‘Strategic failure’: France’s Raphaël Glucksmann takes aim at Macron’s geopolitics

French socialists’ lead candidate Raphaël Glucksmann set out his vision for the future of the EU at a political rally in Strasbourg on Wednesday, hoping to establish himself as the only credible left-wing force ahead of June’s EU elections.

With a sustained increase in voting intentions for the past two months, while the pro-Macron list needs a second wind, Glucksmann knows he can deal a heavy blow to the Left and Macron’s Renaissance.

At a political rally in Strasbourg on Wednesday (24 April), over 600 people came to listen to the French Socialist’s vision of the EU over the next five years, and why he is best placed to incarnate it.

The meeting is perfectly timed to coincide with Macron’s big ‘Sorbonne II’ speech on Thursday during which he will lay out his vision for Europe: “We spiced up [Glucksmann’s] narrative to get more political,” a member of his campaign team told Euractiv.

The candidate, who had EU Commissioner and the European Socialists’ hopeful European Commission President Nicolas Schmit and German social democrat’s Katarina Barley with him, aimed at Macron’s geopolitics.

The French president’s approach to Russia is “a strategic failure,” he said: “How can you call for strategic autonomy when, at the same time, you sought to create a united front with the very tyrant who threatens our security?”

He draws reference from a 2019 speech Macron gave to ambassadors, where he called for a “united front” with the EU and Russia.

For over an hour, Glucksmann also listed a series of policy proposals he claims are crucial to a “European ecological power” by 2030. They include a €200 billion-a-year EU sovereignty fund, a €100 billion Ukraine war fund, EU-wide pre-emption rights over sales of medicine manufacturers, and the creation of a European anti-corruption and transparency agency.

Macron to give ‘Sorbonne II’ speech, hopes to give campaign momentum

French President Emmanuel Macron will next week deliver a speech similar to the one he gave seven years ago at the Sorbonne University, where he laid out a detailed reform agenda for the bloc and revealed his Europhile credentials, a move he and his party hope will pull his party out of the polling slump it is currently in ahead of the European elections.

Aim for Macron and the far-left

The French president’s Renaissance party has been struggling in the polls. Data from pollster  Harris Interactiv, published on Wednesday show Hayer at 16% of voting intentions, against the Socialists’ 13%.

The gap had closed since January when they polled 19% and 11%, respectively.

Concerns are in Macron’s camp that the socialists might take over their place as runner-up in the polls – though still far behind far-right Rassemblement national’s 31% – and they hope the Sorbonne speech might boost the campaign.

The Jean-Jaurès Foundation think tank further evidenced that Glucksmann draws in former pro-EU Macron voters looking to sanction the president’s seemingly more right-wing policy shift.

And he’s a growing threat to the far-left La France insoumise (LFI), too.

“In truth, the socialists, the right and Macronists […] govern together in the European Parliament for the worst,” LFI’s top candidate Manon Aubry said in a speech at a political rally Euractiv attended on Tuesday (23 April), who claimed Glucksmann is just a “fake Macron”.

Yet with the far-left heavy focus on the Israel-Palestine conflict and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the LFI’s thought leader but a divisive figure, taking the campaign’s lead, their moderate voter base is flocking to the socialist, citing severe disagreements on geopolitics.

“If we become the number one left-wing political force in France after the EU elections, this will reshape the political landscape,” Glucksmann’s campaign aide said.

[Edited by Aurélie Pugnet/Alice Taylor]

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