Ever since the crisis began, Macron has assumed the role of Europe’s statesman, willing to talk face-to-face and on the phone multiple times with Putin in a way that other world leaders would be either unwilling or, Macron’s supporters believe, unable to do.
Critics might argue that Macron’s indulgence legitimizes a man that Biden has described as a war criminal, but his allies say that, at the very least, keeping the line open to Moscow eliminates any claim Putin could make that he’d been isolated and had no diplomatic alternative other than invasion.
Macron is a man who sees himself and France as a force for good on the world stage. And though his interventions often don’t live up to expectations — Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal and Paris climate accord; Putin invaded Ukraine — the statesman persona plays well with French domestic audiences. All of which helps Macron as he fights for reelection this month.
If Macron does secure a second term, it’s likely he will want to continue and go further in his role as Europe’s political and moral guide.
He has hardly been shy in the past about his grand vision for the future of the European Union — and how he sees France sitting at the center of the project.
After arriving at the rally accompanied by the tune of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” the EU’s anthem, Macron told the crowd he would “defend Europe.”
“Our civilization is at stake, our way of living, of being free, of promoting our values, our common enterprises and our hopes,” Macron said.
Back then, the biggest threat to Europe was Brexit. The practicalities, implications and consequences of a member state leaving the EU were not fully known, and although the EU remained united throughout the process, the negotiations involving Britain’s departure from the bloc would practically bring the business of Brussels to a halt for the best part of four years. Macron, however, saw an opportunity to revitalize and strengthen the EU without the UK.
Not everyone agreed with him. Sophie Pedder, Paris bureau chief for the Economist and author of “Revolution Française: Emmanuel Macron and the Quest to Reinvent a Nation,” said that at the time it felt as though Macron was “calling out into a void,” as the rest of Europe struggled to get its head around the French President’s grand vision.
“Macron made this quite complicated plea for European sovereignty and there was silence from Germany, which had just had an election and it wasn’t clear what the resulting government would look like,” Pedder told CNN.
The French President has since struggled to build a consensus around his reimagined vision for Europe, according to Gerard Araud told CNN, who served as Macron’s ambassador to the US from 2017 to 2019.
“Every country in the EU has a vision of what Europe should be, and in most cases it’s a projection of its own state. For the Germans, it’s a more administrative center in a federal system. For France, it’s a centralized state with a…
Read More: Emmanuel Macron has a grand vision for the West. Putin has exposed the limits of his influence