Arthur de Laborde // Credits: Bertrand GUAY / AFP
This Tuesday, MPs must vote on the Franco-Ukrainian security agreement, which provides for 3 billion euros in additional military aid to kyiv. A parliamentary debate which comes as oppositions unanimously condemn Emmanuel Macron’s recent outings, not excluding the sending of ground troops and in favor of total support for Ukraine.
A tumultuous atmosphere at the Assembly. While the oppositions unanimously condemn Emmanuel Macron’s recent outings, not excluding the sending of ground troops and in favor of support for Ukraine without “any limit”, the deputies will look, this Tuesday, on the French aid strategy for Kiev. Less than three months before the European elections, with this debate followed by a symbolic and non-binding vote, Emmanuel Macron above all wants to confront his camp with the Nupes and the National Rally.
Emmanuel Macron seeks to reveal a simplistic divide to get out of the game. On one side the kind defenders of Europe and the West and on the other the evil admirers of the Kremlin and its war against Ukraine . The message from the executive is clear: this Tuesday in the Assembly, it will not be so much a question of voting for the presidential camp, but against Vladimir Putin. Furthermore, by invoking an existential threat weighing on Europe, the head of state hopes to mobilize his troops on a subject which is part of the DNA of Macronism.
A risk of loss of credibility
The President is taking a political risk by asking parliamentarians to speak out. That of losing credibility in the face of the Kremlin if by chance the cooperation agreement already signed with Volodymyr Zelensky is not supported by the national representation. On the other hand, if as expected, the RN and Nupes abstain or vote against, the macronie will use it to pound them on this axis. In the sights of the majority: the RN elected officials presented for several weeks as agents of “submission” to Russia.