JRL NEWSWATCH: “Sending troops to Ukraine: A necessary but badly presented debate” – Le Monde
“The subject of French involvement on Ukrainian soil, raised by Emmanuel Macron on Monday [Feb. 26], deserves to be considered, but only in consultation with the other nations concerned. Going it alone is not an option.”
“… Macron’s remarks on Monday, February 26, concerning the possibility of sending military personnel to support the Ukrainian forces in their war effort … [have] had a beneficial effect … forc[ing] a debate in the French political arena on war … Ukraine … Russia … how to help those under attack, and on how to treat the aggressor. In an international context so fraught with threats, an in-depth debate is essential. The president’s request for a debate in the Assemblée Nationale, followed by a vote on the bilateral security treaty signed with Ukraine on February 16, was a step in the right direction. Yet … negative repercussions … stem from how the much-needed discussion was introduced: Amid confusion and without being properly framed. … [T]he fact that Macron declared that he wished for Russia to be ‘defeated’ and not just ‘not to win the war’ went unnoticed. But these words indeed mean something. It is important that the terms of France’s commitment have now been clarified ….”