Europe's back against the wall

As EU leaders seek to mobilise support for Ukraine while keeping the US on side, a French senator puts the continent's challenge bluntly.

EU leaders are meeting in Brussels to discuss defence matters in the wake of the US rapprochement with Russia. Last night Emmanuel Macron of France said the continent’s future could “not be decided in Washington and Moscow”.

No doubt the European Council will couch its support for Ukraine in diplomatic terms designed to keep Trump's America on side. Below is what Claude Malhuret, a French centre-right senator, had to say about it earlier in the week.

“Europe stands at a critical point it its history. The American shield is slipping away; Ukraine is at risk of being abandoned; Russia is strengthened. Washington has become the court of Nero, with a pyromaniac emperor, submissive courtiers and a buffoon on ketamine in charge of purging the civil service.

It is a tragedy for the free world, but it is first of all a tragedy for the United States. Trump's message is that there is no point in being his ally since he will not defend you, he will impose more tariffs on you than on his enemies and he will threaten to seize your territories while supporting dictatorships that invade you. The master of the deal is showing us the art of grovelling.

He thinks he will intimidate China by bowing to Putin. But as Xi Jinping watches this debacle, he is probably stepping up preparations for the invasion of Taiwan. Never in history has a president of the United States surrendered to the enemy; none has supported an aggressor against an ally; none has trampled on the American Constitution, issued so many illegal decrees, dismissed judges who could prevent him from doing so, fired the whole military high command in one fell swoop, weakened all countervailing powers and taken control of social networks…

I have confidence in the strength of American democracy and the country is already protesting. But in one month Trump has done more harm to America that he did during his first four-year term.

We were at war against a dictator. We are now fighting a dictator supported by a traitor. Last week, at the very moment when Trump was patting Macron on the back in the White House, the United States voted at the UN with Russia and North Korea against Europeans calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops.

Two days later, in the Oval Office, the draft dodger lectured the war hero Zelensky on morality and strategy before kicking him out and ordering him to submit or resign. Last night he took another step into infamy by halting the delivery of weapons that had been promised.

The proper response to such a betrayal is simply to confront it. And make no mistake: a defeat for Ukraine would be a defeat for Europe. The Baltics, Georgia, Moldova are already on the list of targets…

What Putin wants is the end of the order put in place by the United States and its allies 80 years ago. The first principle of that order was a prohibition on acquiring territory by force. This ban is at the origin of the UN, where today Americans vote in favour of the aggressor and against the victim because Trump's vision coincides with Putin's - a return to spheres of influence, with great powers dictating the fate of small countries.

"I get Greenland, Panama and Canada; you get Ukraine, the Baltic countries and Eastern Europe; and he gets Taiwan and the China Sea." Oligarchs gathering at Mar-a-Lago call this diplomatic realism.

So we are on our own. But it is wrong to say we cannot resist Putin. Whatever propagandist claim, Moscow is not doing well. In three years, the so-called second-largest army in the world has only managed to glean crumbs from a country with a third of Russia's population.

As it battles 25% interest rates, shrinking currency and gold reserves and demographic collapse, Russia is on the brink of the abyss. America's helping hand to Putin is the biggest strategic mistake ever made during a war.

It is a violent blow, but it has one virtue: the Europeans are emerging from denial. In one day in Munich, they understood that the survival of Ukraine and the future of Europe are in their hands. They have three imperatives:

- accelerating military aid to Ukraine to compensate for America's abandonment… It will be expensive; it will be necessary to end the taboo on using frozen Russian assets; Moscow's accomplices within the EU will need to be circumvented by a coalition of willing countries, with of course the United Kingdom;

- secondly demanding that any agreement involve the return of the kidnapped children and prisoners, as well as guarantees of absolute security. After Budapest, Georgia and Minsk, we know what agreements with Putin are worth. These guarantees require a military force large enough to prevent another new invasion.

- finally – and this is most urgent as it will take the longest time – it is necessary to rebuild European defences, which have been neglected in favour of the American umbrella since 1945 and ditched after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is a Herculean task. But the history books of tomorrow will judge the leaders of today's democratic Europe on whether they rise to that challenge…

However the real rearmament of Europe is moral rearmament. We must convince public opinion in the face of weariness and fear of war - and particularly in the face of Putin's accomplices on far extreme right and the far left.

In the National Assembly yesterday, Mr Prime Minister, they again pleaded before you against European unity, against European defence. They say they want peace. What neither Trump nor they are saying, is that their peace means capitulation…

Is this the end of the Atlantic Alliance? The risk is great. But in recent days the public humiliation of Zelensky and all the crazy decisions taken over the past month have triggered a reaction in America. Popularity ratings are falling, Republican elected officials are being confronted by hostile constituents; even Fox News is becoming critical…

Trumpists control the executive, Congress, the Supreme Court and social networks. But in American history the champions of freedom have always won. They are starting to raise their heads…

Our parents defeated fascism and communism at the cost of huge sacrifices. The task of our generation is to defeat totalitarianism in the 21st century. Long live free Ukraine. Long live democratic Europe.”