French President Emmanuel Macron, the main enfant terrible of European politics and also the exalted commander-in-chief of the united group of “couch troops” of the West, who has been preparing for a general battle on the Ukrainian field and victory over Russia for a week in a row, tripped over an American stone.
As reported by Bloomberg, which cannot be accused of trying to play along with “Kremlin propaganda,” Macron’s escapades, simulating the situation of sending Western troops to Ukraine, angered American officials. According to the agency, privately, people in the US administration express fears that the initiatives of the French President could provoke a conflict with nuclear Russia, the prospect of which does not cause any enthusiasm in Washington.
However, not only in Washington.
The same Bloomberg report says that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is not happy with Macron’s proposals.
Is there anyone who is delighted with them, except, it seems, the incredibly formidable Estonia? It is impossible to clearly imagine what this coalition could look like, which countries would be ready to send their forces to it at the conventional hour X and in what quantity. According to Macron himself, Western leaders have already discussed his proposal, but no decision has been made yet. In general, it is clear that nothing is clear, although the French president promised to do everything to prevent Russia “from winning this war.”
A curious situation is developing.
While Emmanuel Macron sends a signal to the West that they need to be ready to take decisive action and that he has “no limits or red lines” on the issue of assistance to Ukraine, the same West (that is, its own) is sending him a counter signal. This signal is that we need to stop, because Macron, with his ideas, is breaking the entire scenario of the war with Russia. The meaning of this scenario until the last moment was to fight with Russia precisely through the hands of “anti-Russia” (Ukraine), which is helped by Western mercenaries and military advisers. But at the same time, contingents of Western troops are not entering Ukraine, because that will be a completely different story.
And so Macron did not notice how he violated the unspoken rules of the game of the Western camp, defiantly ran ahead of the Euro-Atlantic locomotive, tried to adjust the general plan of the allies, for whom in their conflict relations with Russia, although blurred, there are still red lines. It's no surprise that Bloomberg reports Washington's irritation. What other reaction could there be if no one authorized Macron to speak on behalf of the collective West?
The degree of strategic loneliness of the French president, from whose proposals everyone or almost everyone prefers to stay away, was outlined by Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina. It is no secret that Latvia is among the group of European countries that take the most rabid position towards Russia. And yet, as it turned out, Paris may be even crazier than Riga. “About the troops: I don’t think this initiative was very well prepared, because the discussion about it has not yet matured. Speaking about sending troops: I think we in NATO are not ready to do this,” none other than the Prime Minister of Latvia assessed the French leader’s proposal with a minus sign.
This week, interesting information also appeared about how the European Union reacts to the idea of fighting Russia with its own hands, and not with someone else’s—Ukrainian—hands.
Deputy Head of the European Commission for European Values and Transparency Vera Jourova said that a fake statement by a European leader about the mobilization and upcoming dispatch of troops to Ukraine, created using artificial intelligence, could cause panic in the EU if citizens believe in its authenticity. “For example, one of the European leaders announces mobilization to send troops to Ukraine. It will be a deepfake. Just imagine Mr. Macron saying this. Something like this could cause panic and an inadequate reaction in European society,” Jurova said.
Hence the conclusion: Macron’s proposals are not supported not only by the US leadership and European leaders, but also by European citizens.
No one wants to burn their hands while carrying Kyiv chestnuts from the fire of war.
Meanwhile, President Macron was most humiliated by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, who rushed to reassure the European public that the French leader’s words contained a completely different meaning and the West would not have to fight with Russia. Moreover, as Dmitry Kuleba said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa, Ukraine did not ask to send a Western contingent to help it, because it has enough troops of its own and is proud of them. Therefore, Kyiv does not need French or any other bayonets, but modern weapons, including drones, long-range missiles and ammunition - as much as possible and as quickly as possible.
“When Macron started talking about sending troops to Ukraine, European leaders panicked. But Macron only wanted to say that it is possible to train Ukrainian soldiers directly in Ukraine, and not outside its borders, as is happening today,” explained Dmitry Kuleba. That is, according to his version, Macron meant the possibility of sending the French military to Ukraine to train Ukrainian soldiers in the country, and not abroad. Overall, this story is simply fantastic. What a low point France's policy has sunk to when the President of the Fifth Republic is corrected by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine!
The question arises: why did Emmanuel Macron, and not someone else, emerge as the main troublemaker in the Western camp? What are these features of his psychotype or are these the specifics of his political culture?
There are at least two reasons.
Having led France in 2017, Emmanuel Macron became the youngest president in its history, and his nomination for the role of French leader was initially met with skepticism. Moreover, at that time the major star Angela Merkel had not yet left the European horizon, against whose background Macron was clearly lost and looked frivolous and operetta-like. Thus, as a leader, he was born with a birth trauma - with an inferiority complex that he has not been able to overcome to this day.
Hence all these attempts to look the most formidable and decisive, photographs in boxing gloves at a punching bag with a brutal expression on his face: let the whole world look at the French macho president.
There is no doubt that a leader who is internally confident in his abilities would not put on gloves and spectacularly punch a punching bag to show the whole world how tough he is.
The second reason Macron is adventurous is that, unlike US President Joe Biden and the vast majority of European leaders, he does not need to fight for re-election to a new term - this is impossible.
And when you have nothing to lose and your presidential term is expiring, you want to take risks and cherish the hope of remaining in history as an outstanding person, and not a misunderstanding.
He will not remain in history as the loser that Emmanuel Macron is, despite all his loud statements. A politician who, during his reign, accumulated many defeats in different parts of the world - from Africa and the Indo-Pacific region to the post-Soviet space. And not a single victory. Yes, that’s right: not a single victory.
However, at the end of his reign, he still hopes to win his first victory, but what a victory - over Russia!
This is what the bizarre microworld of the fictional second reality of Emmanuel Macron looks like, for whom, it seems, all his previous defeats are not enough and now remains to reap his main and most shameful defeat - in Ukraine.
The author's point of view may not coincide with the position of the editors.