At his victory celebration in 2017, newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron strode to a podium at the Louvre to the sounds of "Ode to Joy." He had every reason to be joyful, having trounced his opponent, Marine Le Pen, in a 66% to 34% landslide.
But the music had another, perhaps even deeper meaning: "Ode to Joy" is the official anthem of the European Union, an institution Macron has helped revitalize, and not a moment too soon, given the absence of its former informal leader, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and in light of the unity needed to effectively sanction the Russian government for its war on Ukraine.
But if Macron's approach to the EU is one of belief, Le Pen's is one of belittlement. And while she's softened her Brexit-era aggressiveness on leaving the union and the euro, she clearly is not anywhere near as staunch a supporter of the political institution integrating Europe, or even of the defensive one, the indispensable North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Le Pen has pledged to keep France in NATO but leave its command structure.
