It’s a statement that is attracting a lot of attention and criticism: on Monday evening, after a conference on aid to Ukraine in Paris, President Emmanuel Macron commented on the possible deployment of French ground troops. At the meeting of over 20 heads of state and government there was no agreement on the use of ground troops, but nothing can be ruled out for the future progress of the war, says Macron and reiterates: “We will do everything necessary to prevent Russia, starting this war, will not be able to win.” At the same time he makes it known: “We don’t want to go to war with the Russian people.”
Each country can decide independently and sovereignly regarding the deployment of ground troops, explains Macron. In the Ukraine is well received, Presidential advisor Mykhailo Podoljak said Macron’s comments showed an awareness of “the risks that threaten Europe from a militaristic and aggressive Russia.”
However, in several EU states there is no sympathy for Macron’s idea. Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary announce the day after the Paris conference: we will not send ground troops to Ukraine. And, as expected, Macron’s statements did not arouse any enthusiasm in Russia either. If the option mentioned by Macron comes to fruition, we will have to talk about the inevitability of a conflict with NATO, he says Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this.
In Germany Macron is provoking different reactions, but no one thinks that the deployment of ground troops is a good idea. Above all Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). According to him, at the conference there was an agreement “that there will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil who will be sent there by European states or NATO countries.”
“I don’t know anyone who seriously wants this, not even in Ukraine”
One of the first politicians in Germany to react to Macron the next day Green Party leader Omid Nouripour. For him, the deployment of Western ground troops in Ukraine is simply out of the question. “It’s not a problem at all,” says ntv’s Nouripour. “I experienced a moody Macron who simply wanted to say: I don’t want to exclude anything.”
Agnieszka Brugger, vice-president of the Greens in the Bundestag, tells Deutschlandfunk that US President Biden, the Bundestag and several members of the federal government have made it clear “that sending ground troops and direct intervention are not under discussion here and mark a red line.”
The foreign SPD politician Michael Roth describes the use of ground troops as a “phantom debate.” On Platform X he writes: “I don’t know anyone who seriously wants this, not even in Ukraine. They mostly need ammunition, air defense, drones and long-range weapons.” Roth’s party colleagues expressed similar views. “We take responsibility for ensuring that war does not spread,” he says SPD President Lars Klingbeil the German Press Agency.
“This is not good for the German debate”
The defense policy of the FDP Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann says the Funke media group in view of Macron’s statement: “Germany definitely must not share this assessment.” But what is striking is that Macron is the engine, the Chancellor the brake.
Macron is also criticized in the Union. From the point of view of CDU defender Serap Güler The French president “crossed the line” with his statement. On X the Bundestag deputy explains: “This is not good for the German debate. Instead of raising the idea of ground troops, the focus should have been entirely on ammunition and other weapons systems.”
The former left-wing politician Fabio De MasiNow Best candidate of the Wagenknecht BSW party in the European elections, criticizes Macron’s statements even more clearly. On X, De Masi shares: “Such an insane escalation could lead to nuclear war.” Sahra Wagenknecht he himself speaks of “dangerous madness” and says: “Apparently all the fuses in the Elysée have blown.”
