Viktor Zamiatin, Razumkov Center Political and Legal Programmes Director
Vasyl Yurchyshyn, Razumkov Center Economic Programmes Director
Since the beginning of 2024, France has somewhat unexpectedly stood out among the founding members of the EU and NATO with rhetoric clearly aimed at supporting Ukraine’s victory in its war against Russia and providing Ukraine with all possible assistance in its intentions to join the EU and NATO. On 27 February 2024, French President Emmanuel Macron even suggested that Western countries might have to send their troops to Ukraine, causing disapproval from Germany and the United States. While the French leadership then had to clarify that they did not intend for Western involvement in the fighting in Ukraine, President Macron’s remark did spark reactions from the Western world, China, and Russia, showing France’s desire to strengthen its global role.
Although the French president’s rhetoric may be well ahead of reality, critics of Macron’s position cannot deny that, at least since the beginning of the year, Paris has indeed become more active in countering Russian aggression, in building a new Euro-Atlantic security model with a much stronger role for Europe, and in consolidating European democratic forces against
full article in Ukrainian:
https://razumkov.org.ua/statti/ambitsii-frantsii-na-liderstvo-realistychnist-vtilennia
