On June 27, Emmanuel Macron took advantage of the European Council to slip in his name. Thierry Breton, he told his counterparts, must remain European Commissioner during the next term. A way of signaling to his French adversaries, led by the RN, that he intends to remain master of the game in Brussels. The response was not long in coming. “It is the prerogative of the Prime Minister to appoint the European Commissioner,” lashed out at Marine Le Pen the next day on Europe 1. The tone is set: if the RN takes power, foreign policy will not remain the exclusive preserve of the head of state.
In kyiv, this exchange of words has caused cold sweats. The Ukrainians fear, rightly, that French support will be one of the first collateral victims of the political sequence underway in France. What about the delivery of Mirage 2000, announced by the Elysée on June 6? What about the process of Ukraine’s accession to the EU? “In the event of cohabitation, the balance of power will turn to the Prime Minister’s advantage, because he is the one who holds the purse strings,” recalls François Heisbourg, advisor to the Foundation for Strategic Research.
“At best,” he continues, “the RN will maintain a detached attitude towards this war. And France will no longer be able to provide a strong direction in terms of European security.” Too bad, at a time when Paris could have taken advantage of German diplomatic weakness to find itself at the center of the game. Emmanuel Macron missed his appointment with History. And kyiv risks losing its most valuable European ally.