France : Michel Barnier joins the presidential race towards the Elysee

Barnier has been a member of Parliament for the past three decades and held several ministerial positions

Michel Barnier, the European Union's former chief Brexit negotiator, announced on Thursday his intention to run in the French presidential elections scheduled for 2022 as a right-wing candidate against President Emmanuel Macron, raising the banner of tighter immigration restrictions.

Most analysts expect the race to the Elysee to be limited to a second election cycle in which Macron will compete with far-right leader Marine Le Pen, but the presence of a strong, traditional right-wing candidate could change this equation.

Barnier, 70, a leader in the right-wing Republicans party, told TF1 television that one of the pillars of his electoral platform is "reducing and controlling immigration", in addition to combating climate change.

In an interview with Le Figaro newspaper - yesterday evening, Thursday - he said, "I am a candidate to be a president who respects the French and imposes respect for France. We are in difficult times. The world around us is dangerous, unstable and fragile, our country is going badly," calling for France reconciled.

With Barnier's announcement, the number of candidates to run in the primaries - which the Republican Party intends to organize at the end of November - will rise to 4 if none of the candidates decides the matter in his favor before then.

Before he became the EU's chief Brexit negotiator; During the past three decades, Barnier was a member of the House of Representatives, a member of the Senate and a minister in several right-wing governments in France. He also served twice as European Commissioner for Regional Policies and then the Internal Market.