Jean-Luc Melenchon, a former French presidential candidate and founder of the Left Party, was furious about Hollande's absence in Moscow, calling it a "shame."
"The absence of Hollande is a diplomatic, as well as a historical insult. I'll call it what it is: a shame… It is even worse because Vladimir Putin came to honor the 70th anniversary of the Allies' troops landing at Normandy," Melenchon said.
Jacques Myard, a member of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party, also agreed that Hollande's absence was a shameful act, adding that Russia is a key partner for France in Europe and Hollande shouldn't have changed his stance towards Russia because of the crisis in Ukraine.
"Hollande's refusal to visit Moscow is the insult of history!"
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, a UMP member, shared his thoughts:
"The refusal of Francois Hollande to attend the ceremonies in Moscow is a shame and a mistake. This date is very important for Russians who paid a heavy price, 27 million people died fighting the war against Nazis."
And finally, Florian Philippot, one of the leaders of the Front National (FN), tweeted:
L'absence de la France aux commémorations du 9 mai à Moscou sera perçue comme une offense au peuple russe, qui fut saigné à blanc. Pas digne
— Florian Philippot (@f_philippot) 9 мая 2015
Despite choosing not to attend the parade in Moscow, Hollande was willing to establish greater ties with Arab monarchies. On May 5, Hollade went to Saudi Arabia as a guest of honor to attend a summit of the Council of the Arab League.
French political columnist Yannik Chauvin heavily criticized the move, stating that Hollande was quick to extend his hand of friendship to Saudi Arabia that has a terrible record of human rights abuses and was accused of sponsoring global terrorism.
