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Marine Le Pen, candidate in the second round of the presidential election, announced yesterday that she wants France to leave NATO's main integrated command. The country would then cooperate with the Alliance on the terms on which the country was outside NATO's military structures in 1966-2009. The politician added that she also wants to tighten cooperation with Russia.more

A new word has recently appeared in Ukraine, "macronize", which means no action in a difficult situation - today reports "Le Parisien." Ukrainians feel sorry for France for not taking sufficient action in the face of Russian aggression against Ukraine, and for French President Emmanuel Macron for not coming to Kiev so far - adds the daily.more

Former conservative French president Nicolas Sarkozy today backed incumbent head of state Emmanuel Macron ahead of the second round of the presidential election and called for a Republican front against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.more

The result of the presidential election confirms France's political recomposition. Instead of the old division into right and left, the division into "pits" and "mountains", rich and poor, is being strengthened, believes Jerome Fourquet, director of the opinion department of the Ifop institutemore

In the first round of presidential elections in France, President Emmanuel Macron, who is seeking re-election, won 28.5 percent of the vote. votes, and the head of the National Union, Marine Le Pen, voted 24.2 percent. voters - results from preliminary results provided by the Elabe Institute and SFR.more

On the last day of campaigning before voters go to the ballot boxes, a poll had Marine Le Pen just two points behind Emmanuel Macron.more

French and Russian presidents Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin failed to agree during a telephone conversation yesterday on the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol, the Elysée Palace reported.more

Arms deliveries from France to Russia were contrary to the rules adopted by the EU. Those responsible for continuing the deliveries during the embargo were the governments and prime ministers under Presidents Francois Hollande and Emmanuel Macron, says the author of a journalistic investigation into these deliveries from the Disclose website and NGO, Ariane Lavrilleux.more

French companies must leave the Russian market, Auchan, Leroy Merlin, Renault must stop being sponsors of Russia's war machine, they must stop financing the murder of women and children - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski said yesterday before the French parliament. Values are more important than profits, he stressed.more

The French car manufacturer Renault resumed production at its Moscow factories. The company has the support of the French government to maintain production.more

The exhibition "Duel: from an attempted fight to a noble crime" planned for the beginning of March in the Kremlin museum has been postponed. The reason is that French cultural institutions, as well as institutions from other countries, have withdrawn their offer to lend works of art for this exhibition.more

France sold military equipment to Russia between 2014 and 2020 despite the embargo. The equipment is being used in the war in Ukraine, the association's investigative website Disclose reported yesterday.more

A Paris appeals court yesterday rejected French actor Gerard Depardieu's request to drop the ongoing rape and sexual assault investigation against him, which actress Charlotte Arnould accused him of in 2018.more

The French weekly L'Obs reported yesterday that it and a team of independent journalists had identified around 60 properties of Russian oligarchs in France, worth at least €350 million. Some of these may be seized under EU sanctions.more

French President Emmanuel Macron announced his candidacy in the April presidential election in the "Letter to the French" published in regional dailies. He explained that by running for a second term, he wanted to "prepare the future of our children and grandchildren".more

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke again with Russian and Ukrainian leaders Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Elysée Palace reported today. He also conveyed that Putin's goal is to take control of all of Ukraine.more

The war in Ukraine "will continue" and "we must prepare for it," French President Emmanuel Macron warned yesterday. He added that the French government is preparing a "resilience plan" to deal with the economic consequences of the crisis.more

An elderly couple drowned in their own car when their vehicle was swept into the English Channel by Storm Franklin, television station BFM reported today.more

France's First Lady Brigitte Macron has sued two women in Paris for spreading information on the internet that she is a transgenic person. According to the AFP agency, the first hearing in civil proceedings was scheduled for June 15.more

Storm Eunice from the Atlantic and the British Isles has swept across the English Channel and the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. Winds of up to 150 km/h there have caused many train services to be cancelled, with some prefectures advising residents to stay indoors.more

As of today, individuals 18 years of age and older should receive a booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine between three and up to four months (two months for the Janssen vaccine) from the date they received their primary vaccination in order to keep their vaccination certificate valid.more

From February 28, in France, wearing masks will not be compulsory in closed public places where only people with a certificate of vaccination against Covid-19 are allowed, the Ministry of Health said.more

Cavalcades of motorized opponents of the vaccine passport, called "freedom convoys", approached Paris yesterday from various sides, and some drivers are already camped on the outskirts of the capital. President Emmanuel Macron called for peace.more

The issue of Ukraine's relationship with NATO has dominated French President Emmanuel Macron's visits to Moscow, Kiev and Berlin. Among the options on the table for the West's negotiations with Russia is a status for Ukraine comparable to Finland, which is not a member of the Alliance but has established a partnership with NATO, "Le Monde" wrote yesterday.more

After five hours of talks in the Kremlin, French President Emmanuel Macron received a promise from his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to be ready to compromise, reports the daily Le Monde. French media emphasize the tense tone of the leaders' talks and the "closed" stance of the Russian president. The Kremlin itself denied all press reports about any agreement.more