Already a year of war in Ukraine, a year of destruction, looting, executions, rapes and deportations of children. So many crimes for which those responsible must be convicted, starting with Vladimir Putin. A year also of the heroic resistance of an entire people in the name of a fierce, intact will to defend the right to live as Europeans in a democracy in their own country. This war will, for decades to come, define the right – or not – of a people to live freely, the possibility – or not – of a powerful state subjugating a weaker neighbor. Ukraine must not lose them, they must win them now.

French support for Ukraine remains strong despite the conflict’s severe budgetary consequences. But what about our country’s help to the Ukrainian resistance? After the Kiel Institute, We are far behind the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada in terms of financial, humanitarian and military assistance. Compared to our economic strength, France is 18th among the members of the European Union!

Of course, comparisons of military aid are difficult because some data are confidential. And we know the great use of Caesar weapons. But the European Union’s leading military power is clearly not at the forefront of supporting Ukraine. The same applies with regard to concerns the reception of refugees : France received only 120,000, ten times less than Poland or Germany, four times less than the Czech Republic, but also significantly less than Italy or Spain.

An inglorious record and years of ambiguity

An inglorious record that explains the years of ambiguity of much of the French political class – and President Macron himself – about Putin’s Russia. Let’s ignore the leaders of the extreme right, the right and, alas, the left, who, fascinated by Putin’s authoritarianism, corrupted or blinded by their anti-Americanism, can no longer even distinguish the victims from the executioners. you pretend “defend the peace” in Ukraine like them “defended” in Syria by accepting the destruction of peoples and freedoms. They think they’re De Gaulles, but they’re just Daladiers. Luckily they don’t rule.

But Emmanuel Macron yes. Their policy towards Ukraine, like their entire international policy, lacks coherence and thus effectiveness. It is initially guided by concerns about an I-projection, which leads to an all too often contradictory sequence of stagings and chin slaps without a future. Right down to the confidential conversations between heads of state that are filmed and then broadcast. In short: Diplomacy on Instagram.

Barely elected, at the end of May 2017 the French President offered his Russian counterpart, who was ostracized by the international community because of Syria and Ukraine, a triumphal procession in the Battle Gallery of the Palace of Versailles, Emmanuel Macron as the Sun King, Vladimir Putin as Peter the Great, conqueror of Ukraine three centuries ago.

Again in August 2019. President Macron receives Putin, who is continuing the bombing of Syria and the occupation of Ukraine, at Fort de Brégançon. The compliments from the head of state are overwhelming and even surprise his counterpart: “Because it is European, Russia has its place in the Europe of values ​​we believe in.” And even, “Russia is in political liberalism” (sic). On that day, Emmanuel Macron will go so far as to give Russia the right to deal with future European defence. To say that the Eastern countries of the Union did not appreciate this is an understatement. The European defense policy, which is still in its infancy, is obviously showing its age.

The card of the lonely dialogue with Putin

I had hoped that the French Presidency of the European Union in the fateful first half of 2022 would be an opportunity for a collective show of unity and firmness in the face of Russian threats. It did not happen. Instead of convening a European summit in Kiev in January, the president preferred to play the lonely dialogue card with the Russian president. We cannot forget that meeting in Moscow on February 8, a fortnight before the invasion. Emmanuel Macron, allegedly capitalizing on familiarity with the Russian president — that of the massacres in Chechnya and Syria, the invasions of Georgia, Crimea and Donbass, the assassination of his opponents — evidently still hoped to reason him through sorcery to bring his verb. Emmanuel Macron’s faint-hearted attitude at this crucial moment will likely have encouraged Vladimir Putin’s notion that the European Union would remain divided and helpless in the face of Ukraine’s annihilation.

And since the invasion broke out, we haven’t counted the statements made by the President of the Republic either “the need not to humiliate the Russians»from “Ensuring Your Safety”. He just wanted to point that out last week“Crushing Russia was never France’s position”. But who is humiliating, threatening, crushing the Russians if not Putin’s regime and he alone?

Fortunately, the Ukrainian resistance, the (finally) determined mobilization of the European Union the day after the invasion, the strong intervention of the United States and the United Kingdom made it possible to prevent the worst. We must now end all complacency with the Russian dictator and support Ukraine to victory. This includes ensuring the effectiveness of embargoes (why still rule out nuclear power?) and sanctions, and providing the weapons that Kiev has demanded, particularly the fighter jets, to send a clear signal to Putin that he will ever win this war.

A few days ago, Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz improvised a stopover in Paris between the Ukrainian President’s trips to London and Brussels. They wanted to show that the “German-French couple” always set the tone in Europe. One proof, however: there was only one true European leader at the table, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.