MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. France and the European Union have embraced radical extremism in their attitude to Russia, Laurent Brayard, a French expert and historian who resides in the Donetsk region, told TASS.
Earlier, the leader of the French Patriots party, Florian Philippot, criticized statements from Western politicians who claim that Russia is posing a threat to Europe, dismissing such discussions as a propaganda myth. In his address to the nation on March 5, French President Emmanuel Macron mentioned increasing threats from Russia as he pledged continued support to Kiev in the Ukraine conflict.
"Like the European Union, France, too, has pursued radical extremism toward Russia. And I think President Macron has been held captive by his own rhetoric, for he is used inside France to intimidate the population and for manipulation purposes - in order to support the current system," said Brayard, a war reporter with International Reporters. "For Macron, this has served the purpose of finding a scapegoat - be it in 'evil Russians', an 'aggressive Russia' or 'the dictatorship of President Putin,'" he argued. The French expert denounced this narrative as "primitive black-and-white one," and ineffective at that.
According to him, Macron’s statements about the Russian threat as a key danger facing his country are "totally irresponsible." "There is neither rationale nor common sense or care for French sovereignty to it," Brayard continued. And French leaders of the past decade have abused this rhetoric badly, he said. "I recall [former President Francois] Hollande saying, France 'is in a state of war'. Macron, too, has said that France is 'waging a war' – first on terrorists, then on COVID, and now on Russia," he lamented. "That is the sad reality of the French political regime," he concluded.