Emmanuel Macron cultivates the concept of strategic ambiguity

The Head of State was interviewed Thursday evening, on TF1 and France 2, about the conflict in Ukraine. After his controversial statements on a possible sending of allied troops on the ground, he engaged in an educational exercise to explain France’s position.

For 35 minutes, Thursday March 14, we saw a head of state with the accents of a warlord, who carried a simple message, repeated throughout the broadcast: this war does not only concern the Ukrainians, it concerns us concerns us too.

It’s a “existential war for France and Europe”, he insisted. A military victory for Vladimir Putin would have direct repercussions on “the life of the French”, because the security of the entire continent would be threatened. Hence this famous “strategic ambiguity” which Emmanuel Macron cultivated again Thursday evening.

The head of state assumes his position

He returned to his refusal to rule out forever a possible sending of ground troops, comments which earned him several disavowals in Europe, including that of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. By reaffirming that “all options are possible”Emmanuel Macron wants his position to provoke a “startle” in Europe, an awareness. Because on the ground, the war is at a turning point, and the Ukrainians are in difficulty.

According to Emmanuel Macron, several states now approve of his change of tone, starting with the Baltic countries, which would be the next targets on Vladimir Putin’s list. So be careful, the President confirms that he does not wish to carry out this threat. He repeats that “France is not at war with Russia” and he assures that she will never take “the initiative” to fight Russia, which it will not launch “offensive”. In his eyes, the “solely responsible for an escalation” would therefore be “the Kremlin regime”.

“To have peace, you must not be weak”

Emmanuel Macron also spoke about the political debate in France and the attitude of his opponents. After obtaining broad support this week in the National Assembly and the Senate, the head of state summed up the attitude of the groups which refused to approve the support agreement for Ukraine with a scathing formula: “Choosing to abstain or vote against is not choosing peace, it is choosing defeat.” Remember that the National Rally abstained and that the Insoumis and the Communists voted against. “To have peace, you must not be weak”, he insisted. A way of attaching this Munich spirit in particular to Jordan Bardella, the majority of whom have made, for the moment, their only campaign argument for the European elections.