Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed that ground operations in Ukraine by the West may be necessary “at some point”. If the German neighbor did not like this attitude, the president assures us: relations between Paris and Berlin are good.
Repeated statements by Emmanuel Macron, who refuses to rule out sending ground troops to Ukraine, have sown disarray among Paris’s allies, led by Germany, and sparked near-unanimous disapproval from the opposition in France. Words that the president repeated in the interview Parisian this Saturday, March 16. Anticipating controversy, the head of state ruled out any disagreements within the Franco-German couple on the issue.
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Because yes, when the French president warned against the “spirit of defeat,” he insulted his German neighbor. Statements that did not help the already rising tensions between Germany and France, especially over the Ukrainian issue. “We don’t need discussions about greater or lesser courage,” replied German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius dryly. “It doesn’t really help solve the problems we have when it comes to helping Ukraine as much as we can.”
“There was never any anger between the Chancellor and me”
Emmanuel Macron, who returned from Berlin where he met the German and Polish leaders, wanted to confirm after a meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz that the Franco-German couple was solid. “I wanted to come to Germany very quickly so as not to create a debate about strategic differences that might exist: they don’t,” he explains. “There have never been any disagreements between the chancellor and me. We have very common views on the goals and the situation. The way they are translated is different,” he continues, emphasizing the “strategic cultures” of the two countries.
Differences in “strategic culture”
“Germany has a strategic culture of great caution, non-interference, and keeps a distance from nuclear energy,” he explains. “A very different model to that of France, which has nuclear weapons and has maintained and strengthened a professional army,” he said again.
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He also insisted on the complementarity of the aid that France and Germany can provide. “Germany spends more than France, it has more budget space, that’s an opportunity. France can do things that Germany can’t,” he said. Parisianbefore putting Russian power into perspective. “We must not be intimidated, we are not facing a great power. Russia is a middle power with nuclear weapons, but whose GDP is much lower than the GDP of Europeans, lower than Germany, France,” he said.