French far right slams Macron’s submission to von der Leyen after Breton exit

PARIS — France’s far-right National Rally party hammered President Emmanuel Macron for bowing to pressure from Brussels after Thierry Breton abruptly dropped out as France’s next European commissioner.

Breton stunned both Brussels and Paris with his shock resignation announcement Monday morning in which he accused his boss, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, of going behind his back and trying to convince Macron to ditch him in exchange for a more influential portfolio in the next Commission. Outgoing French Minister of Foreign Affairs Stéphane Séjourn´´é was nominated as France’s new pick shortly after.

“Today von der Leyen forces France to give up on Breton’s nomination. There are no more limits … France (and later other countries) will have no choice but to submit again. This is a profound and irreversible fracture if France doesn’t react,” National Rally Sébastien Chenu wrote in a social media post on Monday.

“So it’s a German [Ursula von der Leyen] who gives herself the right to choose who she wants or refuses to represent France at the Commission?” National Rally MEP Thierry Mariani added.

While the National Rally — which triumphed against Macron’s centrists during the European parliament election in June — had opposed the decision to propose Breton for a second term, his resignation offered Marine Le Pen and her allies an opportunity to score political points by accusing the president of taking orders from Brussels.

The French left leveled similar criticisms at Macron. The head of French communist party Fabien Roussel slammed the move as “scandalous” and accused von der Leyen of violating France’s sovereignty in a post on X.

Even within Macron’s camp, some see von der Leyen’s move as an unwelcome coup de force.

A French MEP from Macron’s camp, who was granted anonymity, to speak candidly on the matter, accused von der Leyen of “blackmail” and trying to take advantage of the fact that “France is weakened by its current political situation.”