by Michael Rose
PARIS, May 31 (Reuters) – Emmanuel Macron admitted on Wednesday that France should have listened more carefully to Eastern European countries when they warned of Russia’s belligerent attitude ahead of its invasion of Ukraine.
The French president said there could be no division between ‘an old Europe’ and ‘a new Europe’, referring to the differences between Western European countries and their Eastern neighbors on certain issues, notably Russia.
“Some people told you then that you were losing opportunities to remain silent. I also believe that we have sometimes lost opportunities to listen”, said the head of state during a speech delivered in Bratislava at the forum GLOBSEC, dedicated to security in Eastern and Northern Europe.
Emmanuel Macron was referring to remarks made in 2003 by former President Jacques Chirac, then in office, who said that the Eastern European countries which had supported the decision of the United States and Great Britain to invade Iraq had missed “an opportunity to shut up”.
This remark had shocked the countries of Eastern Europe and helped to fuel distrust of Paris among the newest members of the European Union, a feeling revived since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Members of the EU’s eastern flank, such as Poland, criticized Emmanuel Macron for continuing to communicate with Russian President Vladimir Putin after the invasion of Ukraine, and for calling not to ‘humiliate’ Russia as part of international efforts to end the Ukrainian conflict.
The French president also considered on Wednesday that Europe must build its own defense industry and not only rely on the United States to ensure its protection, acknowledging however that the financial and material contributions made by Washington had been crucial for form a credible front against Moscow.
Emmanuel Macron called for thanks to the United States, stressing however the uncertainty reigning around the next American administration and the need to develop the influence of European countries within NATO.
The next presidential election in the United States will be held in November 2024 and could pit current White House tenant Joe Biden against his predecessor, Donald Trump.
The former US president said during his term that European countries should spend more on their own defence.
Emmanuel Macron indicated that Russia had suffered obvious setbacks during the conflict, believing that what was to be a “special operation” had ended in a “geopolitical failure”. (Reportage Michel Rose; French version Camille Raynaud, edited by Nicolas Delame)
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