France’s surprise new Foreign Minister, ex-Renew Europe boss Stéphane Séjourné, made his diplomatic debut in Kyiv over the weekend, followed by Weimar Triangle’s Germany and Poland, vowing to support Ukraine “as long as necessary”.
Séjourné put Europe at the heart of his priorities for the new job, with the notion of a “powerful Europe” (“Europe puissance”) at its core in his first-ever speech as foreign minister on Friday.
He then embarked on a three-day diplomatic tour, with a first stop in Kyiv on Saturday, followed by Germany on Sunday.
He is also expected in Warsaw on Monday to meet his Polish counterpart, Radosław Sikorski, in apparent efforts to put the ‘Weimar triangle’ diplomatic ties at the heart of his nascent tenure.
He and German counterpart Annalena Baerbock reiterated their determination to support Ukraine “as long as necessary” on Sunday, at a time when EU diplomats warn against the risks of ‘Ukraine fatigue’.
US support is also in peril, with a national election in November looming in the background, which could see the re-election of pro-Russia Donald Trump.
“We must organise at the European level [to] coordinate initiatives that include the defence of our values and our interests”, Séjourné said in a joint press conference in Berlin on Sunday.
“Putin is not letting go of his war against the people of Ukraine”, Baerbock added, insisting that “Germany and France are standing up for Ukraine. We’ve always agreed on that”.
Just a day earlier, Séjourné had made his first-ever official diplomatic stop in Kyiv: “Ukraine is and will remain France’s priority,” he claimed there. The day before, Ukraine had undergone a particularly heavy, 40-plus drone strike attack.
France has so far sent Ukraine military aid worth €3.2 billion, according to a French parliamentary report. At the EU level, negotiations are continuing for a €50-billion aid package, which Hungary has vetoed.
Both Baerbock and Séjourné also discussed the situation in the Middle East and the Red Sea, as negotiations are ongoing over a potential European joint naval mission to keep Houthis insurgents at bay. At the same time, the US and UK have undertaken airstrikes over the past week.
‘Powerful Europe’ as a priority
Séjourné’s surprise appointment came just five months ahead of the 2024 EU elections, for which he was initially expected to lead the race for Macron’s Renaissance party.
In his first-ever speech post-nomination, he claimed that rearming Europe both as a geopolitical force and a first-of-the-class military continent was paramount.
Séjourné’s ‘roadmap’ would be one of “a totally independent EU, capable of speaking up in a new multilateral order”, he said. “EU negotiations were the place where everything was possible”.
In her farewell speech on Friday, former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna deplored that “the EU is still slow in asserting itself as a true geopolitical power”.
Séjourné’s new role means that the bets are once again open as to who will take over as head of Renaissance – with the name of Olivier Véran, former health minister during the pandemic and former government spokesman, most likely to be Macron’s choice in the coming days.
(Clara Bauer-Babef, Theo Bourgery-Gonse | Euractiv.fr)
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Source: euractiv.com
