Macron goes from dovish to hawkish over Russia's invasion of Ukraine
What caused Emmanuel Macron to change from an appeaser to a warmonger on the Russia-Ukraine issue?
Broadly speaking, this is the question being asked in law firms across Europe as the French president adjusts to his new role as the continent's top resistance fighter against Vladimir Putin.
Certain countries, the Baltic states and Poland, have welcomed the apparent change in President Macron's "realistic" assessment of the Moscow threat.
Other countries, especially Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Germany, are horrified by this newfound va-temps-gaur (gung-ho) French spirit.
Everyone is confused and unsure. How genuine is Macron's new line? His recent refusal to rule out sending troops to Ukraine is just one of his surprises and evidence of his insatiable desire to succeed diplomatically. I wonder?
And how much of his new position is purely political?
The European elections are just around the corner, and the far-right forces of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardera look set to defeat the Macron faction.
That means President Emmanuel Macron is using Ukraine to create a fault line between his camp and the opposition, combining his own obvious belligerence with Le Pen's unclear past collusion with Russia. Is it creating a contrast?
In a live interview on French television on Thursday evening, the president implicitly acknowledged that these important questions had been asked.
But in true Macron fashion, he didn't want to appease, he wanted to assert. Far from suppressing his newfound wariness, he explained it.
The President was not in the least embarrassed by the "switch" from dovish to hawkish, taking the view that one must necessarily precede the other.
Only when all efforts to reach an opponent have been exhausted can it be conclusively said that the opponent is beyond the limits of possibility.
The Kremlin has taken "significantly harsher actions" in recent months, plunging Russia's economy into a permanent state of war. The crackdown on domestic opposition will intensify. Cyber attacks against France and other countries intensify.
As Ukraine becomes increasingly distressed and the United States can no longer be trusted as an ally, Europe is entering a new world, one in which "what we thought was unthinkable is actually happening." said. The Macron Doctrine required France and Europe to prepare for a sur-ceau, a spiritual leap from the comfortable certainties of a dying era to the harsh realities of a new era.
In a deliberately Churchill tone, he believes that Europe must be ready for war in order to maintain peace.
