While the French president calls on the non-aligned countries to take a stand against Russia, the president of the European Commission fans the flames of war.
Those who are not openly with us are against us. This is, in essence, the message sent on September 20 by Emmanuel Macron, the French President, to the rostrum of the United Nations. The objective of the Head of State was to convince “neutral” countries to no longer be silent and choose their side, between Ukraine and Russia. In other words between the Western bloc and Moscow.
In an attempt to better convince, Emmanuel Macron waved the Russian threat above African heads. Russia, he warned, “deliberately violated the UN Charter and the principle of equality of States” and “decided in doing so to pave the way for other wars of annexation, in Asia , in Europe, and perhaps tomorrow in Africa and Latin America”.
“Those who are silent today serve Russia”
And the president to continue with an astonishing sentence. Pointing to a certain weakness of African countries. "Those who consider themselves strong seek to subjugate those who are weak by all means," continued Emmanuel Macron.
Before castigating the non-aligned countries: "Who would like to mimic the fight of the non-aligned is seriously mistaken: those who are silent today serve in spite of themselves, or secretly with a certain complicity, the cause of a new imperialism, of 'a contemporary cynicism that disintegrates our international order without which peace is not possible,' he said. In other words, not positioning yourself for the West means opposing it and supporting Moscow.
Funny way to look at things. The Russia-Ukraine conflict marked the revival of non-aligned countries. There are many states, particularly in Africa, that did not want to be associated with the sanctions. But since the polls at the UN, the West has put enormous pressure on Africa to try to create an alignment in its favor. Thereby, Washington managed to make Uganda bend, which intended to establish an economic partnership with Moscow. However, Museveni is never the first to criticize Western arrogance and to recall that he is sovereign in his own country.
The West, the camp of false democracy
Macron's exit is not to the liking of African countries who see it as neocolonialism which they would do well without. The French president wants at all costs to involve Africa in a Cold War – which the continent does not want – and rally it to the American cause. However, “many southern states remain skeptical of Joe Biden's declared desire to embody the camp of democracy on the international scene. Besides the fact that Biden's credibility is tarnished by the fact that he voted in favor of the invasion of Iraq, American democracy has regularly demonstrated all its limits and excesses with Donald Trump, appalled the world during the invasion of Congress on January 6, 2021 and arouses horror by the mass killings perpetrated by bloodthirsty madmen who bloody its cities every week", recalls Jean-Luc Maurer, Honorary Professor of Development Studies.
Africa does not want to be the stooge of the West in this new Cold War, after having borne the brunt of that which began in the 1960s. Because "between 1960 and 1989, Africa was sacrificed to the challenges strategies of the Cold War", while most countries have just obtained their independence, recalls Victor Battaggion, of the magazine Historia.
Europe wants its war against Russia
Especially since, while Emmanuel Macron is summoning African countries to align themselves behind Western positions, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is throwing oil on the fire. "I know some people are calling for an end to the fighting, but I have to say that the reality is this: if Russia stops fighting, the war is over, if Ukraine stops fighting, there will be no more Ukraine”, indicates the head of the European executive who therefore rejects any ceasefire.
Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen do they play "Good cop, bad cop"? While the first asks for the support of Africa, the second plays it go-to-war. And the President of the European Commission to put a layer in the direction of Africa: “There is a lot at stake, not only for Ukraine but also for Europe, for the international community and for order. worldwide,” she says.
To listen to the two European leaders, Africa should therefore align itself with the positions of Brussels and accept the consequences of a war which risks being interminable.