PARIS — French far-right leader Jordan Bardella said Tuesday that he is ready to partner with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on issues ranging from cutting red tape and green regulations to migration.
“I see common ground with Chancellor Merz on the issue of reducing bureaucracy and the need to build a competitive Europe,” said Bardella in an interview with German newspaper FAZ.
“I also agree with the Chancellor on migration policy,” he added, referencing Germany’s recent extension of temporary border controls.
The National Rally president, who could be his party’s presidential candidate if Marine Le Pen’s election ban is confirmed in an upcoming appeal decision, has been trying to build his international profile, traveling to the United Kingdom and Italy in recent months.
His apparent outreach to the chancellor contrasts with a recent interview with French right-wing newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, where he struck a defiant tone toward Berlin, accusing the European Union of bowing to “German interests.”
In the FAZ interview, Bardella reaffirmed his hard line on migration, vowing to introduce “national preference” for social welfare benefits, one of his party’s flagship proposals, and propose a referendum on migration to enshrine tougher migration rules in the French constitution and make them “take precedence over European law.”
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The president of the National Rally, who could be his party's presidential candidate if Marine Le Pen's election ban is confirmed in an upcoming appeal decision, has been working to build his international profile, traveling to the United Kingdom and Italy in recent months.
His apparent outreach to the chancellor contrasts with a recent interview with the French right-wing newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, where he adopted a defiant tone towards Berlin, accusing the European Union of bowing to "German interests."
In the FAZ interview, Bardella reaffirmed his hard line on migration, vowing to introduce "national preference" for social welfare benefits, one of his party's flagship proposals, and propose a referendum on migration to enshrine tougher migration rules in the French constitution and make them "take precedence over European law."