Emmanuel Macron announces the sale of Mirage 2000-5 to Ukraine

4 mins

It was live from Caen that the French president Emmanuel Macron answered questions from Anne-Sophie Lapix from France 2 and Gilles Bouleau from TF1. In this interview given to the two channels, the head of state returned to the situation of the war in Ukraine.

“ Helping Ukraine to resist means avoiding the law of the strongest “, he underlined before adding: “ France wants peace and we are fighting for peace. But peace cannot be the capitulation of Ukraine. »

He outlined the first steps of new aid from the France to Ukraine. “ We will launch a training program and a transfer of Mirage 2000-5 aircraft. » These training courses will take place this summer on French soil. He added that “ France’s wish is to form a brigade. We offer to train and equip 4 500 Ukrainian soldiers. »

Other training may take place on Ukrainian soil, although there are, for the moment, no French trainers in Ukraine. “ Ukrainian soil is sovereign. There is no question of training in combat zones », emphasizing that the training could, for example, take place in western Ukraine.

War in Gaza: “France’s position is clear”

The French president also spoke about the war that Israel is waging against Hamas in Gaza. “ France’s position is clear: it is the condemnation of the Hamas attacks of October 7, the demand for the release of all the hostages, respect for humanitarian law and therefore for a ceasefire as soon as possible. , and the promotion of a political solution allowing two States to live side by side in security for each “, declared the French president.

He would like to emphasize that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who risks being indicted by the International Criminal Courtremains a “ legitimate interlocutor “.

France believes that now is not the time for recognition of a Palestinian state, because “ we do not recognize a State under the influence of indignation “, declared Thursday evening Emmanuel Macron.

Emmanuel Macron’s call to vote for the European elections

French President Emmanuel Macron “invited” the French on Thursday evening to vote on Sunday for the European elections, warning against the hypothesis of a blocking minority of the far right in the European Parliament. “ I call on our compatriots to vote on the 9th June. There is only one turn. Not voting means leaving the future of our continent and our country to others », echoing the fervent opponents of Brexit, who were not numerous enough to make their voices heard during the British referendum.

“ Our compatriots do not sufficiently understand the importance of voting » for the European elections. He also warns of a possible far-right blocking minority. “ If France sends a large far-right delegation, it is a Europe that will not protect us », he warns.

A controversial interview at the dawn of the European vote in France?

Emmanuel Macron’s interview is controversial three days before the June 9 election, note Valérie Gas, RFI special correspondent for the commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings. At the Élysée, this argument is brushed aside with a formula: “ The Landing took place on June 6, a date that we tend to respect “. A factual argument, but it is also a fact that these commemorations offer a media platform to Emmanuel Macron and occupy the bandwidth in the last days of the campaign.

Especially since the President of the Republic will continue with two other major diplomatic sequences. He receives Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday June 7 on an official visit to Paris and the next day Joe Biden on a state visit, the first by the American president to France. Opportunities to still send messages, to stage his diplomatic action and to talk about Ukraine, the subject which he has made a campaign theme for his camp.