In this new political year, candidates from all sides are speaking this weekend, from the Lille flea market to the Châlons-en-Champagne Fair.
The second agricultural event in France behind Paris, the Châlons-en-Champagne Fair (Marne) is a must for the new political year, especially as the presidential election approaches. After the Horizons candidate, Edouard Philippe, on Monday, and the former President of the Republic, François Hollande, on Thursday, the leader of Place publique Raphaël Glucksmann spoke on Saturday, September 5, from the event. Questioned by journalists about the statements of the vice-president of the National Rally, Louis Alliot, speaking of "cutting off the tap" of aid to Ukraine, the candidate for the presidential election attacked "a party which calls itself nationalist, patriotic, but which acts for the interests of Vladimir Putin's Russia". Believing that the RN is “the party of submission”, Raphaël Glucksmann described its executives as “junk patriots”.
The head of the Ecologists, Marine Tondelier, calls for unity against the RN. “Everyone must understand that no one will win alone in 2027,” underlined Marine Tondelier in a speech to activists, on the occasion of the Lille clearance sale. Deploring that "left-wing candidates continue to multiply", the leader of the Ecologists assured that "we will have no excuses" if the National Rally wins the presidential election, stressing that this will lead to setbacks for "liberties" and "ecology". “We do not have the right to separately lose an election that we could win together and especially not this one,” she continued.
At the Lille clearance sale, Gabriel Attal castigates the position of the RN. Renaissance candidate, Gabriel Attal has spoken on this subject since the sale of Lille (North). Describing the RN's foreign policy as "submission towards other powers", he accused the far-right party of wanting to "abandon Ukraine for the benefit of Russia". “Between the RN and me, there are really two worlds, two totally different and diametrically opposed visions of France, international relations and Europe,” he insisted, criticizing the signing on Friday by the president of the RN, Jordan Bardella, of a “memorandum of understanding” on immigration with the British populist Nigel Farage.
The candidates parade at the Lille clearance sale. Saturday morning, the Renaissance candidate and the leader of the Ecologists, Marine Tondelier, spoke, before a stroll through the largest clearance sale in Europe. Jérôme Guedj, deputy for Essonne and candidate in the socialist primary, is also expected alongside the city's PS mayor, Arnaud Deslandes. Another regular at the Lille clearance sale, the boss of La France Insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, is expected around 4 p.m., for a speech on a stage set up for the occasion. On the right, the president of the Hauts-de-France region, Xavier Bertrand, officially a candidate for the presidential election, is also expected to visit the site during the weekend.
The local right criticizes the arrival of Jean-Luc Mélenchon. The announcement of the arrival, for the second consecutive year, of the boss of La France Insoumise, aroused criticism within the local right. The head of the Republican list in the last Lille municipal elections, Louis Delemer, compared Jean-Luc Mélenchon's planned intervention to a "national political meeting" and a "tribune" for the rebellious candidate, deploring the establishment of a system "out of all proportion" with the stands usually provided by political parties.
Marine Tondelier, general secretary of the Ecologists: “We do not have the right to separately lose an election that we could win together, and especially not this one.”
Raphaël Glucksmann, candidate for the presidential election: "The RN is the party of submission to Vladimir Putin, who threatens the security of Europeans."
Laurent Jacobelli, deputy of the National Rally: “If a delivery to Ukraine is compatible with the rearmament of France (…) we continue. When it endangers our stocks and our own defense, obviously not.”
