discord between France and Germany over the military strategies envisaged around the war in Ukraine

The Franco-German relationship, the driving force behind European dynamics in many aspects, is today tense. After exposing their differences on Mercosur, it is on the Ukrainian issue that Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron have been displaying their incompatibility since Monday.

The mechanism of a united Europe is blocked by the disagreements between France and Germany. This is a real problem at a time when more and more voices are wondering about the fate of the region in the event of Ukraine’s military defeat. Quarrels between EU member states often fuel the irony of those who view the Union as an ungovernable gas factory. They make others say that this is the price to pay in a democratic community. But on this theme, that of European security, Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron have the duty, the obligation to tune their violins.

However, quite the opposite happened on Monday February 26 in Paris, during the conference in support of Ukraine. On the still very abstract option of sending troops into this conflict, did Emmanuel Macron really need to target Germany by recalling that two years ago “many around this table were only considering sending sleeping bags and helmets” ? Did Olaf Scholz need to “sulk” at the press conference following the meeting, to declare 12 hours later, from Berlin, that “Europe and NATO will not send any soldiers to Ukraine” ?

Divergences over a European army

The whole problem is there: who should take care of the defense of our continent, NATO or Europe itself? On this point, the two European powers are at odds with each other. France is a nuclear power, it has an autonomous army to ensure its own defense and also to manage its external operations. Germany ensures the protection of its territory and relies entirely on NATO for everything that goes beyond its borders.

The war in Ukraine has certainly changed the situation, with joint projects like ASAP to manufacture munitions or EDIRPA to strengthen the defense industry, but on military aid to Ukraine, E. Macron and O. Scholz refuse to coordinate and agree on the idea of ​​a European army. They do not even agree on a common defense of the European skies.

Visible and “irresponsible” attitude

This is an irresponsible attitude in the face of such an issue for Wolfgang Ischinger, former German ambassador to the United States. On the set of the German channel Welt TV he declared: “This is deeply regrettable in terms of national policy. It is the duty of all participants, on both the French and German sides, to do everything imaginable to achieve harmony, unity and unity. joint action. If Germany and France show their disagreement in front of the Russians, where do you think the champagne corks will pop ? Not in Washington, not in Italy, but in Moscow.”

All the European divisions over Ukraine allow Vladimir Putin to last. And the longer the conflict lasts, the more windows of opportunity it will offer Russia. The return of Donald Trump to Washington, the possible disengagement of the United States from NATO, we are not even talking about 2027, the date on which China will be able to invade Taiwan. The Pentagon has already warned that the Americans will not be able to engage on a dual front. What European defense will look like at that time, if its leaders refuse to agree, one wonders.