Emmanuel Macron yesterday presented the outlines of a “political and geopolitical clarification of the European Union“, before participating in a pan-European summit in Chisinau, at a decisive moment. All of Europe and not only the EU will be present.
First there is the symbol, you should never neglect the power of symbols. All of Europe is present today in Moldova, a few kilometers from the separatist region of Transnistria where Russian troops are stationed; also close to Ukraine and Russian aggression. All of Europe and not only the European Union, but also the Balkan countries, the United Kingdom, Turkey and of course, Ukraine.
And there is the unprecedented object of this European Political Community (EPC), launched last year on a French proposal, and which is at its second summit. No one yet knows very well what will be the fate of the CPE, but everyone benefits from its informal nature, allowing valuable exchanges at a decisive moment for the continent.
The summit comes at a good time, as a crisis has erupted between Kosovo and Serbia, prompting the dispatch of NATO reinforcements after street clashes. In question, the installation of ethnic Albanian mayors in Serb neighborhoods, a clumsiness of Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti, which earned him criticism from his NATO allies.
The summit has already had an effect, since the Kosovar prime minister yesterday mentioned the possibility of holding new local elections in the areas in tension. It was for him to try to defuse the crisis before today’s summit. Yesterday, Emmanuel Macron announced that he would meet the Kosovar Prime Minister in the company of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz: that is also what the Summits are for.
But it is obviously Ukraine and its consequences on the continent that will be at the center of the discussions. Yesterday, Emmanuel Macron took advantage of the platform offered to him at the Security Conference in Bratislava, Slovakia, to give his vision.
The French President clearly wanted to dispel all ambiguities, misunderstandings and what he called “fantasies”, before meeting all the Heads of State and Government of Europe in Chisinau. A defusing operation on the eve of the CPE summit.
In Eastern Europe, there is an old background of mistrust vis-à-vis France, suspected of wanting to weaken NATO by talking about European strategic autonomy; and vis-à-vis Emmanuel Macron himself because of a number of awkward “little phrases” about Putin and Russia.
The president was in a slightly self-critical mode yesterday, compared to a France perceived as “arrogant or distant”. He went back a long way since he recalled – without quoting its author – the famous sentence of Jacques Chirac on the countries of the East which “lost an opportunity to be silent”… It was at the time of the invasion of the Iraq by the Americans in 2003, and the countries of Eastern Europe had supported Washington, unlike France and Germany.
This far from French humility allowed him to draw the outlines of a “political and geopolitical clarification of the European Union” which he calls for. It is a question of meeting the challenges of the war in Ukraine, of the post-war period, in particular of “giving tangible and credible security guarantees to Ukraine”. But also so as not to be at the mercy of American voters.
“You can count on France,” he concluded. Enough to allow him to arrive in a stronger position in Chisinau today, at a time when Europe has no room for error.
This article is originally published on radiofrance.fr
