#Macron #send #European #soldiers #Ukraine
The upcoming elections in the United States and the European Union are also slowing down the decision on military and financial support for Ukraine, while the new NATO Secretary General has not been elected yet. Sensing this power vacuum, Macron may have thought that he should enthusiastically stand behind Ukraine, shake up the allies with his statement that they would even send European soldiers to the front. It is certain that he succeeded in shaking up public opinion, it is even less likely that his words will have anything to do with reality.
Viktor Orban until then he said that the European Union wanted to send soldiers to Ukraine, that it turned out to be true. At least that’s what it seemed to those who listened to what he said Emmanuel Macron French President on Monday evening.
There is no official agreement to send troops, but anything is possible. We will do everything necessary to prevent Russia from winning this war
– said Macron at a press conference, after which he immediately shook up the continent’s politics. It turned out that there is so much lack of official agreement that almost no one supports the idea. The member states took turns against Macron’s words, Poland, Hungary and even Germany protested, but Macron was also criticized from France, and even his own prime minister softened what the French president could have talked about. Only Lithuania received open support for Macron’s idea, but the Lithuanians also did not say that they would be happy to send their own soldiers to fight in Ukraine.
By the way, Macron wasn’t the first to come up with the idea. Robert Fico the Slovak president already spoke on Sunday that, according to a secret document, several EU member states would support sending soldiers to Ukraine. Since Fico had previously explicitly opposed military aid to Ukraine, not many people took it seriously at the time that such a document could really exist.
However, the question arises as to why all this is happening. Why did Macron talk about sending soldiers to Ukraine?
It is worth starting from the basic position. On Monday, Macron hosted some of the European leaders at the Elysée Palace to talk about Ukraine. The delicate sentences were spoken at the end of this meeting. The meeting itself was necessary because Ukraine is not in a good position.
US military support now appears to be essential for the attacked country to achieve its military goals. Although these goals are not and have never been precisely defined, they range from the survival of the country to the defeat of Russia. In the United States, however, decision-making on the planned military aid has stalled.
Not necessarily because America no longer wants to help the Ukrainians. The United States is currently in the midst of one of the longest campaign seasons of all time Joe Biden president and Donald Trump between ex-presidents. Trump has practically captured some of the Republican members of the House of Representatives, who do not want to vote for the combined package on the protection of the US southern border and on the aid given to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan.
Of course, this does not mean that they do not want to give support, since the Republicans are especially supportive of Israel and border protection. Rather, it means that they are waiting, let Trump use the disorganization of border protection and Russia’s advance against Biden in the campaign, and let Trump solve these matters afterwards. Despite this, the support may still go through until the elections, because the Republicans have so far not been strong in keeping their own party together in the House of Representatives, and several Republicans in the Senate voted for the package. The start of American support is also hinted at by the fact that Israel is starting to choose a side more and more clearly in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, moreover, against the Russians, who frequently negotiate with Hamas. However, the relationship between Israel and the American right-wing should not be underestimated.
Beata Zawrzel / NurPhoto / Getty Images
The fact that Russia is in a good strategic position is shown by the recapture of Avgyijivka, which was perhaps the most significant Russian victory in the war in the last two years. In addition, according to Western services, Russia may be preparing another major strike against Ukraine in order to break the wavering Ukrainian resistance.
In such a situation, it is understandable that many people want to shake up the Western allies. It was no accident that Ukraine suddenly shot down 10 Russian aircraft, including four particularly expensive Su-34s, showing that despite territorial losses, the damage it can inflict on the Russian air force and fleet should not be underestimated.
One of Macron’s characteristics is that he likes to enter the leadership role spectacularly when he feels that a vacuum has been created. And now you can feel just that. The US backtracking and Germany’s constant aloofness created a leadership vacuum in terms of support for Ukraine. Moreover, several leaders who particularly enthusiastically supported the Ukrainian struggle are in a politically uncertain situation. Mark Rutte he is only acting prime minister of the Netherlands, and although there is a good chance that he will become the new secretary general of NATO, he has not been elected yet. Ursula von der Leyen and he is campaigning to become the president of the European Commission again.
Macron’s political change also fits in with his enthusiastic stance on Ukraine. For the French president, the “zeitenwende”, or historical turning point, arrived last year, when he began to speak more and more harshly about Russia and practically apologized for trying to mediate between the parties at the beginning of the war.
Loud support, on the other hand, is quite problematic if it is not followed by real action. However, there may be criticisms of France, which are regularly expressed by the aloof Germany. In the past, Ukraine was primarily supported with weapons by the United States, while the European Union provided money for the state’s operation. This has now evened out, the EU already gives Ukraine as much ammunition and weapons as America.
However, there are significant differences between EU member states. France, for example, promised and gave only 635 million euros in military aid, while Germany already gave 17.7 billion euros. In the data published by the Kiel institute, they included weapons and ammunition that were not given, which is a bit distorted, in addition to the weapons that were actually given. in the picture, but it would be difficult to distort it to such an extent. Germany, on the other hand, became Ukraine’s second largest supporter of munitions, right after the United States. And this Olaf Scholz the chancellor also likes to emphasize, especially when President Macron calls for vocal support.
The French answer to this is usually that they may not promise much, but they give it, moreover, they give it from the weapons that the Ukrainians really ask for. Germany still refuses to give Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine, while the British have already given their Storm Shadow missile, and the French have promised SCALP cruise missiles.
And here comes the question that no one openly wanted to answer until now: are there already EU soldiers in Ukraine. The Germans do not want to sell the Taurus precisely because German soldiers would have to help them use them. Until then, the United States had also tried to avoid providing technology that would require the provision of soldiers. Target coordinates were unofficially given to the Ukrainians, but the targeting was never done by the Americans, so that the participation of American soldiers in operations against Russia would not arise.
Scholz, on the other hand, while explaining why the Taurus missiles were not delivered, made a mistake: he implied that both the French and the British were doing it by having their soldiers target Russian targets with missile systems, which Germany did not want to do until now. However, it was not officially known that soldiers of other European armies would do this either.
With his recent statements, Macron could also indicate that there are continuous steps in the level of support for Ukraine. The French president also said that two years ago there were people who wanted to send sleeping bags and helmets, while now they are giving tanks and airplanes.
Mathilde Kaczkowski / Hans Lucas / AFP – French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Elysée Palace in Paris on February 26, 2024.
However, it is much more likely that in Macron’s mind, the current speech was intended to be a rhetorical restart to shake up the Western alliance and make them understand that giving weapons is still much easier than sending soldiers.
Macron’s recent speech is almost one-for-one Mario Draghitólborrowed from the president of the European Central Bank, although he did not use the phrase in connection with a war, but in order to protect the euro, that they can do anything to save the common currency.
Whatever it takes.
– said the sentence in English, and it still comes from Macron’s mouth. The only difference is that in the case of Draghi, it was clear that he was able to fulfill what he promised.
