The far-right leader also says her party still wants to leave the alliance’s integrated command before 2032, despite the war in Ukraine.
PARIS — French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said Friday that NATO should focus on combating radical Islamism as the alliance grapples with Russia’s war in Ukraine and growing concerns over U.S. disengagement from Europe.
“NATO [should] reorient itself toward the fight against Islamist fundamentalism, which I believe is one of greatest dangers facing all the countries,” she said in an interview with French channel BFMTV.
NATO was founded in 1949 to provide a collective defense against the Soviet Union. While its mission has evolved since the Cold War ended, the alliance remains primarily focused on military deterrence and security cooperation.
Le Pen did not say whether she believed the Islamist threat was more pressing than deterring Russia. But her party, the National Rally, has been ambiguous about its support for Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion began.
The National Rally chief also reiterated her long-standing pledge to withdraw France from NATO’s integrated command if she wins next year’s presidential election, but she did not give a precise timeline. This means the country would remain a NATO member, but remove itself from the alliance’s unified military command system.
France has done it before: in 1966 Charles de Gaulle withdrew the country from NATO’s integrated military command. It rejoined in 2009 under President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Le Pen said on Friday that France’s exit would take place during her first presidential term, which would end in 2032 if she were elected. This contradicts National Rally President Jordan Bardella, who in 2024 told POLITICO he supported leaving the alliance’s integrated command only once the war in Ukraine had ended.
Asked about the discrepancy, Le Pen said that Bardella was “right” to say France shouldn’t attempt to change its defense commitments while war was raging, but leaving the integrated command before 2032 remains her party’s “objective.”
Overall, the far right has toned down its anti-NATO rhetoric in recent years — including compared with far-left parties. National Rally lawmakers this month abstained on amendments proposed by Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s far-left France Unbowed party that called for France to quit NATO’s integrated command as soon as possible, during votes on the country’s updated military planning law.
Despite a push to leave the alliance’s integrated command eventually, Bardella and lawmakers close to him have sought to reassure NATO allies that France would still contribute to the eastern flank deterrence against Russia.
Earlier this week, National Rally MEP Pierre-Romain Thionnet, who advises Bardella on defense policy, told the European Parliament that “with us, France will guarantee its commitments on the eastern flank of Europe, from the Baltic to the Black Sea,” referring specifically to Romania and Estonia, where French troops are stationed, as well as air policing missions in Baltic countries.