France | Plagiarism or a ‘wink’? Le Pen’s copied speech targets right

Supporters of French presidential hopeful Francois Fillon watch TV as he concedes defeat at his headquarters in Paris

Marine Le Pen deliberately plagiarized verbatim parts of an address from a former presidential candidate, as a “wink” to him and the voters she hopes to peel away in a runoff, her spokesmen said yesterday.

Francois Fillon, the former Republicans candidate, first delivered the speech on France’s role in Europe and the world on April 15 — just two weeks before Le Pen’s discourse this week.

The subject is at the heart of Le Pen’s campaign. She promises to pull France out of the European Union and return to the franc currency, and has denounced globalization’s effects on the French economy and culture.

Three separate spokesmen for Le Pen used the word “wink” to describe the extracts copied word for word from Fillon. At no point in the speech did she cite Fillon or acknowledge the source of the extracts.

“I think with part of the right, we have exactly the same vision on the national identity and independence,” Louis Aliot, Front National vice president, told LCI television Tuesday.

Immediately after being eliminated in the first-round vote, Fillon called for his supporters to back her centrist rival, Emmanuel Macron.

Both Macron and Le Pen are going after the voters of the 9 other candidates knocked out in that vote, in which France’s two main parties both failed to make it to the second round for the first time in the country’s modern history.

Macron is promising an ethics bill that will block office-holders from conflicts of interest, nepotism and other ethical issues that have infuriated voters.

Macron, who started his own political movement just a year ago, also promised he could get a legislative majority to pass the measure and others he says France needs to pull itself from the economic doldrums.

Legislative elections are in June, and whoever is president will depend on lawmakers to implement an agenda. Macron, who has pulled support from the right and the left, said Tuesday candidates will have to quit their parties to run in his movement. Lori Hinnant, Paris, AP

Warsaw denounces Macron for comparing Polish leader to Putin

Poland’s Foreign Ministry said yesterday that French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron made an “unacceptable” comparison when he likened Poland’s government to the “regimes” of Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Hungary’s Viktor Orban.

Macron made his remarks at a Paris rally while campaigning for the Sunday runoff election between himself and far-right nationalist candidate Marine Le Pen.

“You know the friends and allies of Mrs. Le Pen. These are the regimes of Orban, Kaczynski and Putin. They are not open and free democracies. Every day, freedoms and rules are violated there along with our principles,” he said.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski is the chairman of Poland’s ruling conservative Law and Justice party and the country’s most powerful politician.

The ministry said it noted Macron’s words with “regret” and that the centrist candidate used “unacceptable comparisons and mental shortcuts that lead to errors in public opinion.” It also denied that Poland is an ally of Le Pen’s.

“Let us stress that anyone who knows Poland’s history and its internal political scene does not have the right to accuse the Polish people of warm feelings toward imperial Russia,” the ministry said.

Hungary’s government did not respond to Macron’s comments, but Orban earlier this year said he supported the French conservative candidate Francois Fillon, who was eliminated from the presidential race in the first round.