Vladimir Putin is not mad, just ‘radically rational,’ says former French president – POLITICO

PARIS — Vladimir Putin is a “radically rational” chief who’s betting that Western international locations will develop uninterested in backing Ukraine and agree a negotiated finish to the battle that shall be favorable to Russia, former French President François Hollande instructed POLITICO.

Hollande, who served from 2012 to 2017, has loads of first-hand expertise with Putin. He led negotiations with the Russian chief, together with former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, below the so-called Normandy format in 2014 after Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine and supported pro-Russian separatists within the Donbass area.

However these efforts at dialogue proved fruitless, exposing Putin as a frontrunner who solely understands power and casting doubt on all later makes an attempt at talks — together with a controversial solo effort led by present French President Emmanuel Macron, Hollande mentioned in an interview at his Paris workplace.

“He [Putin] is a radically rational particular person, or a rationally radical particular person, as you want,” mentioned the previous French chief, when requested if Putin may search to widen the battle past Ukraine. “He’s received his personal reasoning and inside that framework, he’s prepared to make use of power. He’s solely capable of perceive the [power] dynamic that we’re capable of arrange towards him.”

Forward of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Hollande added that Putin would search to “consolidate his positive factors to stabilize the battle, hoping that public opinion will get drained and that Europeans will worry escalation with a purpose to convey up at that stage the prospect of a negotiation.”

However not like when he was in energy and Paris and Berlin led talks with Putin, this time the job of mediating is more likely to fall to Turkey or China — “which received’t be reassuring for anybody,” Hollande mentioned.

Macron, who served as Hollande’s economic system minister earlier than leaving his authorities and occurring to win the presidency in 2017, has tried his personal hand at diplomacy with Russia, holding quite a few one-on-one calls with Putin each earlier than and after his invasion of Ukraine.

However the outreach didn’t yield any clear outcomes, prompting criticism from Ukraine and Jap Europeans who additionally objected to Macron saying that Russia would require “safety ensures” after the battle is over. 

Hollande stopped wanting criticizing his successor over the Putin outreach. It made sense to talk with Putin earlier than the invasion to “deprive him of any arguments or pretexts,” he mentioned. However after a “transient interval of uncertainty” following the invasion, “the query [about the utility of dialogue] was sadly settled.”

Frustration with France and Germany’s management, or lack thereof, through the Ukraine battle has bolstered arguments that energy in Europe is shifting eastward into the palms of nations like Poland, which have been most forthright in supporting Ukraine. 

However Hollande wasn’t satisfied, arguing that northern and japanese international locations are casting of their lot with the US at their very own threat. “These international locations, basically the Baltics, the Scandinavians, are basically tied to the US. They see American safety as a protect.” 

“Till at this time,” he continued, U.S. President Joe Biden has proven “exemplary solidarity and lived as much as his function within the transatlantic alliance completely. However tomorrow, with a special American president and a extra isolationist Congress, or no less than much less eager on spending, will the US have the identical perspective?”

“We should persuade our companions that the European Union is about ideas and political values. We must always not deviate from them, however the partnership can even provide valuable, and stable, safety ensures,” Hollande added.

Throwing shade

Hollande was one among France’s most unpopular presidents whereas in workplace, with approval rankings within the low single digits. However he has loved one thing of a revival since leaving the Elysée and is now the nation’s second-most common politician behind former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, 5 spots forward of Macron — in step with the adage that the French favor their leaders when they’re safely out of workplace.

His time in workplace was racked with crises. Along with failed diplomacy over Ukraine, Hollande led France’s response to a collection of terrorist assaults, presided over Europe’s sovereign debt disaster with Merkel, and confronted huge avenue protests towards labor reforms.

On that final level, Macron is now feeling among the warmth that Hollande felt over the last months of his presidency. Greater than one million French residents have joined marches towards a deliberate pension system reform, and additional strikes are deliberate. Hollande criticized the reform plans, which might elevate the age of retirement to 64, as poorly deliberate.

“Did the president select the precise time? Given the succession of crises and with elevated inflation, the French need to be reassured. Did the federal government suggest the precise reform? I don’t suppose so both — it’s seen as unfair and brutal,” mentioned Hollande. “However now {that a} parliamentary course of has been set into movement, the manager must strike a compromise or take the danger of going all the best way and elevating the extent of anger.”

A notable distinction between him and Macron is the standard of the Franco-German relationship. Whereas Hollande and Merkel took pains to showcase a type of political friendship, the two sides have been plainly at odds below Macron — prompting a carefully-worded warning from the previous commander-in-chief.

“In these moments when every part is being redefined, the Franco-German couple is the indispensable core that ensures the EU’s cohesion. However it must redefine the contributions of each events and set new targets — together with European protection,” mentioned Hollande.

“It’s not about seeing each other extra steadily, or talking extra plainly, however taking the brand new scenario under consideration as a result of if that work isn’t accomplished, and if that political basis isn’t safe, and if misunderstandings persist, it’s not only a bilateral disagreement between France and Germany that we’ll have, however a stalled European Union,” he mentioned, including that he “hoped” a latest Franco-German summit had “cleared up misunderstandings.”

The socialist chief additionally had some selection phrases for Macron over the best way he’s making an attempt to rally Europeans round a sturdy response to Biden’s Inflation Discount Act (IRA), which gives main subsidies to American inexperienced business. A number of EU international locations have come out towards plans, touted by Paris, to create a “Purchase European Act” and lift new cash to assist EU industries.

Throughout a joint press convention on Monday, Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte agreed to disagree on the EU’s response.

“On the IRA, France is discovering that its companions are, for probably the most half, liberal governments. Once you inform the Dutch or the Scandinavians hear about direct assist [for companies], they hear one thing that goes towards not simply the spirit, but in addition the letter of the treaties,” Hollande mentioned.

One other problem rattling European politics these days is the Qatargate corruption scandal, wherein present and former MEPs in addition to lobbyists are accused of taking money in alternate for influencing the European Parliament’s work in favor of Qatar and Morocco. 

Hollande recalled that his personal administration had been hit by a scandal when his funds minister was discovered to be mendacity about Swiss financial institution accounts he’d didn’t disclose from tax authorities. The scandal led to Hollande establishing the Haute autorité pour la transparence de la vie publique — an impartial authority that audits public officers and has the ability to refer any misdeeds to a prosecutor.

Now could be a very good time for the EU to observe that instance and set up an impartial ethics physique of its personal, Hollande mentioned.

“I feel it’s a very good establishment that will have a task to play in Brussels,” he mentioned. “Some international locations shall be completely in favor as a result of integrity and transparency are a part of their fundamental values. Others, like Poland and Hungary, will see a problem to their sovereignty.”