European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde leaves after a meeting of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Berlin on September 10, 2026.John Macdougall/AFP via Getty Images

Lagarde rejects far-left Mélenchon’s debt-cancellation plan – POLITICO

by · POLITICO

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde today dismissed French far-left presidential contender Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s proposal to wipe out government debt, describing it as illegal and dangerous.

Lagarde, who spoke at a press conference after the central bank raised its key deposit rate to 2.5 percent, was responding to Mélenchon’s radical idea to freeze all French debt held by the ECB.

“It's not because you repeat something that doesn't make any sense, either legally, technically, or financially, that it becomes something valid,” Lagarde said.