Emmanuel Macron has said Brexit has “impoverished the UK” and “has done nothing to resolve immigration” and called on Europeans to keep nationalists away ahead of crucial elections next month.
The French president also warned that all European nationalists were “hidden Brexiteers” who want to see Europe fall but still reap its benefits.
‘I say to the Europeans: wake up. Wake up! They are hidden supporters of Brexit. All European nationalists are secret Brexiteers. “They’re all the same lies,” he said in an interview with The Economist.
Macron gave the example of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) party, which now leads opinion polls for the European race, ahead of his own centrist alliance.
He said that while the RN, whose president is the firebrand Jordan Bardella, 28, previously “wanted to get out of Europe, the euro, everything,” now “it no longer says anything.”
Emmanuel Macron has said Brexit has “impoverished the UK” and “has done nothing to resolve immigration” and called on Europeans to keep nationalists away in the
French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN), member of Parliament Marine Le Pen (left), and party president Jordan Bardella.
Nationalist parties are gaining ground in polls across Europe, including Belgium’s Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) and the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) in Austria.
The FPO, whose slogans include “stop the EU madness”, is currently polling 30 percent ahead of Austrians who go to the polls on June 9.
Yesterday, former presidential candidate Le Pen urged voters to impose “the most crushing electoral sanction” possible on Macron’s Renaissance party at the polls next month.
In comments published today, Macron responded to his archrival by saying: “Make no mistake. If people who think like them are entrusted with the keys, there is no reason for Europe to become a great power.
‘In a way it is as if we were saying that there is no problem if we entrust the bank to thieves. When they are around the table, they take Europe hostage.”
“He is reaping the benefits of Europe, while he wants to destroy it without saying anything,” he said. “And that’s true in every country.”
He noted that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose Brothers of Italy party has neo-fascist roots, had “a European approach” and had “supported the asylum and immigration pact.”
But “after that, the best way to build together is to have as few nationalists as possible,” he added.
France and Britain reached a deal last year to end migrant crossings in the English Channel, with Rishi Sunak agreeing that the UK would pay Paris almost half a billion pounds over the next three years.
Macron previously warned that “Europe could die” and said the continent must form closer defense ties with Britain amid Russian aggression in Ukraine.
His comments on Britain’s economic state after Brexit come after UN data last month showed the UK was the world’s fourth-largest exporter, ahead of France.
But the impact of Brexit on the cost of living is still being felt, retailers warned this week, as Britons face higher grocery bills with new border controls coming into force.
Meat, dairy, plants and seeds are just some of the products that will now be subject to physical checks when imported.
Companies have warned that the new controls will likely hit small businesses the hardest and lead to price increases for customers.
The government says the measures will increase the country’s biosecurity and that the additional cost will be “insignificant” compared to a major disease outbreak.
In terms of migration, France and Great Britain reached an agreement last year to put an end to migrant crossings through the English Channel; Rishi Sunak agreed that the UK would pay Paris almost half a billion pounds over the next three years.
Channel crossings had already reached a new record in the first four months of the year
Some 711 people were detected crossing the English Channel on Wednesday, the highest number in a single day so far this year, according to provisional Home Office figures.
Channel crossings had already reached a new record during the first four months of a calendar year, jumping 34 percent compared to 2023, when 6,192 were recorded and 19 percent more than the total at this stage of 2022 (6,945 ).
Last year, 29,437 migrants arrived in the UK, down 36 per cent from a record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.