The suspension of US aid to Ukraine and the introduction of new tariffs on EU goods ignited heated debates in the National Assembly on March 3 and the French Senate on March 4. “Our strategy is clear,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told the Senate. “We must make the United States understand that by launching a trade war against the European Union, they risk losing everything—and we must deter them by making it clear that we will respond to any attack on our interests.”
Barrot also urged both communists and the far right to stop amplifying Kremlin narratives. “Cécile Cukierman [head of the Communist group] condemned Donald Trump’s brutality and that of the US in her speech but could not bring herself to denounce Vladimir Putin’s brutality—despite his war crimes,” he noted.
So how should France navigate this new geopolitical landscape? With resistance—a stance shared by most French deputies and senators. “On Ukraine and European security, France has the potential to take a leading role,” Prime Minister François Bayrou told the National Assembly. Addressing Trump’s confrontation with Zelensky at the White House, he remarked, “It was a shocking spectacle—crude and humiliating [for the Ukrainian president]. But President Zelensky did not waver, and I believe we owe him our gratitude for that.”
“Everyone has watched the slow unravelling of the international order that emerged from the Cold War,” said Guillaume Gontard, head of the Greens group in the French Senate. “Everyone has seen the world’s oldest democracy sliding towards authoritarianism and fascism. Will the US still be a democracy in 2028? At best, Washington will no longer be our ally; at worst, it will stand among our adversaries.” Like many other deputies and senators, Gontard called for a robust European defence system. “Both Russia and the US are encroaching on the EU’s economic and political potential,” he warned.
How do you stand up to Trump, who no longer recognises any limits? In France, the idea of a “federal leap” is gaining traction as a response to “global imperialism.” “If Europe stands together, it can use its weight in this new global disorder to salvage what still can be saved under international law,” argues Gontard.
Other proposals on the table among French lawmakers include seizing Russian assets and ramping up the defence industry.
The head of the RDSE (Rassemblement démocratique et social européen) group praised President Volodymyr Zelensky for standing firm against the attacks of “two inquisitors talking about deals and business [a reference to Donald Trump and his vice president, J.D. Vance – ed.] while young people are dying.” She called for the creation of a true European security system and the necessary investment in the defence sector.
“Washington has become Nero’s court—an arsonist emperor, obedient courtiers, and a jester on ketamine tasked with purging the state sector,” Senator Claude Malhuret said, painting a vivid picture. “Trump has made it clear that being his ally is futile—he won’t defend you, he’ll slap you with higher tariffs than his enemies, and he’ll undermine your territory by siding with the very dictators who threaten you.”
“Never in history has a U.S. president surrendered to an enemy,” Malhuret continued. “Never before has one sided with an aggressor against an ally. Never has a president shown such disregard for the American Constitution, issued so many unlawful decrees, dismissed judges who could stand in his way, purged the military’s top ranks in a single stroke, weakened the system of checks and balances, and seized control of social media… This is the beginning of the confiscation of democracy. Remember, it took just a month, three weeks, and two days to dismantle the Weimar Republic and its constitution.”
“We must not make a mistake,” French Senator Claude Malhuret warned. “Ukraine’s defeat would be Europe’s defeat. The Baltic states, Georgia, and Moldova are next in line. The countries of the Global South are watching closely to decide whether they should continue respecting Europe, or if the time has come to trample it…”
We may stand alone for now, but the argument that Putin is unbeatable is false. Despite Kremlin propaganda, Russia is in a dire state. In just three years, what was once called the world’s second-largest army has managed to scrape together only crumbs of territory from a country with a population three times smaller.
Meanwhile, in Brussels, the European Commission is proposing an ambitious plan to raise €800 billion over the next four years to fund European defence. This could set a precedent for building a common European security framework—if the EU’s 27 member states can align their positions and take action.
Europeans are slowly waking up, shocked by the events unfolding across the Atlantic. More and more politicians are realising that Ukraine’s freedom and Europe’s security are inseparable.
