Francois Fillon, frontrunner to become France’s next president, has sparked unease in Germany with his friendly attitude toward Russia, which could make him an uncomfortable ally for Chancellor Angela Merkel. Fillon secured the nomination of the French conservative Republicans on Sunday with a resounding victory over his more moderate challenger Alain Juppe.
Fillon, a self-professed Thatcherite, is depicted in Germany like a French version of former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who drove home painful social welfare reforms in the early 2000s.
Thorny issues
On the thorny subject of refugees and migration, Merkel wants a quota system in place for each EU member to take their share of asylum seekers. This might be a tough sell for Fillon, who has argued that France has a “problem linked to Islam”.
But most crucially the two differ on foreign policy, and on how Russia should be handled.
Fillon, accused by his critics of being too close to President Vladimir Putin, has called for the lifting of sanctions that were imposed after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. He believes the EU and US provoked Russia by expanding Nato’s presence into eastern Europe. Fillon has also urged an alliance with Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime against the IS.
These positions differ with those of Merkel, who has kept the phone lines open to Putin but adopted a firm approach against Russia’s encroachment in Ukraine.Germans ‘prefer Juppe’
“In the diplomatic arena, there may be problems between Fillon and Berlin, with the first issue being policies vis-a-vis Russia,” said Barbara Kunz of the Study Committee on French-German Relations. Kunz said all this meant that, “even if no one is saying it openly, the Germans prefer Alain Juppe”.
A member of the chancellor’s party, speaking on condition of anonymity, agreed on this point, saying that the former prime minister’s less hardline profile is a “better Merkel-fit”.Russia hail Fillon’s win primary
Russian media on Monday hailed the nomination of former French prime minister Francois Fillon, as the conservative candidate in next year’s presidential elections. Fillon wants closer ties with the Kremlin and has called for the EU to lift its sanctions on Moscow imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014.
He has become the frontrunner in the 2017 race for France’s presidency after securing the nomination of the conservative Republicans on Sunday with a resounding victory over his more moderate challenger Alain Juppe.
“François Fillon is the most pragmatic candidate in international politics,” said the official Russian news agency, Ria-Novosti. “Fillon lived up to the expectations of the French people,” said Russia’s most popular Channel One.
