It is time to reconsider the borders of Europe, according to Jean-Luc Mélenchon. The presidential candidate of France’s Left Party (Parti de gauche) mentioned among others Hungary’s historic border disputes with its neighbors in a TV debate with his political rivals.

Mélenchon said that a grandiose security conference should be held with the participation of the countries located between the Atlantic Ocean and the Ural mountains. In his view, all the international tensions of today are triggered by Russia, partly because since the Second World War the debate on the borders of Europe has not been opened to discuss. Mélenchon firmly rejects the American methods, the military solutions in particular, therefore he strongly argues France should quit NATO. Furthermore, he envisions his country taking an universal approach in order to play a leading role in creating a global security alliance.

Answering a question by Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon about the border issues in Eastern Europe, Jean-Luc Mélenchon said first of all one should see where had been the historic borders of Ukraine at the first place, whether they included Crimea or not, and then one can decide if it was Nikita Khrushchev’s or Vladimir Putin’s decision. Mélenchon also drew Hamons’s attention to the old border disputes between Ukraine and Poland as well as the historic territorial antagonisms between Hungary and its neighbors. Hamon said, his rival’s remarks proved to be the most delicate issues of their TV debate.

According to a fresh survey, Melanchon would grab 11,5 percent of the votes if the elections were held today in France. However, radical right-wing leader Marine Le Pen leads the race with 25 percent, the poll shows.

via mno.hu; photo: Jeff Pachoud – AFP