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00:00 A European election debate between the heads of seven electoral lists in France that log
00:05 aheads on the environment, immigration and Putin's war in Ukraine.
00:11 And among them is the far-right's Jordan Bardella and the leader of President Macron's
00:15 centrist group, Renaissance, Valérie Heyer.
00:18 They clashed on the issue of Ukraine.
00:20 "When we talk about European diplomacy or the sharing of nuclear deterrence with our
00:24 European partners, Emmanuel Macron is taking a federalist leap forward to transfer essential
00:30 levers of French sovereignty to Brussels and perhaps give Madame von der Leyen the
00:35 power to send troops to fight in Ukraine.
00:37 Our position is very clear, to support Ukraine and avoid escalation with Russia."
00:42 "You have support for Russia, which is shameful, so you've changed some of your positions,
00:48 but when we look at your votes, you've never supported Ukraine."
00:51 The political fault lines are stark between the two main electoral lists.
00:55 A recent poll shows the far-right National Rally is getting 32% support compared to 17%
01:02 for the centrist Renaissance.
01:05 The decisions French voters make will have an impact Europe-wide because France has 81
01:10 seats in the European Parliament, second only to Germany.
01:13 The part in black in this pie chart represents the far-right Identity and Democracy group.
01:19 This projection by the European Council of Foreign Affairs indicates it could get 98
01:24 seats, 30 of them from France.
01:29 Could France's National Rally leader Marine Le Pen emerge a key figure in a far-right
01:32 surge in EU voting?
01:35 One analyst says once it comes to politicking at a European level, that may not be the case.
01:40 "I don't see this united right.
01:43 I think there will be very strong divisions, not only over the question of EU-Russia relations,
01:49 but lots of other stuff, austerity, the question of debt and so on.
01:57 So there are very strong issues that divide the extreme right."
02:03 This first television debate in France indicates a major campaign ahead, with much at stake,
02:09 and with plenty of unknowns.