Has the head of the armed forces, i.e. the President of the French Republic, made a strategic mistake? Responding during his interview to France 2 on Wednesday night that a Russian nuclear attack on Ukraine, if it took place, would not be followed by a similar strike by France, the lord of the clocks has – at the very least – left room for doubt. Even France’s allies within NATO and Europe are wondering: would Emmanuel Macron’s comments have weakened our common defense strategy?
As evidence, a British journalist asked during NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s press conference this Thursday: “Hasn’t France undermined Western deterrence by eliminating a unilateral nuclear response to Russia?” “According to researcher Didier Billion, interviewed by Le Parisien, deputy director of IRIS, we can even speak of a ‘strategic error’. “The least we can do is not warn the enemy of what we are going to do,” admits this geopolitical expert. “From a military point of view, by wanting to make too many declarations of his political will, he made a mistake,” our expert concludes.