80 years of the Landings without Putin: "Emmanuel Macron has enormously hardened his positions against Russia"according to a specialist
Cairo: Hani Kamal El-Din
“We are in a very tense situation between France and Russia, without even talking about the situation on the Ukrainian front”estimates Wednesday April 16 on franceinfo Emilia Koustova, member of the Mémorial France association, professor at the University of Strasbourg. “Emmanuel Macron has considerably hardened his positions against Russia”explains this specialist in Russian history and civilization.
Less than two months before the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, which takes place on June 8, the Liberation Mission announced Tuesday that Vladimir Putin is excluded from the celebrations. The government mission, which organizes the tribute ceremonies, justifies this choice by “war of aggression that the Russian head of state is leading in Ukraine.
“We should perhaps remember that in June 2014, a few months after Russia’s invasion of Crimea, Vladimir Putin was invited to the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings […] So this time I think that’s also why yesterday’s announcement created a surpriseassures Emilia Koustova. It is by this evolution that we measure that [Vladimir Poutine] has truly become an outcast.”
“I also think that it shows to what extent, in 2014, we did not yet realize the seriousness of the situation and the fact that it was a real war that was open in the east of Europe between the Russia and Ukraine”, analyzes the university professor. According to her, we must now consider a new way of involving Russia in these commemorations linked to the end of the Second World War.
