"The left of Mr. Mélenchon (.) is the impasse, it is the least useful vote in the world", she launched in the evening during a meeting in Limoges with former President François Holland.

A domination of the left by the leader of France Insoumise would mean "the end of any hope of having a left-wing government in this country", she continued.

The "so-called useful vote" comes "from those who want the left not to govern", she added.

Mr. Mélenchon, credited with around 13% of the vote in the polls against 2% to Mrs. Hidalgo, called on Sunday for a "popular union" in order to bring him to the second round of the presidential election.

"The useful vote is the vote of the left which sticks to the real to go towards the ideal", replied the socialist in front of the 400 to 500 people who came to the meeting of the candidate.

"The left of government does not confuse those who fight for their freedom and those who bombard them", she declared, criticizing the past and recent positions of Mr. Mélenchon, in particular placing the responsibility for the Ukrainian crisis on NATO.

"For Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the danger comes from the West, while the aggression is in the East, which means that he has lost the North a little," she quipped.

Many people in the audience held placards in support of Ukraine, and the speaker's podium bore the flag of that country, in addition to the traditional French and European flags.

Ms. Hidalgo pleaded for the maintenance of France in NATO, the advent of a Europe of Defense and an embargo on Russian gas and oil.

French Hollande for his part also spoke at length, with the war in Ukraine, "a context which has never been so serious for Europe and for the world".

Socialist French presidential candidate Anne Hidalgo (d) alongside former French President François Hollande (c) during a campaign rally in Limoges, March 22, 2022 PASCAL LACHENAUD AFP

Implicitly pinning Mr. Mélenchon, he felt that in the face of this crisis "non-alignment is isolation and inaction is renunciation".

"I differentiate between Biden and Putin," he added.

The master of the Kremlin "only knows the balance of power", added the former president, castigating those who "are looking for excuses".

© 2022 AFP