Of Alberto Negri

Source: Linkiesta
French President Emmanuel Macron puffed out his chest in his speech to the European Parliament, knowing full well that with Great Britain's imminent exit from the Union it will remain the only member country that sits on the UN Security Council and has a significant atomic potential. He reiterates that his intervention in Syria together with the American and British ones “saved the honor of Europe”. In truth, Westerners saved face after losing the war in Syria where Russia and Iran managed to keep Bashar Al Assad's regime in place.. Now a new chapter will probably begin with the clash between Iran and Israel.
It is a negligible fact that since the beginning of the revolt seven years ago France has tried in every way to have its say in the former colony: first he focused on the fall of Assad, even supporting the jihadists, then in 2013 he wanted to bomb Damascus, then with the attacks in France in 2015 Hollande asked the Syrian dictator to fly over the country to take revenge and strike ISIS. Short memory and not only of the French.
Macron himself speaks of a "poisoned debate" but whoever arrogated the right to send French policemen to Italian territory in Bardonecchia against all the rules: Paris has not yet apologized and probably never will
The astute Macron even promised a few weeks ago to protect the Syrian Kurds from Erdogan by receiving a Kurdish delegation and sending 150 soldiers from Iraq but in reality he accomplished nothing, like Trump who sold his allies against the Caliphate to Türkiye.
When we talk about honor here we must be careful not to stumble into contradictions.
Macron preaches well and scratches badly, especially towards Italy. National selfishness and the illiberal charm of populism are coming to the surface, says the young French president. Bene. For starters, he should apologize to Italy for what his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy did by bombing Gaddafi without even giving us a phone call.. Dal 2011 Italy has fallen into a phase of destabilization due to waves of migrants, a phenomenon that constituted one of the central aspects of the last elections which turned the political picture upside down.
Macron himself speaks of a "poisoned debate" but whoever arrogated the right to send French policemen to Italian territory in Bardonecchia against all the rules: Paris has not yet apologized and probably never will.
Just as Macron didn't lift a finger to help Italy stop migrant trafficking. On the contrary. The Italian mission in Niger was postponed and probably canceled due to pressure from France which considers the African country a sort of private garden in which to extract uranium: the Italians, It is true, they were not useful in the battle against the jihadists led by Paris and its African allies, but perhaps after what has happened it at least has the right to try to protect its borders from the waves of migration caused by the military intervention of 2011 to which the Italian government of the time guiltily conformed.
But let's get to the serious stuff, outside the rhetoric of French grandeur. That is, the reform of the eurozone to be presented to the European Council at the beginning of the summer. Here President Macron used a lot of pathos but few concrete proposals, knowing full well that he was facing the wall of Northern Europe, plus the only ones who could support him, Italy and Spain, they are weaker than ever
What is France doing to stabilize Libya? Together with Egypt and Russia, it supported General Khalifa Haftar, standing in the way of Al Sarraj's already weak Tripoli government. Not only that. Maybe someone here has forgotten but Macron himself announced last summer that he would open hot spots in Libya to slow down migratory flows: what happened to them? There is no further news of it.
This is why Macron's proposal on the reform of European migration policies by financing local communities that welcome refugees appears interesting to overcome the closures of Eastern countries but it would not be bad if the contributions to Italy, which has already welcomed refugees, were also increased: they give a lot more money to Erdogan, who is not strictly a democrat, but it is very convenient for the German chancellor, Mrs Angela Merkel.
But let's get to the serious stuff, outside the rhetoric of French grandeur. That is, the reform of the eurozone to be presented to the European Council at the beginning of the summer. Here President Macron used a lot of pathos but few concrete proposals, knowing full well that he was facing the wall of Northern Europe, plus the only ones who could support him, Italy and Spain, they are weaker than ever. And here we must say thanks to Macron's France: he'll get a door in the face so we don't crash into it. Little consolation.