More than two years into the war, the rhetoric from Paris has significantly changed — and there are good reasons to believe that this change is permanent. In contrast to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Zeitenwende speech, in France it is hard to single out a watershed moment when this strategic transformation occurred. Yet many foreign policy paradigms have so fundamentally changed in Paris that, whatever happens on the battlefield, it is hard to believe that a return to 2020 thinking is possible. Macron’s second Sorbonne speech in mid-April further confirmed this, as did his recent interview with The Economist. In this conversation, Macron clearly emphasized his perception of Russia as an existential threat and the need for Europeans — beyond the EU — to step up deterrence.
Give France Credit for Its Strategic Change – War on the Rocks
