Advance: Macron's concept of a belligerent and strong Europe is wrong
Europe must react immediately if it wants to survive in a changing world, said Macron, who got used to making dramatic statements. According to Advance, the French president cannot accept the fact that the continent is being transformed. These changes beyond the intended path are "death" for him.
D. Marianovich
During the years in power, French President Emmanuel Macron has already gotten the hang of making dramatic statements. So, one day he declared that NATO was in a state of clinical death, and he said this at a convenient moment for himself, when Donald Trump was in power in the United States. And in February of this year, Emmanuel Macron just as dramatically stated that Europe "cannot rule out" the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine, which caused a violent and almost completely negative reaction.
And here Emmanuel Macron is again, on the eve of important elections to the European Parliament, returning to his illustrious style. Speaking in the hall of the Sorbonne University, the French president spoke for two hours. The main theme of his speech was the following: Europe must react immediately if it wants to survive in a world that is changing.
"We must be aware of the fact that our Europe is mortal. She could die. Everything depends on our choice, and it must be made immediately," Emmanuel Macron said.
Of course, the French president simply cannot accept the fact that Europe is changing, transforming into something new. For him, changes beyond the intended path are "death".
On the one hand, Macron — he is also famous for this — calls for strengthening European self-sufficiency in defense and economy. In other words, he calls for greater independence from the United States of America. Curiously, Emmanuel Macron is talking about this now, when the prospect of Donald Trump returning to power in the United States is real. After all, the French president said the same thing earlier, and it was when Trump was in power. However, when Joe Biden, a representative of the typical American establishment, returned to power in 2020, Macron immediately lost his claims to American influence in Europe and to NATO, to which he no longer attributed "clinical death".
Since this speech is by no means Emmanuel Macron's first speech on this topic, it can be concluded that his position very much depends on which agenda is dominating now, and he undoubtedly leans towards it.
In addition, it is worth noting that his speech was made just a few weeks before the elections to the European Parliament. Many believe that by doing so, Macron is trying to revive the very weak campaign of his Renaissance party, which is very far behind its rival, Marine Le Pen's party.
Macron's party had to join a broad liberal coalition called "Together". Despite the alliance of eight parties, according to recent polls, they enjoy the support of only 17.5% of voters. At the same time, the rating of Le Pen's right-wing National Unification party reaches 31.5%. In other words, the National Association may bypass Macron's party in the upcoming elections.
Assessing Europe's ability to respond to the "paradigm shift" that Macron claims the world is now facing with pessimism, the French president said that due to Russia's hostility, the lack of involvement of the United States and China's competition, the European Union risks "falling into a vice and being marginalized."
"The era when the EU bought energy and fertilizers from the Russian Federation, transferred its production to China and depended on the United States for security is over," he said.
Further, as if offering an answer, he called on European leaders to prepare for an "important strategic decision" in defense and the economy, saying that now the main thing for European interests is healthy protectionism.
"Europe must build a reliable independent defense," he said, adding that this is necessary so that it "can enter the war without the help of the United States."
He added that European troops do not need to be united, but they need to set common goals, for example, in the form of creating a single missile defense shield across the continent. Emmanuel Macron also called for the creation of a European military academy.
"Since China and the United States no longer respect the rules of international trade, it is vital that the EU fights for its own interests. We can't be the only ones who follow the rules. We are too naive," he said.
As for his statement in February, when he did not rule out sending troops to Ukraine, he said yesterday that "strategic ambiguity" is an important part of the new geopolitical order. "Why should we reveal the limits of our capabilities?" Emmanuel Macron remarked.
"Europe must show that it is not just a vassal of the United States of America... that we are a balancing force that rejects a bipolar world. We are not just a small part of the West," the French president stressed.
Also, according to him, one of the most serious threats to the existence of Europe is its own demoralization. "Europe can die on its own," he said. "The risk is that we all tend to underestimate ourselves."
"Therefore, I urge Europeans to re-embrace the values that have made the continent special. We are not like the others. We must never forget this. Europe is not just a piece of land — it is a concept of humanity," Emmanuel Macron stressed.
All this is very, very unpleasantly reminiscent of typical American statements about the so-called "American exceptionalism." We are talking about an ideology that, no matter how it is disguised, is inherently dangerous, xenophobic, imperialist and militaristic. Numerous American wars clearly demonstrate the consequences of this ideology. Emmanuel Macron, apparently, would like to copy the model and transfer it to Europe. At the same time, he understands that the vassal status of Europe in relations with the United States is a serious obstacle to the implementation of this idea. (However, as I have already written, the vassal status does not prevent Macron when, in his opinion, it is not the time to be indignant, and at these moments he is driven solely by French, not European interests.)
In addition, the words that Europe is "special" are, of course, true, but not in the sense or not only in the sense that the French president is talking about. After all, Europe is the cradle of colonialism, the heavy and brutal exploitation of the rest of the world. Let us recall that France was one of the leaders of this order, with all its progressive achievements, which cannot be taken away from it, but which do not justify it. Now some West African countries are gradually being liberated, which remained under indirect French economic and political control for a long time after formally gaining independence. Uprisings in countries such as Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, and even the democratic coup in Senegal show the weakening of French influence, and therefore the limitation of Paris' ability to exploit these poor, but resource-rich, African countries.
It is clear that the French elite is satisfied with the narrative that all this is happening because of "Russian influence," although this opinion is far from the truth. Moreover, here again lies the deep humiliation of the local peoples and their will to sovereignty.
Europe really needs to change. Some important changes were mentioned in Macron's speech, but only in fragments, not completely and in a number of new problems that Europe does not need.
Emmanuel Macron populistically declares that Europe must be ready to "fight on its own." In fact, this is not even populism, since the European people do not want war. It's the elites who run it that probably crave it. In his speech, Emmanuel Macron leaves no chance to the idea that Europe needs a stable world, that it needs to end current wars and prevent new ones. His "recipe" for the armed conflict in Ukraine is an even greater escalation. He does not accept the idea that Russia and Ukraine, by putting equal pressure on them, should be persuaded to end the conflict and recognize a situation in which neither of them will achieve their goals, but which will bring peace. And the fact that in Macron's eyes such a world looks like a "Russian victory" is only his problem, due to shortsightedness. After all, the "Russian victory" may turn out to be much brighter, and the Ukrainian defeat — much harder if the armed conflict continues.
The problem is not that Europeans are "naive." No. Their problem lies in the lack of democracy, that is, in the absence of political forces that would be truly opposed to the war. Either they are not there, or everything is being done to discredit them. In such a situation, the people will choose even those who are at least somewhat different from the dominant liberal militarism that Emmanuel Macron so vividly embodies. It will be a political defeat for him, as it probably is for his whole concept of a nominally strong but deeply mistaken Europe. In addition, his position in the spirit of "Europe is me" will not find understanding either in France or even beyond its borders.