Macron’s remarks in which he argued for maintaining dialog with Russia appear to have been made soon after the recent visit to Paris by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Both senior MEP from Poland’s ruling Law and Justice Jacek Saryusz-Wolski and a British security expert have interpreted President Macron’s remarks on warmongers as pointing the finger at Poland and the Baltic states.
The French president asked rhetorically if it was a good idea for Turkey to be the only power to maintain lines of communication with Moscow. At the same time, Macron assured that France would continue to give military and humanitarian support to Ukraine. However, he argued that it was critical to maintain European unity when faced with a long conflict in Ukraine.
The most controversial passage, cited by MEP Saryusz-Wolski, clearly alludes to Poland and the Baltic states. In it, Macron says that preventing divisions in Europe means the EU should neither ally itself with the biggest warmongers nor allow “a few states on our eastern flanks to act alone.”
“Unity of Europe is a paramount concern, as dividing us is one of the main objectives of the war waged by Russia,” Macron added.
British security analyst Kyle Orton was scathing about Macron’s remarks, calling them shameful and offensive to Central Europeans.
Saryusz-Wolski said that Germany and France had admitted to being wrong about Russia and that it was the countries of NATO’s eastern flank who were right and should have been listened to. However, the trouble is that the Germans and French “still aren’t listening and continue to get it wrong. This means that their policy towards Russia was intentional and not based on any misunderstanding,” he concluded.
