François-Xavier Bellamy was on Monday (15 January) named as the main candidate in the EU elections for the conservative Republicans (ERP) party, amid Emmanuel Macron poaching key conservatives into his new government.
LR president Eric Ciotti told French broadcaster TF1 on Monday that Bellamy is “an outstanding EU legislator who has made the Conservative delegation [in the European Parliament] and France more influential than ever”.
In an interview with Le Figaro newspaper published on Tuesday (16 January), Bellamy said he was ready to “give his best” to a campaign that would “determine the future of our political family as well as the democratic life of France”. He promised to emphasise immigration and EU security in his campaign. He added:
We must rebuild Europe in a way that gives our democracies more control over their own destinies. This supposes the trading of suffocating norms and standards for realistic strategies.
Before joining the European Parliament, Bellamy taught philosophy, was largely active in fisheries issues and was a fierce defender of Armenia during Azerbaijan’s blitzkrieg in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in October.
Bellamy’s appointment comes at a time of near existential crisis for France’s conservative family – and days after Macron poached two leading figures, Rachida Dati and Catherine Vautrin, to take cabinet seats.
LR, once the leading moderate-right party, paid a heavy price with Macron’s arrival on the political scene in 2017 and essentially split into two factions. The more liberal wing moved fairly quickly to Macron’s side, while its more radicalised part moved closer to far-right narratives.
In an interview with Le Figaro, Bellamy rejects any political ties to the Rassemblement Nationale (RN) party. Unlike them or Eric Zemmour’s racist Reconquête party, “nobody but us works so hard [on EU issues],” the candidate said.
According to a poll by Europe Elects partner Euractiv, the right-wing bloc could win a blocking majority in June 2024, with parliamentary groups Identity & Democracy (ID) and European Conservatives and Reformists group (ECR) coming in third and fourth, behind right-wing EPP and left-wing S&D.
The young philosopher François-Xavier Bellamy distinguished himself notably in the European Parliament by attacking German Chancellor Olaf Scholz last May during a debate where he accused him of “threatening Europe”.
“This confrontation with Mr. Scholz is his best calling card,” comments an LR advisor, who nevertheless regrets that no figure from the party has dared to put himself forward as head of the list, citing Eric Ciotti or potential candidate for the 2027 Elysee elections Laurent Vauquiez as examples.
Close to François-Xavier Bellamy, the president of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), David Lisnard, who also has Elysée ambitions, made a call on Sunday night for him to be appointed head of the list.
