Europe 1 with AFP 5:14 p.m., March 18, 2022, modified at 5:17 p.m., March 18, 2022

In an interview with Radio J, which will be broadcast this Sunday, François Hollande admitted that the current presidential campaign, as well as the programs of all the candidates, were completely turned upside down by the war in Ukraine, to the point of becoming "obsolete", especially on the economic side.

With the war in Ukraine, "all the programs" of the presidential candidates "have become totally obsolete", considers François Hollande in an interview which will be broadcast on Radio J on Sunday. "We know very well that it will be much more difficult economically, we know that we are going to have much higher inflation, interest rates that will come back, a considerable public debt", adds the former President of the Republic who, by the way, refutes the accusations against Emmanuel Macron of a failed campaign.

“Meetings cannot be done as it was imagined”

"No one had imagined when setting these election dates that it would be in a context like this. It is true that the debates, the meetings cannot take place as it was imagined. But the subjects which are posed are serious enough to raise the level of a presidential campaign", explains the former socialist president, who is accused of supporting lip service only the PS candidate Anne Hidalgo.

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Mr. Hollande, who was himself tempted to embark on the campaign, cited as issues Europe, the alliance strategy within the framework of NATO, defence, energy independence and the transition to the climate crisis.

The former head of state also swept aside the statements of Senate President LR Gérard Larcher who questioned on Tuesday the "legitimacy" of an elected president "without a campaign".

"An election, whatever the level of participation, gives legitimacy to whoever is elected," he insisted.

During his press conference on Thursday, the president-candidate Emmanuel Macron had himself replied: "a president of the Senate should not say that".