Immigration: What Bardella and Farage’s agreement contains, condemned across France’s political class

Jordan Bardella thought he was making a major political statement. Instead, his symbolic immigration agreement with Nigel Farage triggered criticism from nearly the entire French political class, from the far left to the far right.

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The English gatekeeper?

The agreement, signed on Friday by the president of the National Rally, provides for the United Kingdom to turn migrant boats back toward the French coast. The text was presented as part of an alliance between the two nationalist politicians, who have imagined that each could eventually reach power in his own country.

The reaction in France was immediate and unusually broad. Édouard Philippe said the episode was one nobody had seen coming. Jean-Luc Mélenchon asked whether France was to become “the English gatekeeper,” then called Bardella a “discredited fascist” at a rally. Bruno Retailleau described the agreement as “the perfect sign of the RN’s amateurism,” while Gabriel Attal denounced “great submission” and Raphaël Glucksmann called it a “capitulation.”

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The perfect sign of the RN’s amateurism

Even Éric Zemmour, a prominent figure on the French right, expressed reservations. “Having allies must NEVER mean accepting just any price for France,” he wrote on X. The backlash has raised questions about whether Bardella, who expected the agreement to have a major impact, underestimated the political cost of aligning himself with Farage.

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Having allies must NEVER mean accepting just any price for France