Macron is positioning himself as the leader of European diplomacy. Some allies are bothered by this

Macron’s controversial statement about the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine earned an immediate and public denial from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Bloomberg reports that it also angered US officials, who said Macron risked igniting a conflict with Moscow.

The French president subsequently defended himself by using his hints to ensure that Vladimir Putin could not be sure of anything. According to Bloomberg sources, however, this only forced Berlin to rule out the possibility of deploying Western troops in Ukraine and thus put an end to any confusion about where the allies have set “red lines”.

His statement was not even reasonable from the point of view of operational security, since several countries have already quietly deployed their military personnel to Ukraine.

According to Russia, France is preparing troops for Ukraine. They will be the first in line, threatened the head of Russian intelligence

Europe

According to Bloomberg, European military unity is all the more important right now because Putin may be even bolder in his actions after his re-election as president in the elections he held on the anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea ten years ago. At the same time, doubts about the stockpile of Ukrainian weapons have persisted for months. Nevertheless, it is possible that Macron’s toughening of his stance towards Putin is mainly motivated by domestic politics.

Macron and his allies are making Ukraine a key issue in June’s European Parliament elections, portraying his far-right rival Marine Le Pen as an ally of Putin. “It is increasingly clear that Russia is a threat to us,” Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu told French media on Tuesday. “We must not allow ourselves to count on a Russian victory,” he added.

Although his motivation may be domestic, it is clear that some European prime ministers recognize Macron as a leader, and many of them welcome his sharper opposition to Russia. According to Bloomberg, this results from the latest negotiations in Brussels. This is not hindered by the fact that France has joined the side of Poland and demands that the EU once again consider restricting Ukraine’s ability to freely export grain to the European market. Farmers across Europe are currently protesting against this.

Another reason why some allies are unhappy with Macron is that his words are often not followed by actions when it comes to supporting Ukraine. Bloomberg uses the ammunition initiative of the Czech Republic, which has been joined by a number of European countries. While Macron said France supports the initiative, it has not yet contributed to it. Germany, on the other hand, contributed 300 million euros (7.6 billion crowns) for the purchase of 180,000 pieces of ammunition.

According to the Kiel Institute, which monitors aid to Ukraine, France has lagged behind its allies in this regard since the very beginning of the Russian invasion. While the Germans promised Kyiv 22 billion euros (556.4 billion crowns), Paris promised only two billion (50.6 billion). The French government defends that these figures do not take into account how much effect its modern weapons have had on the battlefield.

Limit Ukrainian grain. France joins Poland, billions involved

Europe

In the role of de facto leader of European diplomacy, according to Bloomberg, Macron replaces Angela Merkel, who resigned as German chancellor in 2021. In this role, he sometimes allows himself more than other European leaders. According to the transcript of the conversation, which took place in Macron’s office, he was supposed to warn Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for example, that any forced removal of people from Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, where Israel is currently conducting a counter-offensive after the attack by Hamas on October 7, will mean the commission of a war crime.

“Macron missed the opportunity to lead Europe at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Now he is taking steps to correct this mistake,” assessed Rym Momtazová, a researcher at the International Institute of Strategic Studies.

Outside of Europe, Macron’s diplomacy has already met with several setbacks, Bloomberg reminds us. In particular, Macron’s African strategy is in ruins, he says, because France is unable to convince the Sahel states to tolerate the presence of the former colonial power. Macron has also long relied on the support of Niger, but France had to evacuate all its citizens from Niger last year after troops there took the country’s president, Mohamed Bazoum, hostage and took control of the country.

However, in seven years in office, Macron has gained a lot of experience that can be useful to Europe now. For example, he is only one of two G7 leaders with experience dealing with former US president and re-election candidate Donald Trump. Europe already has doubts about the American commitment to Ukraine, because the last batch of financial support in the amount of 60 billion dollars (1.4 trillion crowns) is stuck in Congress. And Bloomberg warns that the situation could get worse if Trump returns.

Macron showed off his biceps while boxing

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