François Ruffin, an MP with the radical left La France Insoumise (LFI) party who is preparing for the 2027 presidential elections, sketches a delicate pas de deux with the stances of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the LFI group at the Assemblée Nationale. He advocates for the rearmament of both Europe and Ukraine, but does not rule out negotiating with Vladimir Putin.
We have no lessons to receive from a man who welcomed Vladimir Putin to Versailles and the Fort de Brégançon [the president's official place of retreat] when Crimea had already been invaded, and Anna Politkovskaya and other opponents murdered. Macron's zigzags − from "don't humiliate Russia" to saying that France's support for Ukraine "has no limits" − his reversals are not only losing the French, but also our allies.
On the other hand, there's our consistency. For the past two years, the entire left has voted yes in the European Parliament and the Assemblée Nationale on all texts sanctioning Russia, and on all military and civilian aid shipments to Ukraine. But in the bilateral agreement, NATO is mentioned 11 times, and the prospect of Ukraine joining the Alliance is strongly endorsed. However, in his speech to the Assemblée on Tuesday, PM Gabriel Attal and Macron both failed to mention this. It's a lie by omission. No, over the past two decades, from Kosovo to Libya, NATO has not been "a factor of stability" in the world.
You don't question military security agreements in the middle of a conflict. What is the real issue? I'm struck by the contrast between the situation on the front line, which all diplomats say is "bogged down" or "frozen," and the flare-up in the rhetoric. People are increasingly worried. But why? Because Donald Trump may be returning to the White House. Because, in any case, the US is increasingly turning to the Pacific.
As a result, its withdrawal, if not abandonment, has been announced. Let's not get carried away by fantasies: Russian tanks are not coming to Kyiv, and we won't see them in Strasbourg or Paris. On the other hand, in Poland and Latvia, those "bloodlands" so often invaded by their immense neighbor, it is understandable that there is more anxiety. Until now, these Atlanticist Eastern European countries have taken refuge under the NATO umbrella. Now, doubt is creeping in, and the idea is emerging that "building our own umbrella wouldn't be a bad idea".
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