Will Jordan Bardella’s support for Ukraine last?

Has France’s far right just made a 180-degree turn on Ukraine? The leader of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, expressed his support for sending ‘ammunition and equipment [Ukraine] needs to hold the front’ at a recent arms fair. Last year, Bardella stated ‘the war would not end without a withdrawal of Russian troops and a return of complete and full sovereignty of Ukraine on the territories that are currently occupied by Russia’.

Bardella, just like other figures on France’s nationalist right is hedging his bets. He is, for example, against sending ‘equipment that could have consequences of escalation in Eastern Europe’. Likewise, Marion Maréchal, the niece of Marine Le Pen, wishes for Ukraine’s victory but does not want to see Ukraine join Nato.

No, France’s nationalist right have not joined the ranks of Boris Johnson and Giorgia Meloni. But they do seem to be on a journey, particularly when compared to the consistently pro-Russian line once pursued by Le Pen, who previously described Vladimir Putin as someone with whom she was defending ‘shared values’, who made numerous trips to Moscow, and who even received millions in Russian funding.