French foreign policy initiatives during the presidency of Emmanuel Macron

Abstract

Abstract. The French foreign policy concept under the leadership of President Emmanuel Macron revolves around a proactive policy aimed at strengthening the European strategic autonomy in international relations and the defence sphere. The security and defence cooperation of EU member states is developing along two main axes: joint institutions and projects to collectively develop the defence potential of the EU member states and ‘horizontal’ projects where individual states participate based on shared goals and interests. In recent years, Western European countries have put forward at least 5 specific initiatives to deepen political and security ties among the EU countries and their partners on the European continent. Two French projects are particularly prominent: the European Intervention Initiative (2018) and the European Political Community (2022). The European Intervention Initiative represents a vision for joint deployment and anti-crisis military operations involving a voluntary group of partners. For its part, the European Political Community project embodies the concept of a pan-European dialogue excluding russia and Belarus, thus making it a prospective delineated continental framework. It also offers a practical alternative to the OSCE and has the potential to duplicate certain functions of the Council of Europe. The current French foreign policy concept has a predominantly realistic basis, combining pragmatic solutions with the adaptation of the integrated complex of the European Union to the conditions of a multipolar international order. Considering the factor of the russian threat, French President Emmanuel Macron strongly emphasises the necessity of preventing a direct military conflict between the EU and NATO countries with russia. Concurrently, Emmanuel Macron expresses his determination to continue helping Ukraine in repelling russia’s aggression and urges the EU and NATO countries to reconsider the form of their support to Ukraine. Keywords: Macron, defence potential, France, military conflict, European initiatives, russian-Ukrainian war.