Statement of Le Mouvement de la Paix following President Macron’s declarations concerning the dispatch of ground troops to Ukraine last February 27, 2024
At the end of a summit of heads of state and government organized in Paris by Emmanuel Macron in support of Ukraine on February 26, 2024, the French head of state made some extremely serious remarks at a press conference.
While claiming to want to “avoid any escalation”, President Macron displayed his determination to mobilize European countries to provide further military support to Ukraine. He repeatedly stated his objective: “Russia cannot and must not win this war”, adding that “everything is possible, if it is useful to achieve our objective”, including sending ground troops.
Made without any prior debate in Parliament, this declaration by the President of the Republic commits France, an atomic power, to a spiral of war that could drag the whole of Europe into a conflict with incalculable consequences between nuclear powers. Emmanuel Macron has locked himself into a logic of war, in the line, unfortunately, of a policy marked by increased militarization, not only of international relations, but also of the life of society. After the considerable increase in the army’s budget in response to NATO’s demands, after the massive export of that are no longer defensive and that fuel the conflict, after the military rhetoric of “we are at war”, “war economy” and the demographic and moral “rearmament” of the nation, after the desire to generalize a obligatory Universal National Service entrusted to the army, the President is now planning to send young Frenchmen to the battlefield.
Le Mouvement de la Paix unreservedly condemns these irresponsible statements and calls on our fellow citizens to take action to prevent President Macron from turning the war in Ukraine into a world war.
Le Mouvement de la Paix calls on our country’s leaders to choose the peace cause and put French diplomacy at the service of de-escalation and a ceasefire that will put an end to all death and destruction. It calls on the population to strengthen the peace camp, in unison with all the peoples of the world, to say no to war and impose negotiated solutions in accordance with the spirit and letter of the United Nations Charta.
For Le Mouvement de la Paix, there is no greater urgency than mobilizing for peace; it will take all necessary initiatives to unite the forces of peace, and will participate actively in the rallies that are crucial to preventing the march to war.
Le Mouvement de la Paix
February 27, 2024