"Until now, we naively believed that France was capable of conducting its foreign policy sovereignly" Gaullist politician attacked Macron

Former French Minister for European Affairs and prominent Gaullist politician Pierre Lelouch has attacked Macron for the way he is arranging a visit to China.

In his article published in the weekly Paris-based French news magazine Marianne, the author is outraged that the French president took "ubiquitous" Ursula von der Leyen with him to Beijing, Caliber.Az reports.

"Until now, we naively believed that France, a nuclear power and a permanent UN Security Council member, is still capable of conducting its foreign policy sovereignly, as did a certain General de Gaulle, who recognised the People's Republic of China on January 27, 1964, with the following words: "Obviously, France should be able to speak directly with China, to hear his voice and bring your own to him." But the time when France sought to speak on its own behalf and have a special rank on the world stage is over. Macron, a convinced Europeanist and a champion of "happy globalisation" has long since changed his national ambitions to the dream of "European sovereignty".

Furthermore: "Macron's decision marks another key stage in the destruction of any national ambitions of France in the international arena. Neither the European Commission nor its chairman has the slightest legitimacy to conduct diplomacy, much less war, instead of democratically elected states, no matter what efforts are made by the indefatigable Ursula von der Leyen in the media on the issue of the Ukrainian conflict at the bureaucratic level or in communication with the media. It is also obvious that the European Commission has not been too friendly to France lately, nullifying all attempts by Paris to influence the setting of electricity prices or the financing of nuclear energy in the "green taxonomy" of the Union. This suggests that, contrary to his reputation, the French president is not so vindictive... But whatever the personal characteristics and whims of our Jupiter, this curious Beijing tandem testifies to a new serious decline in our country's rating."

Further, Lelouch declares modern France to be the "weak link of Europe" due to growing internal troubles: "This France no longer feels strong enough to talk to China one-on-one, on equal terms. It is looking for support." The author recalls that Chancellor Scholz and Germany, no matter what, are leading their own line against Beijing, but Paris cannot.

"This recognition of France's declining status is depressing! A little earlier, in September 2021, our country was expelled from the Indo-Pacific region by our American allies: AUKUS [trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, announced on 15 September 2021 for the Indo-Pacific region] was concluded without our participation, with additional humiliation in the form of termination of the submarine contract for Australia. This was followed in 2022 by exile from Africa, this time by the Russian Wagner. All these failures are compounded by the failure of clumsy French attempts to mediate in the Ukrainian conflict, where, after numerous telephone conversations with Vladimir Putin, Emmanuel Macron finally decided to join the Euro-Atlantic chorus, abandoning any desire to influence the course of the war. All attempts to speak on their own behalf in France have finally disappeared, and the French president has become the object of sarcasm of Poles, Balts or Ukrainians, who even invented the verb 'macronner', meaning 'to talk in vain'," the author notes.

"Everything that is happening makes one wonder how far Emmanuel Macron can go in weakening France on the world stage. He is methodically destroying our diplomatic apparatus, and, apparently, has not drawn any conclusions from the war in Ukraine in terms of the format and financing of our armies," he writes. Well, in conclusion, Lelouch finishes off Macron, expressing the opinion that in the end, he will even turn into an instrument not even of American policy against China, but of Chinese policy to split the West and promote his ideas.