The issue has reached a consensus. During the debate between the presidential candidates of the Les Républicains (LR) party broadcast by LCI on Monday evening, Éric Ciotti, Bruno Retailleau and Aurélien Pradié redoubled their firmness on the issue of immigration. The three plaintiffs returned notably to the arrival in France of the Ocean Viking, a humanitarian ship carrying 234 immigrants, almost two weeks ago.
For Eric Ciotti, also a favorite in this internal election, this government decision is a “berezina”. According to him, “it is Italy 1, France 0”. The deputy from the Alpes-Maritimes thus congratulated the new Italian far-right leader Giorgia Meloni whom he considers “courageous and effective” in this matter, unlike Emmanuel Macron described as “cowardly and impotent”.
“The laxity of Emmanuel Macron”
The elected official believes that “the best way to save lives is for no ship to leave African shores.” “There should be a UN resolution, which also prevents, even militarily, letting these ships go,” he pleaded. His line of conduct: “No rights for illegal immigrants, no housing, no subsidies, no school.”
For his part, Bruno Retailleau sees in the reception of the Ocean Viking, “the mark of Emmanuel Macron’s laxity”.
According to the head of the LR senators, “today it is not Emmanuel Macron who makes immigration policy, it is the mafias, the smugglers.”
Bruno Retailleau also denounced “the vacuum pumps of immigration”, explaining that France is “the most advantageous country[se] of Europe”, “in terms of the right to asylum, free access to health care for illegal immigrants and also in terms of family reunification”.
Aurélien Pradié, challenger in this election, proposed “that we recognize the crime of smuggling as a crime within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC).” According to Lot’s deputy, we could thus “mobilize all the means of Interpol to act where the smugglers are, the sectors”.
“That means that, tomorrow, we would punish smugglers and all those who traffic human beings today as we punish a crime against humanity,” he pleaded.
“Large Rope Used by the Left”
Asked about their differences in terms of values with the National Association regarding immigration, the three applicants contacted each other. “That’s not the point,” Eric Ciotti responded.
“I speak with the French, I do not speak with the staff of the National Rally, nor with the press. What do the French see? A migratory invasion.”
To corroborate his point, the parliamentarian mentioned the figure of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing – who had pointed out a risk of “invasion” on immigration in 1991 in the columns figaro – but also that of Gérard Collomb. This former friend of Emmanuel Macron and Minister of the Interior between May 2017 and October 2018, had criticized the reception of Ocean Viking, considering that it was a “call to the air”, creating a “prior”.
For his part, Bruno Retailleau considered that putting RN and LR on the same level on this issue is a “great ruse by the left to paralyze, intimidate the right and veto it from this debate on immigration control.” Aurélien Pradié agreed with Éric Ciotti’s comments. “The ambition of the Republican right is not to argue with the staff of this or that party,” he declared.
Source: BFM TV
