French press review
Front page: Down with war!
Audio 03:25
Anti-war demonstration in Saint Petersburg after the start of the "military operation" in Ukraine by Russia, February 24, 2022. © REUTERS / Anton Vaganov
By: Norbert Navarro
2 mins
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In tune with its colleagues, the newspaper
L'Humanité
denounces the "
fallacious and illegitimate
" reasons under which the Russian army entered Ukrainian territory, "
criminal and destructive work
", but also "
unbearable and dangerous aggression
" signed Putin, s strangles the communist daily, calling for the lifting of a “
popular movement
” like the war in Ukraine.
Which war is “
unjustifiable
”, also believes
La Croix.
And the other titles of the French press to match...
But this unanimity stops there, when it comes to commenting on the Western response to the Russian offensive on Ukraine.
Thus, when
La Croix
finds the Europeans "
firm and united with the allies in NATO
", the newspaper
Les Échos
warns that "
relying on sanctions alone to lead this fight for our values is illusory
".
Wondering if the West is “
still a force
”, the business daily notes that “
if Russia is at war, we are not
”.
As for
Liberation
, he regrets that Joe Biden, yesterday, was content to do, according to this daily, "
the minimum service
".
Poutine and the Care Bears
"
He dared
", thus frightened
Le Figaro
.
"
He
", it goes without saying, is Vladimir Putin, and this daily makes the connection with Hungary in 1956, but also Czechoslovakia in 1968, before drawing a first lesson: "
the tragedy is back
" .
Second lesson of
Figaro,
in fact, “
Russian arrogance feeds on our weakness.
If Putin embarked on this enterprise, it was basically because he knew that beyond the nice declarations, and the threats of sanctions which never deterred anyone, we had neither the military means nor the political will to prevent it
”.
Both inspired and indignant at the same time by this Western languor,
Le Figaro
assures us that the Russian president "
counts on the passivity of Europe, soft and divided, resistant by principle or habit to the use of military force, which still inhabits the imaginary land of the Care Bears born after the collapse of the Berlin Wall
”.
Europeans, the Care Bears?
Yes, but not that… “
The Americans have not been more up to par
,” adds
Le Figaro
.
By stating that he would not send troops to Ukraine in the event of a Russian invasion, not even to evacuate American nationals, Joe Biden indirectly authorized Vladimir Putin to (launch) a full-scale offensive against Ukraine
”.
History in progress
Echoing Emmanuel Macron's intervention, the daily newspapers included in their titles the keyword "
turning point
", thus hoisted to "the front page" of the newspaper
Le Parisien
.
Because, as this daily points out, despite the “
desperate
” efforts of diplomats, “
Europe and even the world have entered the most dangerous phase since the last world war
”.
Result, after September 11, 2001, February 24, 2022 will remain as “
the second most important date in the history of the 21st century: that of the return of war in Europe,
launches
Le Parisien.
We hadn't experienced this since 1945
!
Nothing less…
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