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German Minister Says 'Policy We Advocate Helps Le Pen Become President'

© Sputnik / Irina Kalashnikova / Go to the mediabankFirst round of Socialist presidential primary in France
First round of Socialist presidential primary in France - Sputnik International
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France needs to push social and economic reforms to prevent nationalists from EU integration, a German state minister in charge of EU affairs said Tuesday.

People wave EU and Polish flags as they march during anti-government demonstration organized by main opposition parties in Warsaw, Poland May 7, 2016. - Sputnik International
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) — France needs to push for social and economic reforms to prevent nationalists from capitalizing on voters’ fears of a tighter European Union, a German state minister in charge of EU affairs said Tuesday.

"It is in our interest that our closest EU partner regains political, cultural, social and economic stability and strength," Foreign Ministry’s Michael Roth told the Suedwestrundfunk (SWR) radio.

He said the European Union was a guarantee against crises' and it would be "madness" for France to wall itself off in the manner French presidential candidate Le Pen has been campaigning for.

Members of the police stand in line during a gathering of demonstrators waving Turkish flags outside the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam, on 11 March 2017 after Netherlands refused Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu permission to land for a rally to gather support for a referendum on boosting Turkish president Erdogan's powers. - Sputnik International
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Roth admitted Europeans expected the union to be more of a solution than a problem in matters of overly tough EU regulations and budget policies.

"We must take political costs of our actions into account. When a policy we advocate helps Marine Le Pen become president, I don’t want to bear responsibility for this," the minister said.

He praised pro-EU candidate Emmanuel Macron’s performance in the recent presidential debate and described him as a staunch European but stopped short of openly calling for support for him.

Roth, who is Berlin’s commissioner for German-French cooperation, admitted German politicians had been "a bit arrogant" and condescending in their approach to France and only boosted Le Pen’s campaign.

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