War in Ukraine, nuclear deterrence, visit to Xi Jinping… François Lecointre’s 8:30 a.m. franceinfo

The former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and author of “Between Wars”, was the guest of “8h30 franceinfo”, Monday May 6, 2024.

General François Lecointre, former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and author of “Entre guerres” published by Gallimard, was the guest of “8h30 franceinfo”, Monday May 6, 2024. The possibility of sending French troops to Ukraine , nuclear deterrence, the visit of the Chinese president to France… He answered questions from Salhia Brakhlia and Jérôme Chapuis.

“The West, particularly Europe, has locked itself in a fairly virtual bubble” in the face of conflicts

“The President doesn’t say anything randomly”, believes François Lecointre. According to him, the comments reaffirmed by Emmanuel Macron on the possible sending of ground troops to Ukraine are part of a desire “to raise awareness”while “Europe locked itself in a virtual bubble, in which it did not want to look at the conflicts that continue to take place all over the world”. “We pride ourselves on being able to say that we will deliberately renounce war, except that in reality, it is not us who choose. War is a phenomenon which is deeply linked to man, to violence that man has in his heart, and in the life of international relations”he explains.

A vision born in Europe, in the aftermath of the two world conflicts. Through European construction, the continent wanted “establish a very different model of policymaking, which would exempt us from war”. Europe has therefore built this philosophy where “we consider that war is the worst of barbarities, and therefore we absolutely want to erase it, completely delegitimize it, deny it”. A position which, however, is not specific to the West as a whole since, according to the former head of the armed forces, “the United States continued to prepare for war, to have a vision of international relations based on the balance of power”.

He therefore sees a strategy in Emmanuel Macron’s comments on the possible sending of ground troops to Ukraine, formulated at the end of February and reaffirmed at the end of last week in the English newspaper The Economistand French newspapers Provence and the Tribune Sunday. “In his message, there are several targets: he is addressed to Russia and our European partners, but it is also addressed to our public opinion, and I think that in democracies, the role of leaders is to be able to raise awareness.

“If you define the red line that you have set, you force yourself to a loss of freedom of action the day this line is crossed”

President Emmanuel Macron opened the debate around French nuclear weapons in European defense. “The doctrine of French nuclear deterrence is developed through the public declarations of various Presidents”recalls François Lecointre.“Each speech by a President of the Republic must be scrutinized and analyzed with great attention. In nuclear matters, it is possible to intervene if France’s vital interests are threatened, but vagueness remains around this notion, and for good reason. he points.

Does attacking a territory of the European Union amount to attacking the interests of France? “France has always refused to define too precisely what its vital interests are, obviously” he replies. “It’s like the principle of the red line: if you define it precisely, you force yourself to lose freedom of action the day this line is crossed”. The former chief of staff adds that it would be “authorize the enemy to go to the extreme proximity of this red line and have complete freedom of action.”

It therefore summarizes“we are in international relations with a vocabulary and a grammar which does not prevent public declarations from being used to shock, to surprise, to astonish and to provoke reactions”.

Visit by Xi Jinping: “He is a major player in the world who is coming”

Chinese President Xi Jinping, on a two-day visit to France, is not “neither a friend nor a rival, it is a major player in the world who is coming”according to François Lecointre.

“What Europeans want is for the world to come” not only “between the United States and China”. Must be “capable of assuming” a “relation of forces”of “negotiations” and France “may have a role to play”.

Find the entire “8:30 am franceinfo” from Monday May 6, 2024: