“The current Russian power imposes vigilance on us, not complacency. After François Hollande, another historical figure of the socialist left took the floor to criticize Nicolas Sarkozy’s plea for a “neutral” Ukraine and a referendum supposed to “endorse” the annexation of Crimea by Russia.
“It is serious to see a former President of the French Republic, contrary to the official position of his country, adopting the thesis and serving the interests of the aggressor country of a people of which we declare ourselves the friend”, judges the former Socialist Prime Minister in a column published Friday, August 25 by Le Figaro.
“The challenge today is not to say whether Ukraine should one day join the European Union or NATO but to help this nation to remain sovereign and free,” insists Mr. Jospin, who relies on the former right-wing president’s “carefulness” toward Russia, as well as the “unrealistic” move that would be made by holding referendums endorsing the annexation of forcibly conquered territories in Ukraine.
“If it were followed, the betrayed Ukrainians would not accept it, France would be isolated and reprobated in Europe, and Vladimir Putin, comforted in his dreams of power and his deadly enterprises, would only have to look for other prey, “replies Lionel Jospin to Nicolas Sarkozy, who we learned on Friday was sent to a criminal court to be tried on suspicion of Libyan financing of his 2007 presidential campaign.
In doing so, Lionel Jospin says he shares the line expressed by former President François Hollande for whom Vladimir Poutine “has made war his ideology”, making any attempt to negotiate futile. “I want to say it here once again in front of you, by your side, in a very clear way: France recognizes neither the annexation by Russia of Ukrainian territories nor the results of the sham elections that have been organized”, had also recalled the current president, Emmanuel Macron, in a pre-recorded video message broadcast during a Summit of the Crimean Platform, an annual event wanted by the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, to recall Ukrainian sovereignty over the peninsula .
