Laura Laplaud with AFP
modified to
11:28 a.m., March 10, 2024
The National Assembly examines the French aid strategy for Ukraine on Tuesday, during a debate followed by a symbolic vote, which will above all serve as a confrontation between the majority, the National Rally and La France insoumise, this three months before the European elections.
Emmanuel Macron “puts on the clothes of a war leader”
“For the RN, facing Russia, all weakness, all weakness is good,” said Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on Saturday during a meeting in Lille, thus setting the likely tone at the Palais-Bourbon on Tuesday. The oppositions have repeatedly condemned the recent outings of President Macron, who does not rule out sending ground troops to Ukraine and wants “no limits” in support for kyiv. A “worrying” posture for Fabien Roussel, national secretary of the French Communist Party (PCF), guest of the Grand Rendez-vous Europe 1/CNews/Les Échos.
“I think he is jabbing with warlike language, but that he himself does not believe for a single moment that France is going to get involved in this,” he slipped.
Is Emmanuel Macron seeking to use the war in Ukraine for domestic political purposes? Yes, according to the national secretary of the PCF. “He is stirring up a counter-fire, a way of diverting the attention of the French on this conflict and in the meantime, there is a catastrophe in France. The social situation is deplorable, the purchasing power of the French melts like snow in the sun and there is no response, whether for farmers, for employees, for our public services. It is a way for him to put on the clothes of a war leader while waging a war which does a lot of harm to our country”, assured Fabien Roussel.
“France does not need a French-style George Bush”
“I have the feeling that he thinks he is the American head of state Bush in 2003. We do not need a Bush in France. We do not need a military leader in France, we “We need a coalition for peace, and to bring peace to Europe,” he said.
Regarding the Franco-Ukrainian security agreement of February 16 examined Tuesday in the Assembly, Fabien Roussel assures him, “if the Prime Minister’s speech takes up the elements that are in the treaty that Mr. Macron signed with Volodymyr Zelensky, we will vote against.”
“This treaty says several things. It says in particular that Ukraine must join NATO. It’s a provocation, it’s stupidity. And besides, Ukraine will never join NATO because that will be part of the discussions. The other thing is that it says ‘unlimited military support’ […] today we are crossing a dangerous threshold for the future of Europe and for peace in Europe and we do not want to cross this threshold. For us, party of peace, it is as if we assassinated Jean Jaurès a second time. We are at the dawn of a dangerous military escalation,” assured the Northern MP.
The Franco-Ukrainian agreement, concluded for a period of ten years, includes a strengthening of military cooperation, particularly in the areas of artillery and air defense. In 2024, Paris promises to provide “up to 3 billion euros of additional support”, funding that oppositions could question as the government has just announced a series of budget cuts.
Guest of the Grand Rendez-vous Europe 1/CNews/Les Échos this Sunday, Fabien Roussel indicates that the French Communist Party will certainly take an initiative on Tuesday, that of calling on all fellow citizens to mobilize and express their rejection of going further into the war. “And why not gather all over France in front of the war memorials, to come and hold a vigil. We will be what we will be, but we must make the candles of peace burn, say stop the war and ensure that the “we are pushing and putting pressure on the President of the Republic,” he concluded. After the Assembly, a similar debate will be held in the Senate on Wednesday.