A week after the start of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron again addressed the French in a televised message, recorded in advance, on Wednesday March 2. Speaking for 14 minutes with the Ukrainian flag behind him, he gravely painted a picture of the Ukrainian situation and the consequences of this crisis for France and Europe. Franceinfo summarizes the important points of its intervention.
A grim picture of the situation in Ukraine
As expected, the tone of the presidential address was dark. “The days to come will probably be harder and harder”declared Emmanuel Macron in particular, recalling that “Hundreds of Ukrainian civilians have already been killed”. “The balance of our continent is already upset”he also declared, presenting as one of his objectives to “prevent contagion and widening of the conflict as much as we can”.
Addressing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “the fraternal support of France”his French counterpart introduced him as “the face of honor, freedom, bravery” and praised it “courage” of his people.
He also declared himself “alongside all Russians who, refusing that an unworthy war be waged in their name, have the spirit, responsibility and courage to defend peace and who make it known in Russia and elsewhere”.
A commitment to welcoming Ukrainian refugees
“France will take its share” in welcoming Ukrainians fleeing the war, in particular “children forced into exile, separated from their fathers who went to fight”, assured the Head of State. He expressed his thanks to the towns, villages and associations which have already started to mobilize in this direction. Emmanuel Macron expects “several hundred thousand refugees” leave Ukraine. The UN estimated on Wednesday that 874,000 people had fled the war in one week. A hundred arrived in France, said Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on Tuesday.
A denunciation of Vladimir Putin’s “lies”
Emmanuel Macron attacked the Kremlin’s speech about its offensive, its “lies” and “his spirit of revenge nourished by a revisionist reading of the history of Europe”. “Russia is not the attacked, it is the aggressor”he hammered. “There are no NATO troops or bases in Ukraine, these are lies”. He especially denounced the “unsustainable propaganda” that Russia would intervene in Ukraine against Nazism: “The leaders attack the memory of the Holocaust in Ukraine”.
The war, signal of a “change of era” for Europe
“The war in Europe no longer belongs to our history books or our school books. It is there, before our eyes”observed Emmanuel Macron. “Democracy is no longer considered an uncontested regime. It is being called into question before our eyes. Our freedom, that of our children, is no longer a given. It is more than ever a system of courage, a fight for every moment.”
This “return of tragedy in history” justifies increasing France’s investment in its defence, said the President of the Republic. And this crisis encourages us to build a “defense Europe”, he added, announcing that the European summit organized on March 10 and 11 in Versailles would be devoted to this subject.
More broadly, Emmanuel Macron pleaded for a strategy favoring the independence of France and Europe, particularly in economic terms. “We can no longer depend on others, and in particular on Russian gas, to move us, heat us, operate our factories”he said.
The French economy “will suffer”
The war in Ukraine will have serious economic consequences. “Our agriculture, our industry, many economic sectors are suffering and will suffer”, warned Emmanuel Macron. Weakened sectors “either because they depend on imports of raw materials from Russia or Ukraine, or because they export to these countries”. “Our growth today at its highest will inevitably be affected”the president said, noting that rising oil, gas and commodity costs will impact “the price of a full tank of gas” or “the amount of the heating bill”.
Faced with these threats to purchasing power, he promised to “protect” the French “looking for new suppliers” and “new business opportunities”. As Jean Castex announced on Tuesday, Emmanuel Macron recalled that he had instructed the Prime Minister “to develop a plan for economic and social resilience for the next few days”.
No declaration of candidacy yet
Only two days before the deadline for submitting candidacies for the presidential election, Emmanuel Macron has noted that this war “also comes to hit our democratic life and the electoral campaign which officially opens at the end of this week”.
The Head of State, who has not yet officially declared himself a candidate, assured that this campaign “will allow an important democratic debate for the nation, but which will not prevent us from meeting on the essentials”. Without formally specifying his intentions, Emmanuel Macron assured that he “would never stop” of “defend and carry” the attachment of the French “to freedom, equality, fraternity and the place of France in the world”.