Following his controversial statements on the possibility of committing ground troops to Ukraine, President Emmanuel Macron summoned the heads of France’s main political parties to the Élysée Palace on Thursday to discuss France’s diplomatic position and try to convince them of the validity of his arguments. He met with hostility from both Left and Right.
Since Emmanuel Macron’s statement in which he raised the prospect of sending ground troops to support Ukraine against Russia, the French political class has expressed its annoyance and hostility towards the head of state’s comments, which are deemed irresponsible.
The overwhelming majority of French political forces are contesting the content of Macron’s proposal and are opposed to sending French soldiers to Eastern Europe—but also the way in which he has spoken and the way in which the president has imposed his strategic line by dispensing with any foreign policy debate in parliament.
A debate is due to take place in the National Assembly and Senate on March 12th and 13th on the bilateral security agreement signed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but it has come late in the day: until now, the French national representatives have not been asked about the arrangements for French support for Ukraine, a situation that has been criticised by several members of parliament.
Les Républicains senator Alain Houpert, a member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, explained on March 5th:
I repeat once again, and our President Gérard Larcher has confirmed it. France’s commitment to the war against Russia must go through parliament, and I am astonished that a parliamentarian would so easily relinquish his responsibility to the French people.
On Thursday, March 7th, representatives of France’s main political groupings, from both Left and Right, met at the presidential palace to prepare for the forthcoming parliamentary debate. For Emmanuel Macron, the meeting was also an opportunity for a political test and a communication weapon in the campaign for the European elections: “We’ll see who’s for Zelensky and who’s for Putin,” said an official of the presidential majority ahead of the meeting.
During the meeting, Macron did not back down and even confirmed his controversial remarks. He stated that there was “no limit” or “red line” to France’s support for Ukraine. These words provoked a violent reaction from party leaders on all sides, who all agreed on the need for “unwavering support for Ukraine,” but considered the idea of sending French soldiers to fight against the Russians to be “irresponsible,” according to comments reported by Le Monde.
On the Left, communist party secretary general Fabien Roussel was alarmed by what he saw as a radical change in France’s international position on Ukraine: “The President of the Republic is clearly telling the French people, the political forces, that France’s position has changed. There are no more red lines, there are no more limits.” Marine Tondelier, national secretary of the green party Europe Écologie Les Verts, was equally concerned. “We have to be very, very careful when we use the words ‘without limits’ between nuclear powers,” she told France Info after the meeting at the Elysée Palace.
The right-wing parties were also very concerned about the President’s rhetoric. Éric Ciotti, president of the Les Républicains party, reiterated “his total opposition to committing troops on the ground.” Jordan Bardella, president of the Rassemblement National, criticised Emmanuel Macron’s temptation to use the war in Ukraine for political ends in the context of the European elections, in order to play on his authority as head of state to undermine the credibility of his opponents. He pointed out that “there must be limits when one of the main belligerents is a nuclear power and is looking France in the face,” and described Emmanuel Macron’s attitude as “to the point of extremism.” Jordan Bardella also indicated that his party was in favour of a bilateral agreement with Ukraine but reiterated its categorical reservations on two crucial points: Ukraine’s entry into the European Union and its membership in NATO. The President of the Rassemblement National also expressed concern about France’s ability to finance the agreement, with Macron pledging €3 billion in aid to Ukraine for 2024 at a time when the government is communicating the need for austerity and the need to save €10 billion in the current budget.
The parliamentary debate on March 12-13 promises to be stormy. French parliamentarians have not had the opportunity to express their views on foreign policy since June 2021, when discussions were held on the military programming law, as Public Sénat points out.
