Europe

Smiles and statements belie ongoing Berlin-Paris disagreement on Ukraine

Two weeks ago German officials were infuriated when Macron floated in public the idea that sending European troops to Ukraine could not be ruled out

French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Olaf Scholz and Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk at a press conference in Berlin, Germany, on Friday. Photograph: Ebrahim Noroozi/AP

Derek Scally in Berlin
Fri Mar 15 2024 - 18:05

Amid frosty smiles and awkward handshakes, the leaders of Germany, France and Poland insisted on Friday – repeatedly and using near-identical language – that rumours of their disagreement on the Ukraine-Russia war have been greatly exaggerated.

After two weeks of verbal mortar exchange between Berlin and Paris, chancellor Olaf Scholz hosted his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron for bilateral talks in Berlin, before they were joined by Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk. When they went before the press instead of taking questions the three delivered prepared statements about how well they were all getting on.

“As you can see all three of us are serious with our support for Ukraine,” said Mr Scholz. “You can see too that solidarity and common action are indispensable to defend freedom and peace in Europe. More than ever it is the case that our unity is our strength.”

Two weeks ago German officials were infuriated when Mr Macron floated in public – after securing no backing from other European leaders in private – the idea that sending European troops to Ukraine could not be ruled out. Berlin having ruled it out repeatedly in the fortnight since, Mr Scholz insisted on Friday that Europe was “not at war with Russia”. Instead he promised greater military support for Kyiv at next Monday’s meeting of defence ministers in the US Ramstein airbase in southwest Germany.

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In a French television interview in advance of his Berlin trip Mr Macron insisted he was right to pursue strategic ambiguity with Russia. Setting any limits on how to respond to Moscow’s invasion meant “opting for defeat”.

“If Russia wins this war Europe’s credibility will be reduced to zero,” he added, though a French poll shows 68 per cent of respondents disagree with his comments on western troops in Ukraine.

Speaking in Berlin Mr Macron insisted he would “never take an initiative that could lead to escalation”.

“We have expressed a will to remain united, our security and our future are at stake in Ukraine,” he said.

Looking on with a mischievous smile, Mr Tusk said “the atmosphere shows clearly that those nasty rumours that there are strategic differences between European capitals is not the case”.

When the 15-minute press briefing ended without questions, Mr Macron gave Mr Tusk his hand and a smile. For Mr Scholz there was no eye contact and just a passing handshake, before the French leader departed.

Divisions on the war are also growing within the chancellor’s ruling Social Democratic Party.

“Is it not time that we don’t just talk about how one leads a war but also think about how one freezes a war – to end it later,” said Rolf Mützenich, head of SPD parliamentary group, in a Bundestag debate.

His remark attracted applause from some in his own benches, and from extreme right and extreme left parties in parliament.

An influential SPD leftist, Mr Mützenich has insisted in the past that Germany should have as good a relationship with Moscow as Washington.

Listening on from the government bench, Green Party foreign minister Annalena Baerbock could be seen shaking her head. In the past she has warned that freezing the conflict would mean “freezing injustice”.

The idea was attacked by the SPD’s Green Party coalition partner as a “slide back to old SPD naive Russia appeasement”.

Meanwhile a spokeswoman for the Free Democratic Party (FDP), the SPD’s other coalition partner, described Mr Mützenich’s remarks as an unwelcome “paradigm shift” that did not reflect government policy.

Derek Scally

Derek Scally

Derek Scally is an Irish Times journalist based in Berlin

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