On March 5, French President Macron addressed the nation,
and at the same time Europe and the whole world with the words that are expected
from a strong and responsible leader. Macron’s speech is already being called historic, and in Moscow it caused concern and hysteria in the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergei Lavrov.
The world has entered a new era, where Russia is a threat to Europe
A few hours after US President Trump addressed Congress, Emmanuel Macron delivered his address. The topic of his speech was global security threats to France and Europe.
What Macron said in his historic speech to the nation:
- Russia has become a threat to France and Europe now and for years to come. It has already turned the conflict in Ukraine into a global one.
- The Minsk agreements, which the Trump team appeals to, do not work – Russia has violated them, so peace agreements with Russia cannot be trusted now.
- “Russia’s aggressiveness knows no bounds. It continues to arm itself, spending more than 40% of its budget on military needs.” By 2030, Russia plans to mobilize 3 million soldiers and build 4,000 tanks, 300 fighter jets – this is a challenge to Europe’s security.
- Russia must be forced to make peace, peace will return only with a “pacified Russia.”
- Peace cannot be built at any cost and under Russian dictate, and it cannot be a capitulation of Ukraine.
- New conditions have arisen when Europe can no longer rely on the United States as a guarantor of its security.
- “To remain spectators (during Russian aggression against Ukraine – “24 Channel”) would be madness. We must now make a decision for Ukraine, for the security of the French, for the security of Europeans.” Therefore, the deployment of contingents of European troops in Ukraine is not ruled out. At the same time, France has the most effective army in Europe. Next week, France will gather the chiefs of staff of countries ready to “guarantee future peace in Ukraine” to finalize a specific plan of action.
- They launched a discussion on the use of French nuclear weapons to protect the entire EU.
- The US should be punished economically for blackmail with tariffs.
- The future of Europe should not be decided in Washington or Moscow. Regardless of whether peace in Ukraine is achieved quickly, the states of Europe must arm themselves and strengthen their common defense — for the sake of peace and deterrence of the enemy.
France needs to double its defense budget
Macron’s speech came on the eve of very important events – on March 6, the EU summit opened in Brussels, where they are discussing the further strategy of supporting Ukraine.
The summit is taking place in a new reality, which Macron also spoke about – the US “washed its hands” and left Europe alone with Putin. Therefore, now it must decide for itself what happens next. And preferably quickly. Therefore, Macron’s words should also be considered as another “magic pendulum”.
At the same time, he will not hurt France itself. Macron has repeatedly spoken about his country’s plans to double its defense budget by 2030, but this cannot be done without reducing budget spending on “social security” and other items. That is, these will be unpopular decisions and they will definitely have their price.
On the other hand, we live in a new reality, where Trump is criticized for canceling aid to Ukraine by the right-wing populist with long-standing ties to Putin, Marine Le Pen, and her party leader, Mr. Bardella, is canceling his participation in the Conservative conference in the US due to the abuse of “Roman salutes” by its participants. So, the reality of the threat has begun to reach literally everyone.
Perhaps it will reach the European bureaucrats sooner, on whom the future of the “ReArm Europe” plan for rearming the EU by 800 billion euros depends, which Ursula von der Leyen will also speak about in Brussels
What does the “ReArm Europe” plan envisage
- removal of restrictions on increasing national deficits in order to increase defense spending;
- 150 billion euros in loans for defense investments (air and missile defense, anti-drone systems, and military mobility);
- lifting the taboo on redirecting funds intended for EU regional policy programs to defense spending;
- allowing the European Investment Bank to finance military projects.
The adoption of the “ReArm Europe” plan will fulfill Macron’s dream and allow others to do the same. Germany will have its say next. Coalition negotiations are currently underway there, and future Chancellor Friedrich Merz promises to launch a 200 billion euro rearmament program for the Bundeswehr. It will also make the “veto” from the conditional Hungary irrelevant, because decisions will be made separately at the state level.
Yes, you understood everything correctly – strong, beautiful and extremely powerful words have already been spoken. All that remains is to fill them with concrete actions.
How did Macron’s speech receive reactions in Russia and the media
In Russia, Sergey Lavrov has already called the French president’s statements aggressive and even compared Macron to Napoleon. According to the Russian, Macron “continues the work of Napoleon, who hoped to conquer Russia by disguising his intentions.”
Let us remind Lavrov that Napoleon is a national The hero of France and comparison with him is not criticism, but recognition of strength. And strength is what Europe clearly lacks today, although it has everything for it. Even without the American “nuclear umbrella”.
This leadership for almost 500 million citizens, 20 trillion euros of GDP, hundreds of thousands of soldiers, thousands of modern aircraft and two not very large, but quite sufficient nuclear arsenals is exactly what the French president is proposing. And now we know for sure that he has finally been heard.
Hugh Schofield, the BBC’s Paris correspondent, notes that in his speech Macron “tried to make the French understand the seriousness of the current situation: for the first time since the Second World War, Europe must stand up for itself”.
According to him, “Macron seeks to prepare France for a difficult choice”. And his call for Europe to prepare for its own defense on its own means “reindustrializing the defense sector and attracting huge funds” to this industry.
“So far, France’s nuclear deterrence has been used exclusively as a guarantor of national sovereignty, but Macron said that discussions could take place on expanding the nuclear umbrella to other countries,” the analyst writes, recalling Macron’s thesis about a possible “colossal change in France’s nuclear doctrine as part of a rethinking of European defense.”
CNN notes that Macron’s words about a “new era” for Europe indicate “growing fatigue due to US President Trump’s change of tone towards rapprochement with Moscow.” Therefore, “the US president’s unpredictability and quick decisions to dismantle long-standing agreements” are exhausting the patience of world leaders.
CNN also considers the current summit in Brussels on March 6 to be “critically important” for Ukraine, where “European leaders will once again try to seize control of negotiations on the war in Ukraine in a “tug of war” against the US and Russia.”
In another article, CNN emphasizes France’s readiness “to consider the possibility of protecting European allies with its nuclear arsenal.” It believes that these theses “emerged after future German Chancellor Friedrich Merz advocated negotiations with France and Great Britain – the two nuclear powers in Europe – on expanding their nuclear defenses.”
“When during the prime-time evening news all TV channels switch to the Elysee Palace to the sounds of the Marseillaise, the situation is serious. President Macron’s address was in keeping with this tradition. In less than a quarter of an hour, he confronted his compatriots with the fact of a new threatening situation and called on them to join the defense needs of their country and Europe,” emphasizes the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in Germany.
Meanwhile, “Politico” calls Macron’s address a warning that “the relative peace that Western Europe has enjoyed since the end of World War II seems to be over and that the continent must prepare for the future by strengthening its own defenses.”
Trump’s turn towards Russia restores the geography of the Cold War and the return of “Eastern” and “Western” Europe, writes the “Financial Times”. The head of the Institute for Security Studies of the European Union, Stephen Everts, believes that this may look like “the beginning of the end” of NATO.
“Article 5 of NATO obliges member states to defend any member that is attacked. The most likely place of attack is the Baltic states,” the author emphasizes. At the same time, Trump said that he was very sympathetic to Poland. However, when asked about the Baltic states, he avoided making commitments.
This means that the concept of “European defense” is like an insurance program for people living in a hurricane zone, in which the people who have to pay the most do not live in that zone.
“Good societies value the lives of their citizens, but in war this is more of a disadvantage. In today’s Europe, where 20-year-olds can expect to live to be 80, the price of death is extremely high. If European troops ever go to Vilnius, the far-right pro-Russian parties will immediately demand “peace” (i.e. surrender),” the author is convinced.
At the same time, the journalist is confident that Europe will find the money to finance Ukraine. And will even be able to surpass Putin in terms of spending. However, his main advantage is “the willingness to shed Russian blood.”
Emal Nabi, Konstantin Dovgan, “Channel 24”
