Wants to become a “European Churchill”: what prompts Macron to declare support for Ukraine

The position of French President Emmanuel Macron regarding military support for Ukraine has changed significantly. The leader of France began a public discussion about sending Western troops to the territory of our country.

The other day he also called on European leaders “not to be cowards “. On 24 Channel, political scientist Vladimir Fesenko said what prompted Macron to change the paradigm of supporting Ukraine.

“President of France wants to demonstrate his leadership potential. He claims to be a visionary and European security leader. Macron wants to become a “European Churchill”. He sees himself in such a role, but whether he is capable of it is another matter,” Fesenko said. < /p>

New challenges for Europe

According to the political scientist, the French leader wants to take advantage of the situation, because he sees that now a united Europe, which does not have its own security system, faces new challenges. First of all, military threats from on the Russian side and not only on Ukrainian soil, but also the risks that the aggressor country may, after some time, start a war against individual NATO countries.

We need to respond to this challenge, but Europe is absolutely unprepared for this,” Fesenko emphasized.

Now at European summits, leaders are already discussing a common defense strategy. However, so far the total amount in the defense budget of the European Union is 1.5 billion.

These funds are not enough even for Ukraine, and what can we say about a united Europe, – noted the political scientist.

According to him, EU countries need a long-term strategy for defense production, modernization of the armed forces, and the creation of their own rapid reaction forces. They started talking about this in the European Union even before the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2014. However, during this time they did nothing, but now it won’t work that way.

What’s wrong with Macron’s statements

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius responded to Macron’s call to Ukraine’s allies “not to be cowards.” According to him, such statements will not solve the problem with military support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

I believe that Pistorius answered reasonably. On the one hand, we must pay tribute to Macron, because he started this discussion, and on the other hand, let’s compare the volumes of military assistance to Ukraine from Germany and France. “Berlin has helped our country significantly more in terms of total arms supplies than Paris,” added Fesenko.

In his opinion, Macron’s position is ambiguous, but processes are going in the right direction. The Europeans have come to their senses and are beginning to accelerate the pace of assistance to Ukraine.

What they are saying in France about the introduction of troops into Ukraine

• Last week, Macron said the possibility of Western troops being sent to Ukraine “cannot be ruled out.” However, he noted the lack of consensus on this issue.
• Subsequently, the French President clarified that there was no talk of the immediate prospect of introducing Western troops into Ukraine.
• The French Foreign Ministry responded to the president’s statements. Foreign Minister Stephane Sejournet noted that French troops will not participate in military operations in Ukraine.