dOminique de Villepin made his name Memorable speech It was just before the US-led invasion of Iraq to the UN Security Council in February 2003. Devil Pin, the French Foreign Minister at the time, effectively demonstrated the intention of France to reject it. United Nations Resolution Approve the warforces the US and the UK to act unilaterally. He warned that Washington's strategy would lead to turmoil in the Middle East and undermine international organizations. The prophetic plea was filled with applause, a rare event on the Security Council. That led to the inclusion of the diplomats in David Hare's 2004 anti-war character career.
Now, before becoming a mainstream opinion in Paris or Berlin, the veteran politician warned of the risk of overreliance on the US in Europe, he returned 80 years later with advice on how to deal with the most serious breakdowns in relations between Europe and the US.
As Donald Trump alienates America's oldest allies at an astonishing rate, European leaders are rushing to adapt to a new, chaotic world order. But Devilpin believes that Europe will also have the opportunity to unite behind liberal democracy and fill the void left by the Trump administration. He believes that European independence in defense, national security and technology is urgently needed.
The visit of Paris to diplomats, prime ministers and heads of state last month reflects European alarms. On Monday, Emmanuel Macron became the first European leader to be welcomed by the White House since Trump returned to power. However, Macron also convened world leaders to discuss the potential new coalition of a country that is willing to blunt the outcomes of Trump's reorganization against Ukraine and his apparent preparation to abandon liberal democracy.
Trump's foreign policy is unpredictable, but he is now Sides with Russia over Ukraine. Even if Macron was in the White House and was trying to save the transatlantic connection, the US Voting with Russia against a UN resolution condemning Vladimir Putin's war. North Korea and Belarus were among only a handful of other countries that followed the United States.
“We currently have three illegal superpowers: Russia, China and the United States,” Devilpin says. “The United States can no longer be considered an ally of Europe,” however he warns that the United States will not thrive in this obstacle, most fitting world that it produces, because it is “completely isolated.”
He sees Trump's authoritarian turn as both a crisis and an opportunity for Europe to unite behind a new common purpose. “The result of this is the awakening of democracy in Europe. We are going to fight for liberal democracy more than ever before, because the question now is really: sovereignty or submission.”
It sounds logical to achieve European sovereignty, but how do you get there? De Villepin proposes a three-point plan for a more assertive and independent continent. The first step is to develop a common defence agreement in Europe, which will greatly boost the European defence industry. “We need to urgently develop our own systems, not just from the US.” The second is to increase our investment in innovation and technology, as outlined in last year's Draghi report. The third step is to strengthen Francobritt's collaboration on defense, intelligence, nuclear issues and Ukraine that De Villepin wants to see. Clear security guarantees in the event of a treaty and ceasefire.
“We have to put our destiny into our own hands,” he says. “Stop believing in illusions. Trump is abandoning Ukraine. [Elon] Musk supports extremist movements in Europe because it wants the EU to be weak. They understand that Europe is now the main obstacle to their vision. And this is, of course, unacceptable. ”
Does he support allies in which Ukrainian Europeans, including French, put boots on the ground to protect them from future Russian attacks? “As part of an agreed peacekeeping program by the international community, I support France's contribution.”
In 2003, Devilpin's passionate UN speech was given at a similarly low point of transatlantic relations. American neoconservatives were labelled “Freedom Fly” by news countries labelled as French invasions, and opposed the “Weasel axis” to other European countries opposed to Iraq's invasions.
George Bush's challenge to the United States is based on the painful wartime history that underpins the Transatlantic alliance, but is sharply linked to 2025. Still, in the face of history, we have never stopped standing upright before humanity. We want to remain faithful to our values and act resolutely with all members of the international community. ”
Rumors about Devil Pin running for Elysse in 2027 have been circulating in French media. He remains sincerely concerned about the president's ambitions. What is clear, however, is that he believes that the next wave of national elections after the European national elections will be determined by national security and diplomacy as well as domestic issues. “National security will be the most important issue for voters, because it is about freedom and values, whether we believe in sovereignty or submission.”
This appears to be the rationale behind his return to public life, not just as a potential presidential candidate for France, but also as an informal spokesman for what he calls “European sovereignty.” He used the phrase six times in our 90-minute conversation. “My background, my opposition to the Iraq War, and my experience dealing with the geopolitical crisis were all my duty as I felt that the voices I was being voiced for the defense of Europe, the defense of our values.”
Devilpin belongs to a long tradition of French politicians skeptical of America's global hegemony, and now feels proven. However, he does not promote dogmatic anti-Americanism. He has close ties with the United States, He learns there and emphasizes his respect for America's soft power, its university and the culture of innovation. “They are giving up on it because of this absurd idea of this perfect power. They ignore history. You can't set fire on your own and win.”
He predicts that public protests against Trump will appear throughout the United States as soon as his policy failures become clear. He predicts, like most economists, trade tariffs will lead to explosive inflation and layoffs, and Trump's “reckless” foreign policy will weaken the country much. “This is always a problem for nationalists and populists. What I call reality principles.”
The problem is that the far right is causing a war against reality, and at least in the US it appears to be winning. In last year's presidential election, Trump won the popularity vote nationwide with a small margin of 1.5 percent points, but he averaged it 54 points for “News Dessert”A Northwestern University survey found that serious local media is rarely available.
De Villepin sees this as an urgent call to build up the European high-tech industry and encourage independence from the US platform. “Elon Musk wants a complete vassal of the European and European media. So this is our fundamental question of freedom and we are free to think about what we want to think. Whether it's LLMS, we need to build our own tools. [large language models]social platforms or cloud tech. You need to understand that this is an emergency. ”
Before the German general election on February 23rd, Musk worked enthusiastically for the AFD on the far right, but it was less effective than he wanted. When Musk accepted it and finished, the party was voting at about 20% 20.8% of votes. De Villepin doesn't believe that Musk's intervention, which is advantageous to the far right, would be particularly successful in France as well. “Yeah, if Elon Musk comes to the campaign with her, Le Pen would be the most reliable way to lose.”
Jordan Bardera, the youthful president of Marine Le Pen's national rally, canceled a trip to a right-wing conference in the United States after former Trump aide Steve Bannon created what appears to be a Nazi salute at the event.
De Villepin predicts that Le Pen will try to maintain some distance between himself and Trump's Maga movement, but he claims they are ideological twins. “She's very close to Russia. It's close to these ideas. Anti-globalization, anti-immigration, anti-maternal culturalism. So they're completely linked.”
His own path to a potential presidential candidate may be full of obstacles and contradictions. As a moderate conservative Palestinian garlist, he may have a hard time getting through the first round. But he clearly sees a political future where his foreign policy experience raises the most pressing domestic concerns.
For now, he says, European nationalists can gather together. As they did recently In Madrid, he praises Trump and vows to “make Europe great again,” but soon he believes that Trump will become a toxic brand of Europe. “This is an opportunity for Europe to become a voice of stability,” he says. “Because here we know the consequences of authoritarian nationalism.”
