The head of France's right-wing National Front delegation in the European Parliament says European independence from the US is the key to solving the Ukraine crisis

Brief but succinct, this address by Dr. Aymeric Chauprade (MEP - France) very clearly lays out the position of France's National Front in regards to Russia and Ukraine.

Sometimes labeled as "pro-Russian" (and even "neo-Nazi," because what do you expect? It's the media), Chauprade describes his party instead as "pro-French" and sees the US as the major instigator of tensions between Europe and Russia.

"The deep cause of the Ukrainian crisis is that Europe is not independent of the USA"

In a nutshell, Chauprade says National Front is a friend of all nations, but sees the United States - not Russia - as a European occupier.

Chauprade's statement was made at a round table discussion of the Ukrainian crisis in the European Parliament building earlier this month.

A video of his remarks in French and Russian follows this transcript.

Chauprade: I would first like to thank you for inviting me here for this discussion.

I am the head of the delegation of the Front National here in the European Parliament. And as you know, the position of the Front National on the crisis is considered to be pro-Russian.

Moderator: You mean pro-French….

Chauprade: I will continue…I said our position is considered as ‘pro-Russian.’ I did not say our position is pro-Russian. Thanks for allowing me to make the distinction.

I have come precisely in order to explain this position. And in particular to say to our friends from Ukraine who are here today that they should not at all think that the Front National is an enemy of Ukraine.

My party was anti-Communist and anti-Soviet during the entire Cold War.It defended the freedom of the European nations for fifty years.

And as you said, Mr. Chairman, we are not looking to identify who is guilty in the Ukrainian crisis. We are looking for the causes.

In my own opinion, the deep cause of the Ukrainian crisis is that Europe is not independent of the USA.

If Europe were independent of the USA, there would be no problem for Europe to extend to the borders of Russia.

The problem is that in the minds of the Russians the expansion of the European Union means the expansion of the borders of NATO.We adopted our position, because we believe one must begin by considering the Ukrainian geopolitical situation.

And the geopolitical reality of Ukraine is that in Ukraine there are people looking West, towards the European Union, and there are people looking East, towards Russia.

And we have believed that the might of Ukraine should be built upon its being an interface, a link between the European Union and Russia.

It should not become the outlying periphery of NATO and Europe, but on the contrary it should be an interface between the European Union and Russia.

We adopted out position not because we have submitted to the will of Russia but because since 1990 we have supported a multipolar world.

I think we have good reason to say that one should have incorporated all the regional geopolitical actors from the very beginning of the discussions on the integration of Ukraine.

I think that everyone here is worried for their children, worried about the risk of war that exists now.

There are people here who have much more seniority, more wisdom than me and who know very well what would suffice to jointly invent a status of neutrality for Ukraine.

That would make it possible at the same time to establish a cohabitation between the population inside Ukraine with their different geopolitical plans and the regional actors who have different geopolitical plans.

And I finish my talk stressing that the Front National is not an enemy of Ukraine. Perhaps we will come to power in 2017 and we are well aware of our responsibility to be friends with all the peoples of Europe.

Thank you!