France and its strategy of potential all-out war puts a bullseye on Europe

Preparing people for the necessity to support Ukraine without specifying or revealing any details.

This was the goal that the Head of French State attempted to present to the citizens of France on Thursday 14 March on TF1 and France 2 channels, in order to calm down the tension that rose from the infamous formula of “strategic ambiguity” and the outcry in France and abroad over his controversial statements on the possibility of sending allied troops to Ukraine.

"We have put too many limits on our vocabulary," stressed Macron, a few hours before flying to Berlin to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is very anxious to avoid escalation with Moscow, and who has been extremely annoyed by the one-sided approach Emmanuel Macron has taken in the recent weeks.

The French president and the German chancellor are due to attempt to clarify their common views and their differences on the issue during a tête-à-tête, before meeting Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. A three-way meeting that is scheduled a week ahead of the next European Council, will be largely devoted to the war in Ukraine.

"If Russia wins this war, Europe's credibility will be reduced to zero. The lives of the French would change. We would no longer have security in Europe. The security of the French is at stake over there", said Macron, also pointing to the disastrous consequences for the price of wheat and gas and for sovereignty.

That is a very rapid change in terms of a stance on a war in Ukraine from the French leader. A change that can only be described as hypocrisy or as Macron says- “evolution of views”. From “necessity to not humiliate Russia”, to “support without limits to Kiev”, his approach to the subject doesn’t appear to be as coherent as he presents it.

Meanwhile Germany denied Macron’s offer of possible boots on the ground, as did the United States. On the domestic political scene, the opposition is absolutely filled with anger.

"Emmanuel Macron is playing warlord, but it's our children's lives he's talking about so carelessly. It's peace or war in our country that we're talking about", said the chair of the far-right group in the National Assembly, Marine Le Pen, on the social network X.

The leader of La France insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, added: “The era of nonsense” (in regard to Macron’s position)

So, how does Emmanuel Macron justify such a sudden change of heart? According to him, the risks have grown, not only to Ukraine but to the whole European continent. But the situation, according to the French media, is a bit more personal than that.

As daily Le Monde and Le Figaro have reported on several occasions, the reason why Macron has become more aggressive towards Russia is not only the necessity to reduce the risks, even though the presence of French military in Ukraine will raise them significantly but also due to the fact that he believes that Putin have lied to him and humiliated him personally. So, is this all about ego, in the end?

May be. But the lack of having a line of behavior that follows up with his words, a certain double-standard-oriented approach consistently comes up as part of the common line of Macron’s view on the geopolitics and life in general.

"Your President launches one idea and by the time we reacted, he had proposed three in the opposite direction", the Portuguese Prime Minister, Antonio Costa, said jokingly as he spoke to one of his French contacts, according to Le Monde. In this case the joke is less of a joke and more of a reality.

For those who viewed the video of negotiations between Putin and Macron in the early days before the war between Ukraine and Russia, an interesting moment was taped by the French TV channels. In it, Macron arrogantly jokes with Putin in regard to Donetsk separatists, claiming they can’t and never will be a part of the Minsk negotiations. “So, I donʼt know where your lawyer studied law,” claims the French leader, following laughs and applause in the conference room where his advisors listen to the conversation. This is a poignant moment also for an Azerbaijani public who have long tried to understand the opposite position of Macron when it comes to Karabakh. So, where did Macron’s lawyer study law? That’s a question worth asking too.

Jamal Mustafayev