The arsonist firefighter strikes again. Tuesday October 15, Emmanuel Macron blew on the embers of the conflict in the Middle East. “Benyamin Netanyahu must not forget that his country was created by a UN decision,” criticized the President of the Republic during the Council of Ministers, according to comments reported by participants, while the subjects were being discussed of the war in Gaza and Lebanon. But that’s not all. The head of state also addresses, indirectly, the Israeli Prime Minister: “And therefore this is not the time to free ourselves from UN decisions.”
If these statements follow Israeli shots against peacekeepers in South Lebanon, they have provoked an outcry within the group of Renaissance deputies and the Jewish community. “A mistake that is both historical and political,” wrote Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (Crif) on X. Same annoyance in Israel. Moreover, this is not the first time that the French president has had a drink on the diplomatic scene.
Sending troops to Ukraine: Emmanuel Macron disowned by his allies
On February 26, 2024, the French president believes that sending ground troops to Ukraine should not “be excluded” in the future, while specifying that there is “no consensus” at this stage on the subject. And the word is weak since his words find no support among his allies. Indeed, many European countries are showing their reluctance, even their annoyance following this diplomatic outcry. The next day, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz tried to put out the fire by affirming that “no soldier” would be sent to Ukraine by European or NATO countries.
Same reaction in the United States. “President Biden has been clear that the United States will not send soldiers to fight in Ukraine,” said Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the American National Security Council. Note that in May 2024, Emmanuel Macron once again mentions sending troops “if the Russians break through the front lines”.
Macron sows trouble among his allies with comments on Taiwan
April 9, 2023. The French president comes under fire after calling on the European Union not to be “follower” of the United States or China on the question of Taiwan. In an interview given to the American site Politico and the French economic daily Les EchosEmmanuel Macron affirms that we must not “adapt to the American pace and to a Chinese overreaction”. To understand clearly, his remarks come in an ultra-tense context with Beijing which is then carrying out large-scale military maneuvers around the island.
While the United States is showing its muscles against its Chinese adversary, the French president’s speech appears counterproductive. “His unnecessary comments will undermine American and Japanese deterrence against China in the Western Pacific,” scathes the Wall Street Journal in an editorial. Furthermore, France’s allies – starting with Germany – believe that Europe cannot remain isolated on a subject as hot as that of Taiwan.
Same story for Jean-Pierre Cabestan, researcher at the Asia Center in Paris who stated in L’Express: “The United States is our allies, China is the number one adversary of our ally and our main protector . How to escape the bipolarization of the world?
When the French president calls not to humiliate Russia
In June 2022, the war in Ukraine has been going on for four months. And the French president is one of the few international leaders trying to maintain a dialogue with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. But Emmanuel Macron’s mediator costume annoys the countries of Eastern Europe, especially since they do not see the fruits of the hours spent on the phone with the Kremlin. It is in this context that the French president throws a spanner in the works, declaring that we must “not humiliate Russia so that the day the fighting stops, we can build a way out through diplomatic channels.” .
Except that by moving forward with post-conflict negotiations, the French head of state gives the impression that victory will be Russian. Enough to shock eastern Europe, but also its closest allies. The response from the Ukrainian side was not long in coming. “Calls to avoid humiliating Russia can only humiliate France or any other country,” criticizes the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kouleba in a tweet. A new diplomatic blunder which resonates all the more as the French head of state occupies the rotating presidency of the European Union at the time.
Macron judges NATO to be “brain dead”
On November 8, 2019, Emmanuel Macron judges NATO to be “brain dead” in an interview with the weekly The Economist. Concretely, the head of state deplores the lack of coordination between the United States and Europe and the unilateral behavior of Turkey, a member of the Atlantic Alliance, in Syria. The opportunity for German Chancellor Angela Merkel to further distance herself from her French counterpart. “NATO, the Atlantic Alliance, is the central pillar of our defense,” she defends in her weekly podcast dedicated to the 64th anniversary of the German army, the Bundeswehr.
While the United States is the largest contributor to the defense organization, Emmanuel Macron’s statements do not pass through the White House. Its tenant at the time, Donald Trump, describes the French judgment as “very insulting”, speaking of a “very, very nasty opinion aimed at 28 countries”. For its part, Russia welcomes a “sincere” diagnosis and “golden words”. Whey for the Kremlin which sees its geopolitical adversaries divided.