Why the French right prefer Putin to progressives

Emmanuel Macron's visit to Moscow last week was reminiscent of a trip made by Charles de Gaulle to the Russian capital in November 1944. Neither man left much of an impression on their host.

Macron, after six hours of talks with Vladimir Putin, failed to persuade the Russian president to de-escalate the situation on the Ukrainian border whatever he might have claimed to the contrary.

De Gaulle, the leader of the recently-liberated France in 1944, made little headway with Stalin, who subsequently told the American ambassador Averell Harriman that he found the Frenchman ‘an awkward and stubborn man’. That description must have struck a chord with Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt. At the final banquet for the French delegation Stalin toasted the British Prime Minister and American President but neglected to raise his glass in de Gaulle’s honour. Stalin rated his allies on their military significance and he considered France inconsequential.

The snub stung de Gaulle. He had brought with him an ashtray as a gift for Stalin but the terms of the friendship pact they signed, coupled with his host’s brusque behaviour, led the Frenchman to leave his present in his suitcase.

Nonetheless, de Gaulle considered the trip worthwhile. As his biographer, Jonathan Fenby, wrote ‘what counted was that he had visited Moscow...and had been able to talk as the leader of a resurgent power.’

Macron flew to Moscow last week in a dual capacity. He was there as the president of France and of the EU Council. Not even Macron, the most ardent of Europhiles, could claim that the EU is a ‘resurgent power’. But France, yes, or at least that's the vision he is trying to sell to his people.

He wants them to forget about the rising cost of living – fuel prices reached a record high on Monday – and the soaring crime and focus instead on France’s standing in the world.

Macron has been criticised in some quarters, particularly the Anglosphere, for his visit to Moscow, and the suggestion he was playing the part of an appeaser. Ben Wallace, the British defence minister, surely had the French president in mind when he talked at the weekend of ‘the whiff of Munich’ about some European attempts to talk Putin out of invading Ukraine.

The French counter that a diplomatic solution is far preferable to the war the more hawkish in Washington and London seem intent on stoking. Macron's position is strengthened in that he knows he has the majority support of his people, and his political opponents.

They may disagree on Macron’s manner but his main presidential rivals – Valérie Pécresse, Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour – were broadly supportive of his diplomatic mission. Le Pen met Putin in Moscow during her campaigning for the 2017 election and continues to speak warmly of the Russian president. So does Zemmour, who like Pécresse, says Macron's mistake was that he didn't go to Moscow sooner to meet Putin. He also believes Russia is in the right and blames the West and Nato for antagonising it. ‘One shouldn't complain about the Russian reactions,’ he said last week. ‘It's the Russians’ choice to defend themselves. If you continue like that, you delegitimise the right of Russians to defend themselves and you push towards war.’ Zemmour was also critical of America, accusing them of ‘advancing their pawns towards Russia for more than 30 years.’

When Le Pen met Putin in March 2017 she praised his ‘new vision’ of the world, a sentiment shared by many on the French right. An opinion poll in 2014 revealed that 35 per cent of National Front supporters held Putin in high esteem, a figure that plummeted to just 5 per cent of left-wing voters. They admired his robust style of leadership, and also his beliefs. Nicolas Hénin, the author of The Russian France, explained in 2016 the popularity of Putin among the French right: ‘Putin's force is that his discourse appeals to everyone. To anti-Americans, he promises a readjustment of international relations. To military types, it’s waging war against the Islamic State. To Christians, it’s defending their values.’

This appeal has grown in recent years in the face of the ‘woke’ culture propagated by radical progressives. One could say this appeal goes beyond France to much of the West. It’s not only with net zero and mass immigration that there is a disconnect between the ruling liberal elite and many of the people they govern. Millions have a grudging admiration for Putin and Viktor Orbán for challenging the prevailing dogma of this century. Putin is conscious of this fact. In an interview with the Financial Times in 2019 he claimed that progressive ideology went against ‘the interests of the overwhelming majority of the population’. He singled out mass immigration and gender neutral teaching in schools. ‘Let everyone be happy, we have no problem with that,’ he said. ‘But this must not be allowed to overshadow the culture, traditions and traditional family values of millions of people making up the core population.’

Eric Zemmour articulates the same concerns which is why, despite being a political neophyte, he is well ahead of the left-wing candidates in the polls and also now in front of Pécresse. Just like Putin, his words speak to millions of French.

The other great bogeyman of the liberal elite telephoned Zemmour on Monday to offer his encouragement in his presidential bid. Donald Trump, who has admitted he likes Putin, told Zemmour ‘not to yield’ to his many critics in the media and to retain his authenticity and courage. For Trump, as for Zemmour, and as for many in the West, the real enemy of their civilisation is not Putin, it’s progressives.