Much policy is driven by money. From Hugo Dionísio at strategic-culture.su:
The children went to Eurodisney in Paris, and the adults went to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
It’s really like this: the children went to Eurodisney in Paris, and the adults went to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The comparison may seem exaggerated, but it’s not, because the big question that arises from this European “leaders’” attitude is this: to what extent is the resistance to the diplomatic process initiated between the U.S. and the Russian Federation merely a diversion, a circus, aimed at once again justifying the massive military investments announced, freezing the conflict situation and the underlying tension, as well as saving face for the European “leaders”?
In the first meeting, Macron summoned the most important EU heavyweights. France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, Denmark (because of Greenland?), and the two appendages António Costa and Von Der Leyen. The results, as we know, were classified in the national press as “disappointing,” as these people failed to reach a consensus.
Not convinced, Macron, in a second meeting, summoned more secondary states, but, except Belgium, states with some proximity to the Russian Federation, whether geographical, cultural, or economic. The chosen ones were Norway, Canada, the Baltic States, the Czech Republic, Greece, Finland, Romania, Sweden, and Belgium. Portugal was left out and placed at the same level as Malta, Cyprus, Ireland, Slovenia, and Croatia. Slovakia and Hungary don’t count for these things. Macron would have returned with a third wave of third-tier “European” states if he had been successful.
In my opinion, this was not an outright attempt to sabotage the peace process or the negotiations between two direct competitors, one of them a declared enemy, the other still the commander of this great Western ship. It’s much more than that, in a web of objectives ranging from personal salvation to political salvation, as instruments to save an entire dynamic of interests associated with the Ukrainian conflict, which did not disappear with Trump’s election.
