What pain does the French President have?
Author: Naeem Asgari, analyst, especially for “Sangar”
The initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron to send NATO troops to Ukraine became a sensation. Many military experts began to predict a direct clash between Russia and NATO and also praised the head of France for his courage. But only a few analysts correctly grasped the true purpose of Emmanuel Macron's move.
Indeed, NATO is closely monitoring the Russian-Ukrainian conflict but is trying in every possible way not to escalate the situation and avoid a direct clash with the Russian Federation. Considering the high probability of Donald Trump coming to power in the United States, who generally stated that NATO may cease to exist and Europe will have to defend itself, a direct conflict between Europe and Russia is undesirable for the traditional leaders of the EU - France and Germany. After all, over the past 20 years, these countries have already forgotten what real combat operations are.
This is evidenced by the abandonment of African territories by the French military. Well, in Germany, in general, over the last 10 years, politicians have disarmed their army so much that out of 20 combat-ready brigades, only three remain, and those, according to the Germans themselves, are of limited combat capability. Therefore, there is no talk of any confrontation between Russia and NATO in Ukraine. In addition, Emmanuel Macron’s statement did not find support among Western political elites.
The issue of sending a NATO contingent to Ukraine was put on the agenda of the international conference of Ukraine's allied countries in Paris, but the overwhelming majority of heads of state rejected the French initiative.
“Macron's remarks were a departure from the restraint shown by Western allies. He tried to fill the leadership vacuum, but his attempt to show Russia's strength worked against him,” analysts of the American newspaper Wall Street Journal summarized.
As the French newspaper Le Figaro reported, “EU leaders reacted coldly to Macron’s remarks about the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine. No EU or NATO country present at the conference openly expressed interest in Macron's proposal."
And German Chancellor Olaf Scholz unequivocally stated that “there will be neither ground forces nor soldiers on Ukrainian soil who will be sent there by European states or NATO countries.” Well, Jens Stoltenberg summed up the opinion of the collective West, calling on the French leader to take into account the position of all members of the North Atlantic Alliance.
In fact, Emmanuel Macron is not going to fight with Russia. And the French leader does not have any great plans to increase the prestige of his country. Macron is driven by ordinary human prudence. He has his last presidential term, after which he will no longer be able to get elected and will need to look for a cushy place.
Therefore, the main and only goal of the French president at present is to seize the role of leader and activist within NATO from the hands of the decrepit and constantly forgetting Joseph Biden and the inert Olaf Scholz. Then, after the end of his presidential term, Macron (and he is only 46 years old) will be able to count on the position of NATO Secretary General, which is currently occupied by Jens Stoltenberg.
You can't find a better place. Sit down, express concerns, and hold summits and conferences. So even the heads of state have earthly thoughts. And they act the same way as ordinary careerists.
Indeed, madness cannot be imagined greater than this. Macron nearly dragged Europe into a bloodbath. It's good that he didn't succeed...
