Mélenchon vows to dismantle Franco-German 'engine'
France's far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon wants to break the decades-old Franco-German partnership that underpins the EU, instead strengthening ties with China, Africa, and South America while withdrawing from NATO.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leading far-left candidate in France's upcoming presidential election, has signaled he would seek to overturn the foundational relationship of the European Union: the Franco-German partnership. Mélenchon believes this alliance has primarily served Berlin's interests. In 2015, he devoted an entire book, "Bismarck's Herring" (subtitled "The German Poison"), to criticizing the German economic model.
Mélenchon said he would not commit to recent agreements between President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on issues from nuclear deterrence to industrial policy. German lawmakers acknowledge his disruptive potential. "Mélenchon's political positions on key issues of European policy, his hostility toward Germany… would make him a massive problem for Franco-German cooperation," said Roland Theis, a conservative lawmaker.
Mélenchon's party, France Unbowed, argues that Germany is imposing its ordoliberal economic model on the EU and that the Franco-German engine does not exist. Instead, Mélenchon wants to strengthen ties with China, French-speaking African countries, and South America. He views the United States as an imperialist danger and has pledged to withdraw from NATO.
Mélenchon is critical of Germany's rearmament and the presence of U.S. nuclear weapons on German soil, calling them a security concern for neighboring countries. He prefers closer relations with Spain's center-left Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, seeing him as a better ally due to his confrontational approach toward Donald Trump and Israel.
While Berlin is more focused on the threat of Marine Le Pen, Mélenchon poses a serious challenge. Green lawmaker Anton Hofreiter warned that a Mélenchon presidency could lead to European projects being built without French involvement. However, centrist French lawmaker Frédéric Petit, who represents French citizens in Germany, believes the bilateral relationship is strong enough to survive what he called "an electoral accident."
