Jean-Luc Mélenchon proposed, this Sunday at a meeting in Lyon, that France establish “alterglobalist alliances” to prevent conflicts and act against climate change, rather than remaining in NATO, “useless organization which causes tensions “.
In front of 15,000 people, gathered in the open air in the Croix-Rousse district, the candidate of rebellious France for the presidential election restored his position as “non-aligned” on the war in Ukraine.
Dispelling misunderstandings about Vladimir Putin
“Stop the war, stop the invasion of Ukraine, down with the army that is invading Ukraine”, he proclaimed from the start, to dispel criticism from some on the left who attribute to him a complacent attitude towards Vladimir Putin in recent years.
“Solidarity with the Ukrainians, whether it is the regular army or those who mount tanks to slow down their advance,” declared Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who also sent a “message of solidarity and love to the Russians who refuse war” by demonstrating. Introducing the meeting was broadcast a video message against the war sent to the rebels by a militant of the Russian radical left, Alexeï Sakhnin.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon regretted having had to make his speech to the National Assembly on Tuesday, “under the boos of the LREM sect which howls as soon as we do not agree with it”. He insisted, criticizing the “yelps of fury” of “playmobil robots”. “We will not be shooters in the back. But we will participate fully in this presidential election by going to the end of our criticisms, ”he warned.
Embody a “non-aligned France”
“I undertake, if you elect me, to consult the National Assembly at least once a year if there is any conflict in which we would be engaged militarily”, promised the deputy for Bouches-du-Rhône. Rising as much against “the new world order” of George Bush senior, at the time of the Gulf war, as against “Mr. Putin’s war”, he assured that he wanted to “understand and not excuse”.
“If you elect me, I will embody a non-aligned France” which “does not accept a world order in which there would be NATO on one side and a Russian and Chinese bloc on the other, he said again. “I propose the exit of NATO, a useless organization, which causes tensions everywhere by its agitation, hoping to withdraw here and there subsidies for I don’t know which agency”, he said. Instead, he pleaded for “anti-globalization alliances that start from the general human interest” to deal not only with the prevention of conflicts but also with “the protection of common goods”, such as water and air, and the climate challenge.