French PM warns of tipping point in Ukraine conflict
FRENCH Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on Tuesday told Parliament that Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion had hit a tipping point, warning of real, tangible dangers for France should Russia defeat Kyiv’s forces.
Attal issued a stark view of the risks of failing to support Ukraine ahead of a symbolic vote in Parliament on President Emmanuel Macron’s Ukraine strategy, as domestic tensions rage in the runup to June’s European Parliament elections.
Macron’s camp has been seeking to hammer home the importance of greater support for Ukraine, which is running out of ammunition, insisting that Europe’s security is at stake.
Following a debate, the National Assembly lower house approved the government’s Ukraine strategy, including a bilateral security agreement signed by Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month.
“Ukraine is watching us, waiting for confirmation and sign of our unity behind them,” Attal told the chamber.
He added that “we are at a tipping point” in the conflict and that a Russian victory had “real, tangible dangers” for “everyday life for the French people”.
With the symbolic Parliament vote, Macron forced political parties to take a public stance on the conflict as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine stretches into its third year.
The far-right National Rally (RN), which leads Macron’s alliance ahead of the European elections, abstained, while the far-left France Unbowed party (LFI) voted against.
Targeting the RN, Attal said ahead of the vote that “to abstain is to flee before your responsibility to history and to betray what is dearest to us”.
He signed off his opening speech with the Ukrainian battle cry of “Slava Ukraini”.
The upper house, the Senate, held similar debates yesterday.
LFI said it would vote “against war” and the possibility of Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the European Union in the future.
Speaking for the RN, party figurehead Marine Le Pen attacked Macron’s “warlike announcements”, in reference to his not ruling out the sending of Western troops to Ukraine.
She also condemned European sanctions on Russian exports, “some (of which) have considerably weakened our economies”, and rejected the possibility of Ukraine becoming a member of Nato and the EU.
The vote was designed so that “either we’re in favour of Macron, or we’re accused of being pro(Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” Le Pen said.
She accused the government of “hijacking, exploiting and instrumentalising a major international crisis for a short-term electoral agenda”.
Allies of Macron at the weekend lambasted the RN at the launch of their European election campaign, accusing the far-right party of flirting with the Kremlin and betraying the interests of France and Europe.
Macron is also set to speak about the war today.
But public support for France’s continued aid for Ukraine is waning, according to pollsters.
An Elabe poll released on Sunday showed that 39 per cent of French people support France’s continued economic and financial aid for Ukraine, 11 percentage points down from June last year.
Just 14 per cent of French people believe France should ramp up military aid for Ukraine, according to the study.
Macron emphasising that his ruling party is prepared for war with Russia is a “risky bet” ahead
of the elections, the Eurointelligence think tank said.
It added that Macron’s “narrow focus” on the RN made his party an “easy target” for others.
Macron’s hardened stance represents a turnaround for a leader who had for years sought to position himself as a top mediator between Russia and Ukraine.
Speaking to a French broadcaster on Monday, Ukrainian leader Zelenskyy said there was no need for French ground troops in his war-torn country as long as “Ukraine holds”.
“Your children are not going to die in Ukraine,” he said.