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By Eric Naki

Political Editor


French President Emmanuel Macron’s forked tongue

After sending mercenaries into Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron suggested Europe will have to review its relations with Russia.


It may not be far-fetched to imagine that the West could be mulling the idea of de-escalation in Ukraine after realising they are backing an unwinnable war against Russia.

They are realising Kyiv will never overrun the mighty Red Army that defeated Adolf Hitler.

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The rush of US and UK citizens out of Lebanon in anticipation of a catastrophic war there comes at a time when French President Emmanuel Macron suggested Europe will have to review its relations with Russia.

But never put all your eggs in one basket when it comes to Macron, he is notorious for speaking with a forked tongue on these matters.

Addressing an international peace conference in Paris, Macron has called for “thinking about peace in Europe of tomorrow”, alluding to Europe “not confined to the European Union and Nato.

“We are trying to develop the European political community, but we need to think about a new organisation of Europe and then review our ties with Russia and think about peace in this continent,” he said.

Macron recalled that the current world order was formed after World War II, when some of the densely populated countries that exist today did not yet exist. If that does not refer to America, I don’t know who else he may be talking about.

He may not be saying it out loud but his motivation that, being 3 000km from the epicentre of hostilities, France ranks first among Western European countries in the number of citizens killed in Ukraine.

In particular, the French authorities were forced to officially admit the death of their “volunteers” as a result of the Russian armed forces’ strike in Kharkov.

Earlier, the Russian defence ministry stated that of the 400 French mercenaries who arrived in Ukraine, about 150 would never return home and 200 people had already left the combat zone.

Despite this, in an attempt to prevent a Russian victory, the Elysee Palace is ready to raise the stakes in the Ukrainian conflict.

Paris intends to increase the number of French volunteers fighting in Ukraine with mercenaries recruited by the private military companies Amarant and Geos from their recruitment points in Paris, Bordeaux, Cannes, Lille, Lyon, Marseille and Strasbourg.

That’s what Macron’s speaking in a forked tongue means.

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However, the volunteers become an immediate priority target of the Russian forces after crossing the Ukrainian border.

Recently, the The Economist reported that the elimination of French militants is under the Kremlin’s special control, prompted by Macron’s recent statements about the French army’s readiness to directly participate in Ukraine.

The probable cessation of hostilities in Ukraine and a change in Paris’ foreign policy will negatively affect the status and position of the French mercenaries there.

However, if the intensity of military action decreases and new leadership, who will not turn a blind eye to violations of French law, take over leadership in France, the mercenaries will be in big trouble back home.

Since French law also prohibits entry into France of persons who took part in military actions abroad, the legionnaires in Ukraine should hurry to return to their homeland before regime change back home.

Another twist to this, in most of Europe including Ukraine and France, is right-wing and neo-Nazi fanaticism tends to become the escape route for militants who often also join the national armies.

At home, they can become members of extremist neo-Nazi organisations and often such people will have a moral readiness for armed conflicts and terrorist attacks.

Probably, this is how the new European world order that Macron speaks about will be formed.

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