https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1891747486966112541
Wow, that's rare: I agree, fully, on something with Le Pen's Rassemblement National. In fact, this is by far the smartest take I've seen in French media on Vance's speech, well done @JphTanguy!
As Jean-Philippe Tanguy says, and as I've myself been arguing for days, while some of the substance in Vance's speech made sense, we shouldn't let this distract us from the fact that this remains at heart a U.S. strategy of foreign interference.
While the Biden administration meddled in Europe by coopting liberals (which are most of Europe's politicians), it's eminently clear that the Trump administration is trying to do so by coopting the so-called "populist right". And I'm pleased to see that some of them, at least @JphTanguy, are smart enough not to be fooled (unlike liberals)...
As Tanguy rightly points out "the fact that Macronists
and company take offense at interference that they themselves have organized is
hypocrisy", and the populists shouldn't be foolish enough to fall in the
same trap under the pretext that this time the interference aligns with their
own ideological preferences. Whether it comes wrapped in liberal or
conservative packaging, American interference remains interference.
Vance's speech was the height of cynicism: in the same
breath he criticized European institutions for democratic shortcomings (which
is very true) while simultaneously announcing his intentions to meddle in
European politics (which is eminently antidemocratic, as Tanguy says:
"mind your own business"), and announcing that the Trump
administration refuses to give Europe a say in Ukraine peace negotiations -
despite expecting Europeans to foot the bill for whatever security arrangements
America decides (which is pretty much textbook colonial stuff).
I see so many Europeans making the same mistake: suddenly cheering America just because some of their criticisms align with their own views, and completely missing how America's actions are actually terrifyingly bad for European interests.
No, the right lodestar to always keep in mind is sovereignty. When America excludes Europe - for the first time in its history - from negotiations that will undoubtedly redraw its security architecture, or when it criticizes European democracy while actively working to influence it, the underlying message is the same: Europe's role is to do whatever is in America's current interests, no agency allowed. It's refreshing to see figures like Tanguy recognize this dynamic for what it is. The question now is whether enough European leaders will develop similar clarity before it's too late.