French opposition politicians have criticised Emmanuel Macron’s comments on possibility of NATO nations sending troops to Ukraine as part of the fight against the Russian invasion.
The Socialist party leader, Olivier Faure, said Macron’s comments were “totally counter-productive” and had only served to divide the EU.
Faure posted on X, “Supporting the Ukrainian resistance: Yes. Entering into war with Russia and dragging in a whole continent: Madness.”
He demanded a meeting of all French political party leaders with Macron, as well as a debate in parliament.
Marine Le Pen, whose far-right National Rally party is the largest single opposition party in the lower house of parliament, wrote on X, “Emmanuel Macron is playing at being a war chief but it’s our children’s lives he’s talking about with such lack of concern.”
“This is about war or peace in our country,” she added.
Jordan Bardella, the President of Le Pen’s party, stated that Macron was losing his cool daily.
“France’s role is to embody a path of balance. Waving the spectre of engaging our troops against a nuclear power is as serious as it is reckless,” he noted on X.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, head of the leftwing party, La France Insoumise.,wrote on X that sending troops to Ukraine “would make us belligerents”.
He said: “War against Russia would be madness. This belligerent verbal escalation by a nuclear power against another major nuclear power is already an irresponsible act.”
Mélenchon wrote that parliament must be convened “and say no. No war!”
Several European countries have said that they are not considering sending ground troops to Ukraine after France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, said on Monday that he refused to rule out sending soldiers to the country.
Britain, Germany, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary all ruled out the move on Tuesday
No Plans For NATO Troops In Ukraine
NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, told a news agency that the military alliance has no plans to send combat troops into Ukraine.
Stoltenberg said that “NATO allies are providing unprecedented support to Ukraine.”
“We have done that since 2014 and stepped up after the full-scale invasion. But there are no plans for NATO combat troops on the ground in Ukraine,” he added.
Moreover, German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz ruled against his country deploying troops into Ukraine to combat Russian forces.
German lawmakers also spoke out against the idea.
“Once again, in a very good debate, it was discussed that what was agreed from the outset among ourselves and with each other also applies to the future, namely that there will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there by European countries or NATO states.”
Olaf Scholz
Scholz added that there should also be no involvement of soldiers from afar in the war.
It had also been agreed “that the soldiers who are active in our countries should not take an active part in the war,” he stressed.
Scholz did, however, say that European leaders now appeared willing to procure weapons from third countries outside Europe as a way of speeding up military aid to Ukraine.
Omid Nouripour, a Greens member of Scholz’s coalition, also said the idea of sending troops was not being discussed within Germany or with allies.
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