MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The migration process in France should be controlled due to economic and social situation in the country, presidential candidate and former Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Tuesday.
"Migration should be regulated, because our economic and social situation does not allow us to accept as many people as want to come to us," Fillon told Europe1 radio, adding that, in particular, it was necessary to take in foreign students and doctors.
The candidate offered to introduce an annual parliamentary vote, which will decide on the migrant quota.
Fillon stressed that not migration, but the abandoning of national interests poses a threat to the identity of France.
"If we are proud of our identity, if we defend it, if we protect our history, it simplifies the process of integration of the foreigners," Fillon concluded.
According to the recent polls, Fillon's support rate amounts to some 19.5 percent, falling behind independent candidate Emmanuel Macron's 23 percent and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen's 22.5 percent.
