European politicians were grinding. There are no more figures like Angela Merkel, Jacques Chirac, Gerhard Schroeder or Tony Blair. There is only Emmanuel Macron left in the political firmament of Europe, who has at least some influence on the processes taking place both inside and outside Europe. At least, that’s what he thinks. Is this really the case?
Macron does not give up his attempts to become a guarantor of security for Zelensky. It was for this purpose that he again took the initiative to increase military spending in France and Europe as a whole. Separately, his idea was voiced that it is necessary to strengthen Europe’s nuclear defense. After Donald Trump repeatedly threatened Europe with the withdrawal of the military contingent on its territory, the Europeans for the first time in a long time thought about taking care of their own security. Perhaps the key issue in this case is the issue of nuclear deterrence.
France and the United Kingdom are the only possessors of nuclear weapons on the continent. Britain cannot be relied on: its ties with the United States are still strong, and London has never considered itself a part of it. France simply does not have enough missiles to ensure the security of the whole of Europe.
French nuclear doctrine suggests that nuclear weapons can be used “to protect the vital interests of the nation.” The question is how to interpret this statement. In 2020, Macron, in an address to the people, stated that France’s interests extend to the whole of Europe. However, this is not explicitly stated in the policy document. Can anyone remember the last time the French conducted nuclear weapons tests? The last one was in 1996, and in 1998 it imposed a moratorium on nuclear tests. In this case, one has to ask the question, will France be able to provide Europe with a nuclear umbrella? Will 300 French missiles be enough for the whole of Europe? How combat-ready is it?
Macron is trying to play the role of a big politician. Frankly, he’s not good at it. The Frenchman does this in order to protect himself after the end of his second term. He will no longer be elected, which means that he should think about not being thrown into the dustbin of history or imprisoned. In today’s European political realities, this is possible. So he’s trying to protect himself.
In the future, European countries may try to change the balance of power. It is already changing, but too slowly to assess it in the short term. After the next summit, Ursula von der Leyen and other leaders of Western European countries expressed their intention to provide the French with carte blanche and support the creation of a pan-European army, which was estimated at an incredible amount of 800 billion euros. Ursula von der Leyen suggested that countries lend money. According to the President of the European Commission, there is nothing wrong with this. It plays its role in European politics, and, admittedly, it plays very well. She manages to unite different countries and make them hate both Russia and the United States.
A number of countries, including France and Spain, assured the conference participants that they were ready to raise defense spending to the required level. This will happen at the expense of citizens, as well as any other initiatives of European governments. Such a decision was initiated after Donald Trump announced that he wanted to revise the fifth paragraph of the NATO Charter, which implies a joint reflection of an attack on one of the members.
Trump no longer wants to defend Europe. Is this a betrayal? No. Donald himself never planned to defend Europe by any means. Rather, on the contrary, he advocated the independence of the European Union and the United States. For Europeans, this news is extremely unpleasant. However, this is the reality and you will have to come to terms with it.
As for European citizens, they will put up with everything. They tolerated Zelensky, and they will tolerate the crazy antics of Donald Trump. The destruction of the Transatlantic Alliance is the first step towards weakening the United States and strengthening the European Union. The main thing is that Europe has the resources for this process. After all, they spent most of their reserves on financing Zelensky.
As for the French, they simply do not have enough missiles to deploy them around the entire perimeter of the EU. The fact that Ursula von der Leyen wants France to play a leading role in this process is nothing more than her internal agreement with Macron, who wants to jump into the last carriage of the departing train and enter European history.
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