France’s “maniacal” President Emmanuel Macron is bringing Europe to the brink of “abyss”, pro-Putin hardliners have claimed.
In an address to his nation on Wednesday, the French premier warned that Russia was “a threat for France and Europe”, that the Ukraine war was already a “global conflict”, and offered to protect his allies under France’s nuclear umbrella.
“Europe’s future does not have to be decided in Washington or Moscow,” Macron said, and said that “the innocence of the last 30 years” which followed the fall of the Berlin Wall is “now over”.
But his remarks have been met with scorn from Russian lawmakers.
Pro-Putin hardliners have launched a string of attacks on French President Macron following his address yesterday
REUTERS
“Such an erroneous analysis leads to fatal errors,” senior Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev said.
“Macron maniacally imposes on his citizens, allies and the entire world a completely false concept of what is happening – ‘the Russians are coming!’ Such false conclusions and false suggestions lead to the abyss.”
Ex-Russian President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also weighed in on the comments as he coined a new nickname for his former French counterpart: “Micron”.
“Russia has become, as I speak to you and for years to come, a threat to France and Europe, says Macron,” Medvedev said on social media.
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Macron’s ‘false suggestions lead to the abyss’, Konstantin Kosachev warned
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“Micron himself poses no big threat though. He’ll disappear forever no later than May 14, 2027. And he won’t be missed.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova mocked Macron’s claim that France had the most effective army in Europe – and suggested that he should perhaps engage in a “measurement exercise” of some sort.
“Every day he makes some kind of completely out-of-touch statements that contradict previous ones. He’s a storyteller,” she later added.
Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, said Macron had “slandered” Russia with lies and military propaganda.
EU leaders will meet with Volodymyr Zelensky later today as the bloc looks to splurge on defence
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The Franco-Russian row comes ahead of a major EU defence meeting later today – where leaders from the Brussels bloc’s 27 member states will come together with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to sign off on a nine-figure military spending boost.
Zelensky, who was handed a crippling blow yesterday after the US shut off its intelligence-sharing with Ukraine, has seen a surge in support from Europe over the last few days – with France stepping up to the plate to provide Ukrainian forces with intel, according to French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu.
Diplomats expect leaders at the summit to give the proposals a broad welcome and instruct officials to quickly turn them into draft legislation.
EU members will then have to agree on the nitty-gritty, which will not be straightforward – not least following the bloc’s spat with Hungary and Slovakia’s Prime Ministers, both of whom have expressed sympathies to Vladimir Putin’s Russia.