Gestures are as important as words in international forums and the one that France and Germany forgot to stage this Friday at the Munich Security Conference was striking for going against what is supposed to be the objective of this edition of the so-called Security Davos : unity of the allies against Russia in the war in Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, the two great guests on the first day of debates, not only placed different accents on security issues, but neither listened to the other’s speech.
When Scholz spoke after a video message from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Macron, who was the next to speak, was not in the room and once the chancellor closed his speech he left without waiting, if only for a moment. high five, to French. It is evident that Franco-German relations are not going through their best moment and it is also known that Paris and Berlin have opposite concepts on how to strengthen European security and defenses.
“If Europe wants to defend Europe, it must also arm itself (…) and advance its manufacturing capacity on European soil,” Macron said in a clear reference to Germany, which has not only chosen to acquire military material from the United States to modernize their armies to the detriment of European industry but will also rely on non-European systems to develop the anti-aircraft shield announced by Scholz and in which France and Spain will not participate.
Along these lines, Macron asked European countries to invest more in defense, and said that he hopes that plans will be drawn up in this regard in the coming months: “It is necessary to study how to manufacture more and faster and it must be done together, through further simplification and standardization”,
The French president even went a step further and proposed to the partners of the European Union to resume talks on nuclear deterrence. “The talks could focus on the European dimension of France’s nuclear deterrent,” he said. Macron recalled that he had already made the offer at the beginning of 2020. At that time, however, European partners such as Germany reacted with restraint. Given that France is the only remaining nuclear power in the EU, Macron has long demanded that Europe become less dependent on the US.
Macron even advocated the participation of the EU in the negotiation of nuclear control treaties such as the INF that the US and Russia negotiate. “We must ensure that Europe is involved in all future arms control treaty discussions,” he stressed.
“French deterrence occupies a specific position that contributes in Europe, as well as that of the United Kingdom, to the global reinforcement of the alliance’s security. Obviously, our allies also play an essential role in this regard and I want us to reaffirm the nuclear nature of the Atlantic Alliance,” he stressed.
Beyond the competition of the French and German arms industry for hegemony in Europe, a struggle that both the Chancellery and the Élysée Palace seem to have also endorsed, Macron and Scholz only agreed on the need to continue providing aid to Ukraine. But with different accents. Scholz defensively without taking his eyes off his manuscript. Macron, without papers, as a great strategist.
“None of us will change the geography of Russia, it will always be on European soil” and “there will be no lasting and complete peace on our continent if we do not manage to face the question of Russia, with a clear mind and without any complacency. Europe must address this issue decisively and without naivety,” Macron stressed. He did not speak of negotiations, because “this is not the time,” he said, but it was, and not only with respect to Scholz or in front of all the speakers, that he mentioned the so-called global south.
He mentioned that in his conversations with African leaders, many have blamed him for the double standards with which the West and Europe have reacted to the war in Ukraine when there are countries in Africa that have been bleeding to death for years. “They tell me that the war in Ukraine is your war,” Macron recounted to explain why a good part of the emerging countries, even condemning the invasion of Russia, have not closed ranks with the West by joining the sanctions.
In his speech at this defense forum, Macron also stressed the need to reform the international order -including the UN Security Council- with more North-South integration and cooperation.
“The Security Council is part of it. A permanent member simply decided to annihilate the rules it was supposed to protect, so we have to reconfigure it and give it a new shape,” he said.
Scholz, who, unlike Macron or any other European leader, is the one who receives the most pressure from the Ukrainian side and the one most questioned by his supporters in the European Union such as Poland, took advantage of his speech at the Conference to justify his caution regarding arms aid and claim, on the other hand, the contribution and solidarity of Germany to the million refugees in the country. “We are the continental European country that has given aid to Ukraine.”
The foreign minister announced that the delivery of the promised 14 Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine will take place at the end of this month and set the goal of “quickly” creating two tank battalions together with the allies. So far, however, only Portugal has responded. That means there are still 14 tanks to go. “We will not reach the strength of the battalion,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius admitted midweek.
Scholz stressed that, despite everything, his government will continue with its efforts. “The defense minister is here. He is working very hard to get it.”
The foreign minister also defended himself against accusations that the tank deliveries would contribute to an escalation of the war. “It is not our arms deliveries that are prolonging the war. Quite the contrary,” Scholz said, adding that the sooner President Putin realizes he is not achieving his imperialist goal, the better the chances the war will end. soon, that the conquering Russian forces will withdraw”.
Scholz assured that the balance between providing the best possible support to Ukraine and avoiding unwanted escalation will continue to be maintained. For this, he urged, close coordination with allies is necessary, following the maxim: “Diligence before rash action, cohesion before acting alone.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also urged a greater commitment for the supply of main battle tanks. “I have asked the allies to do everything in their power to supply modern weapons, including armored vehicles and main battle tanks,” he declared. Stoltenberg did not refer to the fighter planes that Ukraine is now asking for, a taboo for the allies that Zelensky did refer to when he said in his inaugural speech that there should be no red lines in the supply of weapons to his country.
In military uniform, as has been customary since the beginning of the war, Zelensky thanked the Western states for their arms support to repel Russia’s war of aggression against his country and said that “there is no alternative to our victory, and there must be no alternative to our determination.”
There are also no alternatives to Ukraine’s accession to the European Union and, ultimately, to NATO, said Zelenski, for whom it is not possible to make “compromises” with the liberation of the territories occupied by Russia, since Russian weapons also “point to Europe” and the freedom of the continent and on a global scale cannot be compromised.
Always with high spirits, Zelensky stated that the Russian Goliath has begun to lose against the Ukrainian David and even ventured that “Goliath will definitely fall this year.” Stoltenberg also believes that Ukraine can win the war “and that is why we support them,” the NATO secretary general said.
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