LE BOURGET, France — Jean-Luc Melenchon criticised NATO and “American wars” while pledging an economic stimulus-led revival on Saturday as he unveiled his 2027 presidential programme at a rally in Le Bourget, a northern suburb of Paris, Reuters reported.
Source: Reuters via SRN News
Setting out his economic programme, Melenchon said his anti-capitalist France Unbowed (LFI) party would do the opposite to President Emmanuel Macron. “We are going to do exactly the opposite — that is to say, a policy of stimulus,” he told some 17,000 supporters, according to campaign director Manuel Bompard.
Source: Reuters via SRN News
His manifesto, titled “L'Avenir en commun” (“A Shared Future”), is the fifth edition of LFI's programme and largely reaffirms policies that have underpinned Melenchon's previous presidential bids. It was published online on Friday, a day before the rally.
On the cost of living, the programme calls for freezing prices on essentials, raising the minimum wage and aligning salaries with inflation, and for repealing Macron's pension reform, which gradually raises the retirement age from 62 to 64. It also proposes abolishing the flat tax on capital income and raising taxes on the wealthiest households, Le Monde reported via SNM.
Source: Le Monde via SNM
On foreign policy, the programme reiterates Melenchon's long-standing criticism of NATO and calls for France's gradual withdrawal from the alliance, beginning with an exit from its integrated military command. “We have no business being in NATO, nor in American wars,” Melenchon said. “France must build a global front of non-aligned countries.”
Source: Reuters via SRN News
On Europe, Melenchon envisions France remaining in the European Union but refusing rules that conflict with the nation's social, environmental or economic programmes — setting up a potentially confrontational relationship with Brussels. He also wants the European Central Bank to stop France repaying the debt it holds, effectively transforming it into a permanent interest-free loan, and reiterates support for phasing out nuclear power in favour of a fully renewable electricity system, including scrapping the planned EPR2 reactors.
Source: AP via St Lucia Chronicle
Melenchon has emerged as the strongest contender on the French left, as the far-right National Rally's Marine Le Pen — who launched her own 2027 bid earlier this season — leads early polling. Read: Le Pen launches her 2027 presidential bid
France votes in two rounds on April 18 and May 2, 2027. Melenchon's launch, staged amid nationwide protests over living costs and public services, sets the left's terms for that race early — and puts France's place in NATO and the EU's rules at the centre of the campaign debate.