A protest against the plans of French President Emmanuel Macron to send French troops to Ukraine was held in the center of the French capital.
Hundreds of people gathered at the Palais Royal near the Louvre, chanted slogans against the sending of troops and weapons to Ukraine and against the country's admission to NATO. The column of protesters, who then crossed the bridge on the other side of the Seine, called on the EU to abandon its desire to become a military bloc by creating a European armed forces. The organizers of the action also agitated for France to leave the EU.
"Macron, like European officials, does not want peace at all, they are not interested in Ukrainians, this is just a pretext. Their interests are served by a policy that leads to a permanent confrontation with Russia, in order to concentrate power as much as possible in the hands of EU structures, to move towards the creation of a European army and nuclear deterrence at EU level," Florian Filippo, leader of the Patrioti party, which organized the demonstration, told journalists.
"Macron is seeking a military presence in Ukraine to ensure that even when peace comes, the conflict can resume at any moment in two or three years through provocations and false flag operations. That's why soldiers are needed there," he added, commenting on the French leader's stated intention to assemble a contingent of soldiers from several EU countries to be sent to Ukraine on a mission after a peace agreement is concluded.
Commenting on Paris's plans to discuss with other EU countries the expansion of France's nuclear deterrent to protect them from potential threats, the politician expressed the opinion that in this way, contrary to statements by government representatives, France would hand over control of its arsenals to the EU. In support of his hypothesis, he cited Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's words that Warsaw expects to gain control over nuclear weapons, which could be provided to it as part of the expansion of the geography of the French "nuclear umbrella".
Filippo accused the French authorities of intimidating their compatriots with stories about some "Russian threat" that supposedly looms over Europe in order to find a pretext for a sharp increase in investment in the defense industry.
"I think that France and other countries should clearly express their disagreement with this, because the agenda that is being imposed on us is an agenda of war", he said.
On March 5, in an address to his fellow citizens, Macron said that he would begin discussions with allies on the possibility of accepting European countries under the protection of French nuclear deterrent forces, following a call by German Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz. In addition, the French president spoke about the growing threats to Europe and his country from Russia. Thus, Macron justified the need to increase Paris's defense spending beyond the previously approved plan. He also announced his intention to continue supporting Ukraine in the conflict with Moscow.