France - World War III.2
“We are undoubtedly approaching a moment in our Europe when we must not be cowards,” Macron stated before the French community at the Lycée Français in Prague, Czech Republic. “War has once again reached our land, and relentless forces are expanding their threat, launching increasingly frequent attacks against us. We must rise to the challenge posed by history and the courage it demands,” he said, adding: “One never wants to see the dramas that are coming and what is at stake.“ Speaking later, Macron said: “Is this or is it not our war? Can we look away in the belief that we can let things run their course? I don’t believe so, and therefore I called for a strategic surge, and I fully stand behind that.” On 24 February 2022, 8 years after the illegal annexation of Crimea and the beginning of the conflict in eastern Ukraine in 2014, the Russian Federation made the deliberate, unjustifiable choice to start a war against Ukraine. From the very first day of the conflict, France and its European Union partners chose to stand firmly alongside Ukraine and its people. Russia's military aggression against Ukraine is one of the most serious violations of the European security order in decades. With this decision, Russia is flouting international law and in particular the Charter of the United Nations. By waging a war against a sovereign country, Russia deliberately violated the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. Supporting the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine does not simply mean helping a free people. It also means defending international law and the security of the European continent. On 23 and 24 June 2022, the Heads of State and Government meeting in the European Council decided to grant candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova for EU membership, and recognized the European perspective of Georgia. That was a historic step, made possible in part by the visit to Kyiv by the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, the German Federal Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the Italian President of the Council of Ministers, Mario Draghi, and the Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis. France and its European partners will continue working to accompany Ukraine on its European path. On 30 September 2022, France condemned President Putin’s announcement of the illegal annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk and parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions by the Russian Federation in the strongest terms. On 12 February 2024, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Stéphane Séjourné publicly revealed the discovery of a pro-Russian propaganda network called “Portal Kombat,” which was detected in the course of an investigation by the VIGINUM agency. His disclosure was aimed at alerting the French public – as a precautionary measure – to the threat of disinformation disseminated by Russian actors ahead of the European elections. VIGINUM highlighted the major role played by a Crimea-based Russian company, TigerWeb, in the creation and administration of the “Portal Kombat” network sites. Established in 2015, TigerWeb is a web development company whose founder, Yevgeny Shevchenko, has been developing and maintaining websites since at least 2013. VIGINUM also noted that some of the operating methods and content disseminated have strong similarities with those of the Inforos network, which has been subject to EU sanctions since July 2023, making it possible to infer that TigerWeb could be serving as a service provider for Russian influence operators.
A Viavoice survey published 06 May 2024 revealed fiercely competing opinions on France’s role in the war in Ukraine. The results show a nation divided, with 29 percent saying that France is giving Ukraine too much military support, 40 percent responding that France is supporting Ukraine the right amount and just 16 percent saying that France is not supporting Ukraine enough. Similarly, 39 percent of French people think that EU member countries are united in their support for Ukraine against Russia, compared with 40 percent who think the opposite. In contrast, 63 percent said that the EU had an important role to play in bringing the war to an end. The French are equally divided when it comes to Ukraine’s potential EU membership: 42 percent of respondents describe themselves as against Ukraine joining the EU, compared with 41 percent saying they are in favour of it.
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