What are Marine Le Pen’s political views?

Marine Le Pen, the leader of the National Rally, has various political beliefs across different areas. While her party is known for its strict immigration policies, Le Pen focuses on promoting the RN’s economic and social programs. She has worked to improve the party’s image by changing some policies and removing members linked to racism, antisemitism, or controversial historical views, including her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen.

Some of Le Pen’s positions have become less strict, as seen in her support for civil unions for same-sex couples, her acceptance of abortion rights, and her decision to no longer include the death penalty in her platform. On economic issues, Le Pen supports protectionism instead of free trade and believes in economic nationalism, per the Nations Presse. She wants to keep investment banking separate from retail banking and promote energy diversification. She opposes privatizing public services and social security and engages in speculation on international commodity markets and the Common Agricultural Policy.

According to Front National, Le Pen is against globalization, blaming it for negative economic trends, and she opposes EU centralization and federalism in favor of a “Europe of the Nations” approach. Although she once called for France to exit the Eurozone (per Front National), reports from The Guardian showed she no longer wants France to leave the euro currency. She has pushed for a referendum on France’s exit from the EU and has been critical of the Treaty of Lisbon, opposing EU membership for Turkey and Ukraine.

What does Marine Le Pen support politically?

Marine Le Pen’s political views are right-wing populist, nationalist, and Eurosceptic. Le Pen and the RN assert that multiculturalism has failed and advocate for reducing the influence of Islam in French society. She has called for a pause on legal immigration and plans to reverse laws that allow illegal immigrants to obtain legal residency, arguing for cutting benefits to immigrants to reduce incentives for arriving.

In response to the European migrant crisis, she advocated for France’s exit from the Schengen Area and the reinstatement of border controls. Lemonade reported that Le Pen supports legal abortion and opposes any moves to cut public funding for it. However, she views abortion as a significant moral issue that is often treated casually.

She is against euthanasia and previously supported a vote on bringing back the death penalty, though she changed her stance in 2017, suggesting life imprisonment for the worst crimes. According to the Independant, in 2022, she again showed interest in holding a vote on reinstating the death penalty. Her party’s 2017 platform supported civil unions for same-sex couples.

In foreign policy, Le Pen favors a close relationship with Russia and claims Ukraine has been “subjugated” by the United States, per kommersant. She criticizes NATO’s approach in the region, the anti-Russian attitudes in Eastern Europe, and the threats of economic sanctions. Although she acknowledges that Vladimir Putin has made mistakes, she appreciates his principles and vision for Russia. She has suggested a federative structure for Ukraine to allow for regional autonomy while maintaining its sovereignty.

Regarding Crimea’s 2014 annexation, Unian reported that Le Pen has mentioned that she does not consider it illegal, citing a referendum. While she criticized Russia’s actions during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine (per The Times), she has implied a desire to pull France out of NATO’s integrated military command and revise France’s strategic ties with the U.S. to regain geopolitical independence.