MOSCOW, October 22. /TASS/. A referendum on France’s withdrawal from the European Union and NATO is the only way to restore national sovereignty and consolidate society, Jacques Hogard, a veteran of the French Foreign Legion, told TASS.

"We need to organize free elections, with a referendum on France’s withdrawal from the European Union and NATO as part of them. This is the only way for France to regain its sovereignty and independence. Such a referendum, in my view, would be the only opportunity to rally the overwhelming majority of the French people around it and thereby legitimize the new authorities that would take on this bold initiative," Hogard said.

France is one of the founding members of the European Communities (now the European Union) and has been a member of NATO since the alliance was established in 1949. In 1966, President Charles de Gaulle withdrew the country from the North Atlantic Alliance’s military structure. However, in 2009, under President Nicolas Sarkozy, Paris fully rejoined the bloc’s integrated military command.