Macron: Russia will continue to "try to destabilize" the West

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The French president was this Saturday, February 15 at the security conference in Munich. If he defended his policy towards Russia, Emmanuel Macron warned that Moscow "will continue to try to destabilize" Western democracies by interfering in their elections and by manipulating social networks.

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"I think that Russia will continue to try to destabilize, either [via] private actors, or directly services, or" proxies "[intermediaries, note], " said Emmanuel Macron .

For the French president, Russia “will continue to be an extremely aggressive actor on this subject in the coming months and the next years and in all the elections, it will seek to have strategies of the kind or it will have actors . "

" Faced with these attacks, we have very few antibodies, " conceded Emmanuel Macron. We must " strengthen technological defenses, cooperation between services " in the West in order to identify and " attribute " these attacks, which often remain anonymous.

Call for dialogue

The French head of state, however, called on Europe to dialogue with Russia in order to achieve " de-escalation strategies " and " common transparency ". Because in the medium term, he justifies, Moscow will not be able to play the same role as today on the international scene.

“ Russia has built an incredible military armada in recent years. She continued to invest when we stopped. Is this strategy sustainable for her ? asks Emmanuel Macron. Financially, I don't think so. Because simply it has a gross domestic product which is rather that of an average economy. If I put myself in the place of Russia, I say to myself : the strategy that I have had in recent years gives me credibility today. Is it sustainable at 20 years old, I'm not sure. Then, through our weakness and our disagreements, it maximized its role in all regional crises - Syria, Libya, on certain African subjects and elsewhere. Is it sustainable? Complicated. "

In the eyes of the French president, Russia, a " huge country ", also knows a " declining demography " to which " we need allies " . Emmanuel Macron "does not think that the alliance with China is sustainable " for Moscow because , he adds, " Chinese hegemony is not compatible with the feeling of Russian pride. So I think we have to look for the voices of a European partnership. I am not pro-Russian, nor am I anti-Russian, I am pro-European. And I think it is also giving a strategic option to Russia that is of value to us. "

Weakening of the West

Emmanuel Macron then spoke of the trend of American withdrawal under Donald Trump, saying that this resulted in " a weakening of the West ". He was referring to comments made the day before by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the same forum in Munich. The latter had harshly denounced the national selfishness propagated in his eyes by Washington and lamented that the United States placed its own interests above those of all the others, even refusing the idea of ​​an international community.

In response, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sought to reassure Europeans: " I am pleased to confirm that it is very exaggerated to speak of the death of the transatlantic alliance. The West is winning, and we are winning together. "

Mike Pompeo also defended global responsibility for the United States, despite European reluctance, asserting that the ideals and values ​​of the West would outweigh the " desire for empire " of Russia and China.

► Read also: Macron "impatient" facing the lack of German response to European challenges

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• France
• Emmanuel Macron
• United States
• Defense
• Russia

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