Marine Le Pen expressed support for mayors from her Rassemblement National (RN) party who have removed European Union flags in recent days from their town halls, calling it a legitimate expression of national sovereignty and democratic choice.
Anthony Garénaux-Glinkowski, mayor of Harnes in the north of France, was the first of the party’s elected officials to remove both the EU and Ukrainian flags upon taking office in late March.
He was followed several days after by Christophe Barthès, an RN mayor who then removed the EU flag outside Carcassonne’s town hall.
Barthès called his action a reflection of national sovereignty, explaining the only flag that matters to him is the French tricolour.
Dehors les drapeaux européens à la mairie !
Place aux drapeaux français 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/QqoymNwUCm
— Christophe Barthès (@BarthesChristop) March 29, 2026
In January, several rural French municipalities had already removed EU flags in protest against the Mercosur trade agreement.
They said their move was to signal their ongoing frustration with EU policies they perceived as undermining French farmers and regional interests.
Speaking on La Chaîne Parlementaire (LCP), a parliamentary television service, Le Pen pointed out that French voters rejected the European Constitution in the 2005 referendum.
She stressed no law obliges mayors to display the EU flag, framing the decision not to do so as a legitimate expression of local autonomy.
Government ministers, however, sharply criticised the measure.
Benjamin Haddad, minister-delegate for European affairs, asked, “Will they also refuse the European funds received by our farmers, our companies for reindustrialisation, our territories? Will they return their European Parliament allowances?”
He characterised the mayors’ actions as “populism that shows the RN has not changed”.
Meanwhile, Jean-Noël Barrot, minister for Europe and foreign affairs, described the move as a “betrayal” of France’s European commitments.
Des maires du Rassemblement National ont décidé de retirer le drapeau européen du fronton de leur mairie.
C’est une trahison de ce que nous sommes.
L’Union européenne, c'est la France qui l'a voulue. C'est nous. Pour garantir la paix. Pour préserver notre indépendance face à la… pic.twitter.com/X30DM1fuqO
— Jean-Noël Barrot (@jnbarrot) March 31, 2026
From a strictly legal standpoint, municipalities have the freedom to decide whether to display the EU flag, as no law requires it—aside from at specific occasions, such as on Europe Day in May.
A 2023 bill aiming to make it mandatory in larger municipalities has not yet been debated in the Senate.
