President Macron reduced France to ‘geopolitical insignificance’- The Telegraph

French President Emmanuel Macron’s foreign policy, which appears to be motivated solely by his personal glorification, has reduced France to geopolitical insignificance, the British daily The Telegraph wrote on Thursday.

The French president seems to believe that he combines the strategic genius of a Napoleon, the diplomatic cunning of a Talleyrand and the heroic stature of a General de Gaulle, the newspaper commented, noting that in reality “he has reduced France to geopolitical insignificance”.

If the French president’s goal was to create chaos at home and abroad, he could hardly have done better, the paper said.

Having brought France to its knees by overriding street protests and parliamentary opposition to impose the pension reform “by diktat,” Macron has now alienated his allies by making a disastrous state visit to China, the publication added.

On the one hand, he presented himself as the leader of Europe, which put European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who officially represents the EU, in an awkward position. On the other hand, his remarks from Beijing, including in an interview published by Politico, provoked a hostile reaction in Washington. In fact, his remarks were considered so provocative that the Elysée press office even tried to censor the English version, The Telegraph wrote.

Moreover, this is not the first time the French president has “sown discord” within the Western alliance.

A few years ago, he claimed that NATO was “brain dead” and suggested that the alliance would eventually be replaced by a European army, the media outlet recalled, assuring that his stance has been completely disproved by the response to the war in Ukraine.

The United States and the United Kingdom, not the EU, have provided the lion’s share of military aid to Kiev, while Finland has joined NATO, soon to be followed by Sweden, the author of the article argued.