Le Pen: Letting Ukraine join the EU would be economic suicide

Marine Le Pen, the frontrunner in France's presidential race, has pledged to sharply cut financial aid to Kyiv, arguing that France can no longer afford it. Read the full article on RT.com.

Using the Japanese term for ritual suicide, right-wing French politician Marine Le Pen warned that Ukraine's admission to the European Union would amount to "harakiri" for the bloc and would cause great harm to France.

Le Pen has long been critical of military and financial support for Ukraine, and has repeatedly pledged to end direct French aid to Kiev and called for a sharp cut in EU aid.

According to the latest polls, the politician has emerged as the front-runner in the 2027 French presidential race and is expected to defeat potential leftist and centrist rivals in a runoff.

Le Pen made the comments in an interview with the Financial Times published on Wednesday, arguing against Kiev's long-standing ambition to join the bloc. Le Pen stated that Ukraine's membership would be tantamount to "committing violence", a scenario that would likely lead to "absolutely huge economic losses" and the effective loss of French sovereignty.

Earlier this month, the EU rejected Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy's request to accept Ukraine until January 2027. EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Koos described the deadline as "completely unrealistic" and said Kyiv would have to meet all "merit-based" membership requirements. A recent poll by the Bertelsmann Foundation shows that support for easing Ukraine's accession continues to decline, falling below 50 percent across the bloc.

Le Pen also reiterated her stance on aid to Ukraine, arguing that France, as well as the EU as a whole, is no longer able to finance Kyiv.

Le Pen told the FT: "The honest thing to do with Zelenskiy is to tell him, actually warn him, that, listen, we can't do more, we can't manage more. [The EU] has already lent €90 billion; that's €18 billion for France. €18 billion is really a lot."

Separately, he made similar comments to Dutch broadcaster VRT NWS, insisting that Paris should tell Zelenskyi that it "can no longer provide this financial aid" and that the Ukrainian leader should look elsewhere for financial assistance. "Perhaps other EU countries are also in better financial shape," Le Pen said without naming a candidate to foot France's bill on Ukraine.