For fifteen days, the war in Ukraine has shaken Europe. “Europe has changed under the impact of the pandemic, it will change faster and stronger under the impact of the war,” French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday in Versailles, near Paris, before the start of a European summit.
The president also declared himself “worried” and “pessimistic” regarding the evolution of the conflict in Ukraine, not seeing any diplomatic solutions “in the hours and days to come”. Despite everything, “our Europe must be united in the face of this war,” he added.
This war will lead the 27 to take “historic decisions” to “completely redefine the architecture of our Europe”, he continued, hoping for “decisions in terms of energy, perhaps agriculture”. to be concluded at the end of March but also “defence decisions” with “probably exceptional advice” on this file in May.
Russian bombardment “unworthy and amoral”
“We have to be prepared for all scenarios. Europe depends on gas, the strategy is to reduce, reduce this vulnerability,” he explained on the steps of the Palace of Versailles. “Tonight we need to send a signal: to know how Europe will rethink itself geographically. (…) New investments will certainly have to be made,” added Emmanuel Macron.
Emmanuel Macron also condemned “in the strongest terms” the Russian bombardment of a facility housing a maternity and pediatric hospital in Mariupol, in south-eastern Ukraine, which is “an unworthy and amoral act of war whose the obvious objective is to kill civilians”.
He pointed out that this type of drama had happened “several times since the beginning of this war”. “I have constantly engaged in conversation with President Putin and nothing justifies what Mariupol went through,” he continued.