French Parliament supports security agreement with Ukraine despite differences
Kyiv • UNN
French lawmakers overwhelmingly supported a 10-year security agreement with Ukraine, pledging to provide Ukraine with military aid, weapons and training, despite opposition from far-right and far-left parties.
After a debate in the parliament, French lawmakers finally supported the security agreement with Ukraine. The French media write about those who supported the agreement and those who opposed it, UNN reports.
For us (the government) to turn away from Ukraine would mean turning away from our values. It would mean betraying the trust of our allies and showing weakness. This is not peace at all, but rather an open door to new conflicts, new injuries, new wars. That is why, from the first second, together with the President, we have been saying clearly and firmly that we stand by Ukraine and will help it in any way we can.
Details
The Franco-Ukrainian agreement on security and the situation in Ukraine was approved by 372 MPs, 99 voted against it, and 101 abstained.
We should add that the total number of voters in the French parliament is 572. However, 471 voted. The absolute majority is 236 votes.
In the end, lawmakers supported the agreement by a wide margin. However, this happened after a tense debate.
Voting in favor of this security agreement signed between the President (Emmanuel Macron) and the Ukrainian President (Volodymyr Zelenskyy) does not mean engaging in an escalation of the war. It is about reaffirming our continued commitment to the Ukrainian people, and it is about saying to Russia that Europe will never again succumb to threats or fear.
The National Rally (RN) and the L'France Indomitable (LFI) parties spoke out against the security agreement. Representatives of the latter explicitly stated the day before that they would vote against the package.
We are not actually deciding on the security agreement with Ukraine today - you (the government) have already signed it without agreeing with anyone. You asked us to sign the form after the unacceptable rattling comments of the head of state. We cannot accept this
Perhaps, Mr. Prime Minister, the goal was to play the good guy and push the entire opposition - and therefore the millions of French people they represent - to the side of evil, in the shameful choice you seem to want to impose: either we are for Macron or we are accused of being Putin's supporters. This attitude, I say to you calmly but confidently, is despicable
Analysts say Macron pushed for the vote in an attempt to show that the far right and far left are weak on Russia ahead of the European Parliament elections in June, in which polls have long predicted that the National Party will win in France.
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A 10-year security treaty with Ukraine includes a commitment by Paris to supply more weapons, train soldiers, and send up to 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in military aid to Ukraine in 2024.
Macron also took a tougher stance against Russia, calling on Ukraine's allies to urgently do more. He also did not rule out the presence of Western troops in Ukraine, which caused a negative reaction among some Western politicians.
