Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
clear sky
weather
OMAN
25°C / 25°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Macron pushes a radical agenda on Nato’s future

minus
plus

Luke Baker -


French President Emmanuel Macron’s stark description of the “brain death” of transatlantic military alliance Nato grabbed headlines last week, but his views on Russia and European Union enlargement may well have greater long-term impact.


His blunt, 8,000-word discourse with The Economist prompted soul-searching in Berlin, Brussels and other European capitals, but Moscow praised it and analysts pored over nuances, broadly seeing it as a call for Europe to chart a radical new course.


The core argument is built around security and defence, with Macron positing that Europe must bolster its capacity and willingness to act, both because it cannot rely eternally on an unpredictable United States, and because within Nato it is being hamstrung by unilateral action like that of Turkey in Syria.


That leads him to two major conclusions: that a Europe with strengthened defence capability and enhanced sovereignty will better counter-balance the United States and China and should reexamine strategic partnerships, including with Russia.


And that if the European Union (EU) is to protect what it has achieved over decades, project its influence in the world and build a community of nations not just a market, it needs to consolidate gains and reassess its enlargement policy.


“Europe must become autonomous in terms of military strategy and capability,” declared Macron, setting out the first conclusion he draws from perceived shortcomings at Nato.


“And secondly, we need to reopen a strategic dialogue, without being naive and which will take time, with Russia.


“Because what all this shows is that we need to reappropriate our neighbourhood policy, we cannot let it be managed by third parties who do not share the same interests.” On Russia, Macron went into detail about the challenges President Vladimir Putin faces, and underlined that re-engagement might take 10 years and would need to be handled carefully. But his prescription has fallen on deaf ears with outgoing European Council President Donald Tusk.


In a speech to the College of Europe on Wednesday, the former Polish prime minister dismissed the Frenchman’s ideas, calling Russia “aggressive” and bent on undermining Europe.


“Russia is not our ‘strategic partner’, but our ‘strategic problem’,” said Tusk, who has long voiced the threat many Poles feel from their former Soviet overlord.


“President Macron says that he shares the same views on this subject as (Hungarian Prime Minister) Viktor Orban, and that he hopes that Mr Orban will help convince Poles to change their position on Russia. Maybe, but not me, Emmanuel.” — Reuters


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon