'France, Russia Part of One Civilization, Need to Work Together'

On Wednesday, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, the leader of the neo-Gaullist France Arise Party, announced his candidacy for the presidency. Speaking to Sputnik on foreign policy shortly after the announcement, the politician suggested that whatever disagreements Russia and France may have, they are part of one civilization, and need to work together.

Radio Sputnik France spoke to Dupont-Aignan at his headquarters.

Asked about his policy on Russia, the politician said that one of the first steps he would take would be to lift the anti-Russian economic sanctions.

"It's incredible: the President of the Republic, Francois Hollande, without too much noise, awards the Order of the Legion of Honor [France's highest decoration] to the King of Saudi Arabia, who has beheaded 70 people…while treating President Putin as if he is someone who cannot be worked with. Let someone explain this to me! It is absolutely incoherent!"

"Hence, I want a close relationship with Russia," a relationship where the two sides treat each other "as adults."

"This does not mean I agree with everything, but President Putin, like the president of the United States, like the German chancellor, is someone who must be respected. The leaders of these countries, and France all the more so, have a great deal to build together with Russia."

"In many areas we complement one another. We belong to the same civilization, and so we must work with Russia – not to the exclusion of the US or others, but because we still have, as a free country, the right to work with whoever we want to."

As far as NATO is concerned, Dupont-Aignan said that his position was clear: "My position is unambiguous – NATO no longer has any meaning. However, it remains necessary to preserve military cooperation, and I regret that we missed an opportunity to fulfill our obligations before Russia, that is, not to expand the presence of NATO forces to the former countries [of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union]. That is the commitment we assumed in relation to Russia…"

The recent return to an atmosphere of the Cold War, the politician noted, was "absurd, and completely counterproductive. Daesh is the enemy – the Islamic State! We should not confuse who our enemy is!"

Ultimately, Dupont-Aignan suggested, "we should even work with Russia on the military level – what is happening in Ukraine, what is happening with Russia – all of this is an wasteful waste…But it will pass, because Russia will remain, and France will remain, and all of this petty politics of submission will disappear very quickly."

A former member of Nicholas Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement, Dupont-Aignan founded France Arise, a Gaullist, Republicanist, socially conservative and Eurosceptical party, in 2008. He ran for president in 2012, receiving 644,000 votes, or 1.79% of the vote, in the first ballot. His party presently has two seats in France's National Assembly, and one in the Senate.