The French President’s speech was also considered important because of the forthcoming presidential elections.
(Photo: imago images/Le Pictorium)
Paris While Russian tanks continued to advance towards Kyiv and the Russians threatened to take the capital, French President Emmanuel Macron explained France’s position in the Ukraine war on national television. For the third time since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis, French President Emmanuel Macron convened the Defense Council on Wednesday morning. At 8 p.m. local time he turned to his compatriots. Experts interpret his tone in the almost 15-minute speech as serious and clear. It’s a strong message.
First of all: France supports Ukraine, Macron said, but does not see itself at war with Russia. Macron nevertheless emphasizes the seriousness of the situation: “The Russians are bombing Ukraine. The coming days will be very difficult,” he said. And: “We are on the side of Ukraine.” The Allies would have done everything to avoid the conflict. He himself had long discussions with Vladimir Putin. He nevertheless chose war and attacked.
“This war is the result of revenge,” he said. The international community has shown with sanctions that it condemns the invasion. France has also moved its embassy from Kyiv to Lviv in order to be able to continue to be present. Macron himself remains in contact with Putin “to avoid the conflict escalating” and is ready to accept refugees.
Macron also addressed the economic impact of the crisis. A plan should be drawn up to deal with the consequences of the crisis: Europe must now invest in a future to become more independent and no longer be dependent on Russian gas. He also calls for military sovereignty: “We can no longer depend on others to defend ourselves.”
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French presidential elections in April
Macron’s speech was also considered important given the upcoming presidential elections on April 10 and 24. His candidacy has not yet been decided, and he again did not comment on it. Macron should actually announce this by Friday at 6 p.m. local time.
By then, all presidential candidates will need 500 declarations of support from officials in France in order to be able to run at all. Macron has already postponed the announcement of his own candidacy several times because of the crisis. His first planned campaign meeting on March 5 in Marseille was cancelled.
The war has definitely messed up the choice of topics before the election. International issues are usually less important than domestic politics. This is different now. According to a survey by market research company Harris Interactive, 65 percent of voters are convinced that the war will play an important role in their election.
Macron continues to consolidate his position as the favorite since the conflict began. New opinion polls show that he is benefiting from his involvement in the Ukraine crisis. An analysis by the market research institute IFOP expects that he will receive 28 percent of the votes in the first ballot. And within a week he was already up two percent in the polls.
Far-right Marine Le Pen is in second place with 16 percent, down 0.5 percent. Her far-right competitor Eric Zemmour got 14 percent (down 1.5 percent) and the conservative Valérie Pécresse got 13 percent (down 1 percent).
More: UN General Assembly overwhelmingly condemns Russian invasion