Before the debates planned in the National Assembly and the Senate, Tuesday March 12 and Wednesday March 13, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, received party leaders on Thursday March 6 in the morning to discuss the situation in Ukraine. This meeting – on the “Saint-Denis format” – comes after the declarations of the Head of State “do not exclude[ant] not “ sending “ground troops” in the Ukrainian conflict.
“I think that will clarify” the positions, Mr. Macron told a few journalists on Tuesday on the sidelines of a trip to Prague, talking about this meeting. Especially since his declarations had caused embarrassment among France’s allies and strong criticism among his opponents.
On his arrival at the Elysée, the coordinator of La France insoumise, Manuel Bompard, thus ” guest “ Mr. Macron “a little more measured”deploring a speech which, according to him, “discredited”, ” isolated “ And “weakened” France.
The boss of the socialists Olivier Faure, for his part, accused the head of state of having carried out “the unity of all” the Westerners “against France” and offered “unprecedented clarity” to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the fact “that none of these countries want to commit ground troops”. “It’s really a problem of amateurism at this stage”added the head of the Ecologists Marine Tondelier, evoking a “virilist statement”.
“The less we say, the better we act”
After speaking with Mr. Macron on Wednesday evening at the Elysée, former socialist president François Hollande called for no alteration “the unity of Europe”while defending “ [sa] position on military questions: the less we say, the better we act”. “Do not say what you are doing, but do what you have not said. This is what allows for the most efficiency”he judged, after being questioned about the declarations of the head of state.
For its part, the National Rally, through its president Jordan Bardella, estimated that Mr. Macron had done “the Kremlin game” in “laying out in broad daylight the divisions of Europe”. Three months before the European elections scheduled for June 9, the presidential camp accepts this divide with the far right on the Ukrainian question, wishing to show the complacency of the RN vis-à-vis Vladimir Putin.
“Don’t let nationalisms in. They were already war, now they are defeat against Russia”, notably launched Mr. Macron in front of his ministers on Wednesday. Traveling to The Hague, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal once again accused the RN on Wednesday of “support Russia more than Ukraine”.