Mélenchon rejects French co-belligerence in Ukraine and Saudi Arabia, urges non-alignment and calls Trump an adversary

French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon called for France to stay out of the conflicts in Ukraine and Saudi Arabia, telling about 10,000 supporters at a rally in Clermont-Ferrand on October 11 that becoming a co-belligerent would put French lives at risk. He warned against preparing “our children and grandchildren to die” in what he described as risky operations devised by NATO.

Mélenchon urged an independent, non-aligned foreign policy, saying France should decide for itself what it does and where, “without any master telling us what to do.” He described U.S. President Donald Trump as “an adversary for us, and nothing more.”

He also attacked Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, calling it a “monster” and accusing it of treating Alsace and Lorraine as though they belonged in a single German state.

Mélenchon has long advocated withdrawing France from NATO and replacing permanent military alignment with strategic independence. Foreign policy is among the dividing issues in France’s 2027 presidential campaign, particularly over Ukraine, NATO and relations with the United States.