Marine Le Pen has praised Emmanuel Macron’s newly passed immigration Bill, causing outrage from some of the French president's MPs.
Le Pen said the French president’s concession meant the Bill was an "ideological victory" for the hard-Right National Rally (RN) party, where she leads the lawmakers.
Macron had adjusted his bill agreeing to provide benefits to legal migrants only after five years of residency, as opposed to the current period of six months.
The RN had originally stated that it would vote against the bill alongside ecologists, Socialists, conservatives and the hard-Left. However, the bill has now passed with support from the RN.
Le Pen hailed Macron's bill as an 'ideological victory'
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The three-time Presidential candidate said: "We can rejoice in ideological progress, an ideological victory even for the National Rally, since this is now enshrined into law as a national priority."
It comes as Le Pen is expected to stand again for President in 2027.
However, the bill caused controversy among Macron's own Renaissance (RE) MPs, many of whom felt uncomfortable receiving support from Le Pen.
On Tuesday night, Mr Macron called an emergency meeting at the Elysee amid reports that six Left-leaning ministers from his government intended to resign.
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Macron came under fire from some of his MPs
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The bill had been voted down without even being debated in the Assemblée Nationale last week, in a major blow to Macron.
The upper-house Senate had earlier also passed the legislation, which then went through the lower house with 349 in favour and 186 against.
The bill means that benefits for foreigners will now be dependent on five years of presence in France, or 30 months for those who have jobs.
Migration quotas can also now be agreed and there are measures for dual-national convicts being stripped of French nationality.
Left-wing parties expressed outrage after the bill was passed.
Head of socialist lawmakers in the Assemblée Nationale Boris Vallaud said it was a "great moment of dishonour for the government".
French Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel said: "With this text directly inspired by RN pamphlets against immigration, we are facing a shift in the history of the republic and its fundamental values."
A group of 50 migrant rights groups, NGOs and unions called it the "most regressive in at least 40 years" in France, saying it smacked of "unabashed xenophobia".
