in late February. LFI lawmakers voted against it.
Aubry also reiterated her party’s absolute refusal to integrate Ukraine – an official candidate for EU membership since June 2022 – into the EU “without fiscal, social and environmental harmonisation”.
Lastly, she hailed last week’s painful adoption of a platform work directive, spearheaded in part by LFI MEP Leïla Chaibi, as a “victory: That’s what [LFI] MEPs are for!”
