"The battle we are waging is not just for France, but for Europe", proclaimed the president-candidate during a speech in Châtenois (Bas-Rhin).
"Because, he added, the project of the extreme right is a project in which the exit from Europe is hidden (...) To leave this Europe of peace which is a conquest of the last eight decades. "
“With the greatest force, you will see me opposing this project because it is the return to nationalism and the return to war. Never,” he added.
During a meeting in Strasbourg at the start of the evening, the candidate again insisted: "The Europe which is ours is not an alliance of nations which want to make war on each other, it is a project of respect which has put an end to the dream of empire that had always fractured us".
"And the dreams of empire return: it is the dream of Russia today, it is the dream of certain others, it is the conflict of those and those who would have us believe that the solution for France , is to get out of Europe, because it would be to go and fight other Europeans,” he added.
Emmanuel Macron also intended to "strongly defend our European Court of Human Rights" and the European Convention on Human Rights which it enforces, while Mrs. Le Pen has repeatedly indicated that she wants to "get out of 'a number of articles of the Convention'.
The far-right candidate also wants French courts to no longer be tied to Court decisions, including France's convictions.
However, for Mr. Macron, the Court of Strasbourg, "it is what carries our values, because it allows each citizen in Europe to defend their rights, even when the State does not recognize them: it that's why Russia wants to leave."
"If you consider that the rights which are in our charter are not respected by the government, you can go before this court and condemn the government: it is a treasure and it must be preserved, fought for", a- he hammered again.
A little earlier, in front of the press in Mulhouse, Emmanuel Macron had accused Marine Le Pen of "telling carabistouilles" about Europe.
"She explains that she will not pay the bill for the club (the EU of 27 Member States), that she will change the rules on her own (...) This means that she wants to leave but that she don't dare to say it anymore".
He felt that the RN candidate could seek to "form an alliance with Hungary and Poland", two EU countries led by nationalist parties.
"It will be a strange club, not good for France, not good for Europe, not good either for Strasbourg, which is one of the capitals of Europe" with the seat of the European Parliament, according to the candidate .
In an interview with the weekly Le Point, Emmanuel Macron says he wants to "highlight" a "project to leave Europe, project to divide the French, project of climate regression" of the candidate.
Marine Le Pen explained that she did not want to leave the EU or the Schengen area, but that she wanted a modification of the Constitution to include the superiority of constitutional law over European law.
© 2022 AFP