The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has warned that Russian aggression “knows no borders”, will not stop at Ukraine and is a direct threat to France and Europe which must prepare in case the US steps away from its side.
“I want to believe the US will stay by our side,” Macron said in a televised address late on Wednesday. “But we have to be ready if that isn’t the case,” he said.
. . .
Macron said to the French public in a prime-time TV speech: “I’m speaking to you tonight because of the international situation and its consequences for Europe … I know you are legitimately worried faced with the historic events that are shaking the world order.
“The war in Ukraine, which has left almost one million dead and injured, continues with the same intensity. The US, our ally, has changed its position on this war, supporting Ukraine less and allowing doubt to linger on what will come next.”
Suspend Hungary.
Emmanuel Macron is erasing any semblance of strategic ambiguity. France’s so-called “adversaries”, as depicted by the president, now have clear confirmation that the EU lacks the capacity to confront them effectively. Bound by its reliance on American technology, there is little doubt that the United States will ensure the EU remains dependent on its logistical support. At the same time, the EU’s dependence on Chinese industry and Russian resources leaves it vulnerable, as these powers will undoubtedly seek to weaken its position relative to theirs. In this climate of strategic weakness, pushing for escalation risks widening the gap between the EU and its opponents, further destabilizing both France and the EU on the global stage.
Moreover, Macron’s neoliberal approach reveals a troubling pattern - the burden of this effort falls disproportionately on the already struggling population, while oligarchs and the ultra-wealthy are exempt from meaningful contribution. By failing to demand shared sacrifice from all French citizens, the government undermines its own narrative of urgency. This unequal distribution of responsibility not only deepens existing inequalities but also erodes the social unity needed to confront challenges of such magnitude.
Ok chatgpt
I try hard to avoid this biased and proprietary tool. Meanwhile I can admit that I sometime experiment with open source language models that I can run locally on my machine. That being said, thank you for your valuable input on this topic.
I was at least hoping World War III would be kicked off by something interesting. Not two men getting cranky at another man for perceived lack of sufficient ball gargling
It’s an excuse. It is staged anger to justify reducing aid because Putin made them.
Macron’s Address
Strangely enough, it was even more interesting than Trump’s address, which wasn’t really worth discussing. Trump spoke for a long time but said little of substance, which was expected. Macron also spoke without much clarity, but at least there was a chance he would announce some significant decisions. Spoiler: he didn’t.
For the most part, Macron tried to stir fear with his fantasies about Russia in an attempt to pressure the government into allocating more money for weapons. This is where his claim about Russia building 4,000 tanks by 2030 came from. I think everyone understands that this is completely unrealistic, given that Russia barely manages to produce a hundred or two tanks per year, even under wartime conditions.
That said, Macron did explicitly state that more weapons are needed, while also insisting that the French army is already the most effective in Europe, meaning no further strengthening is necessary. I wonder what the French military handbook says about a soldier’s actions if he hears a suspicious buzzing sound in the sky while outside of cover?
Regarding Ukraine, Macron once again reiterated that there should be no ceasefire and that the war must continue “until the last Ukrainian.” According to him, peace will only come with a “pacified Russia.” In polite circles, such statements are usually backed by a commitment like, “Therefore, I am providing Ukraine with €5 billion in military aid from French army stockpiles.” But Macron struggles with this—he wants to be a hero at someone else’s expense.
Before his speech, he also tried to single-handedly introduce an utterly ridiculous and unrealistic ceasefire plan, which proposed halting deep strikes. I don’t know what Zelensky did to upset Macron to the point where he decided to forbid him from bombing Russian oil refineries. Fortunately, no one takes Macron seriously, so even the UK rejected his plan. However, it’s known that Macron, Starmer, and Zelensky are once again trying to come up with another peace plan to present to Trump. I expect the outcome to be the same as their previous attempts.
Behind the scenes of his grandstanding, Macron and Starmer were reportedly trying to convince Zelensky to accept Trump’s demands, restore relations, and sign a resource deal. In other words, there’s no real effort to replace the U.S. in supporting Ukraine—Macron himself spoke about peacekeepers again. And once again, he made it clear that nothing is guaranteed (as we know, France is very reluctant to send troops without U.S. backing), that peacekeepers won’t be stationed at the front lines, won’t engage Russian forces, and so on.
In short, I am convinced that Macron understands Trump’s “deal” is inevitable and that there is no alternative. He is simply trying to increase his leverage. In the worst case, he’ll say he did what he could and blame everything on Trump. In the best case, he’ll pretend that peace in Ukraine was somehow his personal achievement.
If Macron wanted to make real decisions that could shift the course of the war—such as announcing that France is seriously committing to supporting Ukraine with weapons and funds—he would have done so yesterday. There won’t be a better moment, especially now that U.S. military aid has been suspended. Since he didn’t make such an announcement, I doubt he ever will. And neither did any other European leaders at the series of unusual emergency summits.
Macron has zero leverage over Trump because he would have to answer a simple question: Why should the U.S., which has invested $350 billion in the war (according to Trump) or $114 billion (according to the Kiel Institute), listen to France, which has contributed only $4.8 billion—less than Poland, Sweden, or Denmark? And you can be sure Trump will ask Macron exactly that.
Watch out for the propaganda. This minion biggest dream is to turn into a putin himself
All your posts are pro-Russia why?
He’s been saying the right things regarding this conflict, but people forget he’s been disgraceful internally.
Macron is a dead man walking in France. Or at least he was until recently.
Too bad nowadays you can’t criticize without being labelled.
If you consider pro-russis a post calling out macron for trying to ban encryption and for passing a law that makes it illegal to film police it sound like you hate russia a bit too much.
