“We cannot afford to set limits for ourselves in the face of an enemy who sets none”

Opposition leaders left the Élysée very skeptical on Thursday, following the meeting called by Emmanuel Macron on the situation in Ukraine. After his controversial statement on a possible sending of ground troops to reinforce Kiev, the head of state wanted to receive the leaders of the parties represented in Parliament “in Saint-Denis format”. Far from saying nothing – even if 60% of French people consider that ” was wrong », according to the latest wave of the Odoxa-Backbone Consulting survey for Le Figaro-, the President of the Republic justified his position. “ We cannot afford to set limits for ourselves in the face of an enemy who sets no limits for himself. “, did he declare.

With supporting maps, Emmanuel Macron gave the guests an overview of the situation on the front, describing a Ukrainian army in difficulty due to lack of ammunition, and the risk of a retreat to the benefit of the Russians. “According to what he explained to us, there is a counter-offensive which has not had the expected success, a hardening of Russia which is in a logic of territorial conquest reports a participant. From there, we must support Ukraine to prevent it from losing, but it is not a question of putting ourselves in a belligerent position. » The president also spoke of cyber attacks against several European states, including France, and the threat to his interests in Africa and the Red Sea.

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“Inopportune position”

“Strategic ambiguity » claimed by Emmanuel Macron to put the Kremlin under pressure was at the heart of the discussions. The allies of the majority parties, François Bayrou (MoDem) and Édouard Philippe (Horizons), fully supported the positions of the head of state. The President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, estimated that Ukraine was the scene of a “existential war “. But the leaders of the opposition parties once again criticized in unison the president’s comments on the possibility of sending ground troops. Jordan Bardella added that he was shocked that the National Rally was “ostracized“. A reference to the attacks of Gabriel Attal, who saw fit to assimilate the RN to the “Vladimir Putin’s troops“. A statement that Jordan Bardella perceives as a comparison “to a foreign occupying army “, he declared as he left the Élysée, while castigating the positions “go to war » by Emmanuel Macron.

I arrived worried and I left more worried

Manuel Bompard, coordinator of La France insoumise

“I reiterated our total opposition to the commitment of ground troops», affirmed for his part Éric Ciotti, who sees in it a “inopportune position “. “I sincerely wonder about the usefulness of this meeting also scathed the boss of the Republicans as he left the Palace.Not much has come out of anything very concrete, anything very new . » The left was not short of criticism either. “I arrived worried and I left more worried “, declared the coordinator of La France insoumise, Manuel Bompard, while the national secretary of the Communist Party, Fabien Roussel, described an Emmanuel Macron “ready tomorrow to engage in a warlike escalation which can be dangerous“.

In the presidential entourage, it is emphasized that the head of state did not himself put on the table the sending of ground troops, but only answered a question during the conference of press which followed a meeting in support of Ukraine in Paris last week. Emmanuel Macron nevertheless drove the point home later, by calling on Ukraine’s allies on Tuesday to “not to be cowardly», and attracting an annoyed reaction from the German Minister of Defense. “France is not in an escalatory attitude. We respond with proportionalityassures someone close to the president.But if we are not ready to say that we exclude nothing, we take the risk that what happened before February 24, 2022 will be replayed.», day of the Russian invasion.

Undecided vote

Against the backdrop of the campaign for the European elections in June, Emmanuel Macron intends to put the political class against the wall next week, while the bilateral security agreement signed in mid-February with Ukraine will be the subject of a debate followed by a non-binding vote in Parliament – Tuesday in the Assembly, Wednesday in the Senate. A vote that the different groups approach in dispersed order. If LR does not rule out a positive vote, the ecologists and the PS are hesitant, while LFI and the communists are leaning towards a vote against. As for Jordan Bardella, he left the suspense hanging, saying “in favor of a bilateral agreement with Ukraine» but setting “red lines», starting with the country’s accession to the European Union and NATO.

Don’t say what you do, but do what you haven’t said. This is what allows for the most efficiency.

Francois Hollande

On Wednesday evening, ahead of this expanded format meeting, Emmanuel Macron successively received his predecessors François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy to discuss the subject one-on-one with them. “My position on military issues is: the less we say, the better we act.», Publicly tackled François Hollande at the end of their exchange. “Don’t say what you do, but do what you haven’t said. This is what allows for the most efficiency.“, he added. The former socialist president, who recalled having “met a lot» Vladimir Putin during his mandate (2012-2017), stressed the importance of “broadest consensus for support for Ukraine” For “make you think» the master of the Kremlin. “He was always in this search for the balance of power, he wants to impress, so the only possible response is to show that we are with the Ukrainians in total solidarity, that we give them all the necessary support, without ourselves participate in any fight“, he estimated. Nicolas Sarkozy did not respond to the press after his interview.

While the French political debate raged on Thursday, Moscow at the same time once again pointed the finger at Emmanuel Macron. The Kremlin spokesperson estimated that the head of state “continues to increase the level of direct involvement of France» in the conflict in Ukraine.