French President Emmanuel Macron accepted an unusually long interview with French media over the weekend, in which the interesting part about Russia was sandwiched between common content about domestic politics.
In an interview with TF1-LCI, Macron stated that France’s anger over the failed submarine deal with Australia will not cause France to leave NATO and join the alliance with Russia.
He also called for a stronger European defense policy, and pointed out that for historical reasons, “France loves Russia” and “Russia loves France.” The French President continued to say that from Lisbon to Vladivostok, sooner or later, countries should come together in world affairs to prevent Russia from forming an alliance with China.
Macron recognized that under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin, Russia has been adopting a revanchist policy towards the West in response to the disgrace that Russia suffered from the disintegration of the Soviet Union. But in this case, Macron never mentioned Ukraine.
Macron admitted that Putin is becoming more and more authoritarian. Nonetheless, he remembered with some warmth of his trip to visit the gallery of the Battle of Versailles with Putin in 2017 (of course, this only depicts the military victory of France, and of course there is no defeat).
As France takes over the EU presidency, it is worth noting that Macron’s views on Russia are by no means the mainstream position of the EU, if any.
Following in the footsteps of Charles de Gaulle, Macron sounds like the general’s heir to domestic audiences. But in many EU countries, Macron’s favor with Russia is strange to say the least.
For some reason, the full version of his interview was later deleted (minus the Russian comments) on the TF1 website where the interview was conducted and the LCI website that was originally broadcast in its entirety.
Macron’s enthusiasm for Russia was even more difficult to grasp when Moscow caused significant humiliation on him in Mali. According to reports, the Russian Wagner group mercenaries are owned by a person close to Putin and are now sanctioned by the European Union, which can effectively expel France and other European troops from the country.
In addition, Macron cancelled his visit to the French army on Christmas Day and his meeting with Asimi Goita, the leader of the Malian transition.
As for Ukraine, Macron’s latest statement at the Eastern Partnership Summit transferred the responsibility for implementing the Minsk Peace Agreement to Kiev (so far, Moscow and Kiev have found many excuses for not implementing it).
But Ukraine does not want to do its part, which is equivalent to holding elections in Donbass and accepting the results of the elections, which may provide Russia with an official gateway to the Ukrainian government and internal affairs.
Unlike most EU countries, the relationship between France and the United Kingdom is particularly complicated. Unlike most EU countries, its relationship with the United States is tense. Unlike most EU countries, its relationship with Russia is ambiguous.
When a country takes over the EU presidency, it should put its politics in a secondary position. Our educated guess is that these unwritten rules will not apply in the next six months.
Summary
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Pay close attention, watch out, watch out…
- College meeting.
- First Vice President Frans Timmermans meets with Romanian Prime Minister Nicolas Chuka.
- Timmermans participated in a university visit to France, where France has assumed the rotating presidency of the European Union.
The opinions are those of the author.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic/ Alice Taylor]
