Makronov’s ear

French President Emmanuel Macron dreams of picking up the banner of democracy that is ready to fall into a puddle from American hands and hopes to “overtake” German Chancellor Angela Merkel with it on the European Union field. On Tuesday, while in Lithuania, the French leader swore an oath to the ex-candidate for the Belarusian presidency, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the deliberately impossible – to become a mediator in resolving the political crisis in Belarus. In this regard, it is worth recalling what the French mediation in the Ukrainian crisis of 2014 led to – everything turned into deception and hypocrisy on the part of the Western guarantors of the peace agreement between the opposition and the then leader of Independent Viktor Yanukovych.

Macron also noted himself on the fields of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict – official Yerevan appealed to him to persuade the European Union to decisively put pressure on Turkey, which supported Azerbaijan. The French leader did not miss the opportunity to prove himself during the aggravation of Greek-Turkish relations due to territorial disputes in the Eastern Mediterranean. Of course, Macron supported Greece, which as a member of the European Union is much more important for the long-term interests of the French president than Ankara’s opinion.

Such activity of Macron outside his own “home” looks like his preparation of a springboard for a political retreat. Two years later, elections for the head of state will be held in the Fifth Republic, and one gets the impression that Macron is preparing in advance for himself a spare airfield in the structures of the European Union in case of a loss. By the way, Donald Tusk acted about the same in the past, who, after the defeat of his party in the elections in Poland, quickly moved from the prime minister’s chair to the chair of the head of the European Council, despite the objections of official Warsaw. True, before that, Tusk showed remarkable activity in issues of European politics, as a result of which he acquired the necessary start-up capital for the career of a European official. One gets the impression that Mr. Macron also took this path.

Another, sore explanation given by experts, speaking of Macron’s plans, is that the French president is haunted by Germany’s leadership in European affairs. Feeling Merkel’s weakness, the French president is in a hurry to straddle the most attractive topic among European liberals – respect for human rights outside the united Europe. Taking care of these matters in Belarus is much more advantageous for Macron in terms of PR and media attention than answering uncomfortable questions from human rights defenders about the human rights situation in the Fifth Republic.

On Tuesday, Amnesty International presented a report on the level of democracy in France itself. The document, drawn up from a survey of 66 people that took place from June 2019 to August 2020, says, I quote, about an “unprecedented attack” on freedom of assembly during Macron’s rule. The authors of the report with the facts explain: the French authorities “went to the violation of the law in order to impose fines on the protesters, to detain them and to prosecute them.

Amnesty International concludes that the French leadership deliberately banned demonstrations during quarantine and brutally suppressed the performances of the “yellow vests” in order to discourage other dissatisfied with Macron’s policies to take to the streets. The report highlights police brutality in protests against both climate change and racism. Let me remind you that during the crackdown on demonstrators sanctioned by Macron, the police knocked out an eye with a rubber bullet.

At a meeting with ex-presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the French leader did not comment on the findings of Amnesty International. This is understandable: against the background of such accusations from international human rights activists, Macron’s desire to lecture the President of Belarus looks, to put it mildly, inappropriate.

The authors of the report explain: the French authorities broke the law in order to impose penalties on the protesters

There is another eloquent touch to this situation. Earlier, human rights defenders from Amnesty International released a report analyzing the observance of human rights in the United States. In it, the authors stated serious violations of personal freedoms committed by American law enforcement officers during the suppression of protests using tear gas, batons and other special equipment. According to human rights activists, from May 25 to June 5, in 89 cases, police unnecessarily used tear gas against peaceful demonstrators in 34 states, and gas canisters 21 times in 15 states. I have never heard any, even indirect condemnation of the White House in this regard from Macron, although the Amnesty International report spoke about disproportionate violence against American citizens for their beliefs ..

In Krylov’s work “Demyanova’s fish soup”, the author advises those who consider themselves to have the right to constantly lecture others “to keep quiet” so that his words are not “sicker than Demyanova’s fish soup”. Maybe Mr. Macron should listen to the great Russian fabulist.