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<\/a>Let’s recall the time when Europe was trying to respond to Russia\u2019s aggressive actions. No matter how much Emmanuel Macron wanted to play the role of mediator at the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, he decided to be more specific in his actions: to send an \u201ciron French delegation\u201d to facilitate the \u201cprocess\u201d \u2013 French howitzers CEASAR. The \u201cIron Frenchmen\u201d immediately demonstrated their effectiveness during the liberation of Zmiinyi Island. And since then, French howitzers have become widely known in Ukraine. By the way, my French friends did not really understand why in every TV program in the summer of 2022 I emphatically thanked them for the supplies of CEASAR. Perhaps they perceived it as some kind of advertising? And this misunderstanding even somewhat annoyed me. At the same time, my Ukrainian relatives and colleagues were constantly asking whether France would send new CEASARs, which the Ukrainian military was eagerly awaiting. Before the war, we were not too much interested in this type of weapon.<\/p>\nNow we see how the war is changing the worldview not only of those who are \u201cat the front lines\u201d but also of the whole society. This does not apply to the French society so far. For example, when I was in Kyiv in May 2023 and listened attentively to reports on the radio about the fighting in the East of Ukraine, the French were lively discussing pension reform on their radio. But the fear of hearing explosive thunder and terrifying sounds immediately gave me a new, unfamiliar positive feeling when the journalist explained that it was the French CEASAR that was \u201cworking\u201d on the Vuhledar direction. That is, the Ukrainian team on CEASAR is defending Ukrainians, which was also loudly and unambiguously announced on the air. War always influences the worldview…<\/p>\n
Europeans\u2019 solidarity with Ukrainians is indicative. I hope that the mairiers and prefectures of France and other European cities will continue to try to help us. By the way, this question can be raised in the context of morality. The mayor of one of the French cities, Perpignan, a representative of Marine Le Pen\u2019s National Rally party, called for assistance to Ukrainian refugees at the beginning of the full-scale war, which surprised French political circles. The point was the desire of mayors and local authorities from all political parties in France to support Ukrainians who were in real trouble. So, we are talking about universal values. And, by the way, I think that in Ukraine people do not pay attention to which political party a mayor represents, but see him or her, first of all, as a Frenchman or a Frenchwoman, as a representative of the local authorities who is trying to do what he or she can for Ukrainian refugees and to help Ukraine, in particular, by accompanying humanitarian aid to Ukraine on their own, despite the risk of being in a place where a full-scale war is going on.<\/p>\n On the other hand, I believe that even though Ukraine is bleeding now, it still has something to offer France: valuable military experience in confronting a superior enemy and achievements in the electronic industry. For example, the developments of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine have already simplified bureaucratic procedures in our country, and it is potentially ready to share its experience with partners, as I have told my French colleagues.<\/p>\n I would also note that Macron\u2019s French policy and approaches towards Ukraine are evolving, and Ukraine, in turn, is trying to carefully analyze the military component of France\u2019s assistance. Time will tell what kind of military and security cooperation these European countries will be capable of: nuclear-armed France, which also possesses certain advanced weapons technologies, and unique Ukraine, whose military and organizational qualities are being discovered by the whole world in amazement.<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/p>\n I remember back in September 2020, when I was an intern in Paris at FMSH, and even then I tried to actively study France\u2019s position on the Russian-Ukrainian war that began in 2014. And since February 24, 2022, I have had a strange feeling that I myself have become an object of research, and my topic, so to speak, explores me and the French reaction to Russia\u2019s full-scale war against Ukraine: how I myself will react to the fighting and how my French colleagues and friends will react to it…<\/p>\n At the beginning of the war, when I was huddled on a chair in the common corridor of a Kyiv high-rise building during intense bombing, my old French colleague Serge Sur sent a message that I had to come to France. My French friends had decided so. And that was when I could sleep no more than two hours a night at home. I did decide to go to France, hoping that I would not be helpless there because I have reliable French friends and colleagues.<\/p>\n The evacuation journey from Kyiv to Paris via Romania took five days. I couldn\u2019t even predict where I would find some kind of shelter. Luckily, while I was in Romania, I received an email from the director of Maison Suger de la FMSH Jean-Luc Lory calling for help for Ukrainians, and I replied that I was going to France with an evacuation suitcase. Maison Suger and FMSH immediately promised to shelter Ukrainian scientists at Maison Suger. As the saying goes, it is impossible to help the whole world, but it is possible to support a specific person. So, the French scientific world rallied to help their Ukrainian colleagues. That\u2019s how I ended up at Maison Suger with… three suits and one pair of socks in a small suitcase. Perhaps, like all Ukrainians, I was hoping that the war would not be long. This is exactly the case that makes one rethink the general trend of our time \u2013 being optimistic. By the way, a pessimistic view of possible developments would have helped Ukraine prepare for the war, and even pack evacuation suitcases properly.<\/p>\n But my French friends quickly sorted out all my problems, clothing included. I never expected that one day I would visit the FMSH and the Centre Thucydide of the University of Paris-Pantheon-Assas to receive bags of necessary things prepared by my French colleagues… So I became a refugee in France, whose future is completely unknown. Sometimes I was afraid of the possibility of being on the street: Temporary protection is guaranteed for six months, and there is no certainty about the future of persons with temporary protection, visibilit\u00e9 sur l’avenir.<\/p>\n If I think positively about where I would like to be, I probably wouldn\u2019t mind being somewhere between two countries, between two cultures, and trying to bring them closer to each other. I would very much like to see the formation of international political scientists at INALCO who specialize in the study of Ukraine, world-class scholars whose work will be used in different countries. The students of INALCO believe that in order to understand Ukraine, one must speak Ukrainian in addition to Russian or Polish. This is encouraging. They realize that they have a very difficult path ahead of them as scholars, a lot of study and work if they decide to study Ukrainian politics. But I want to believe that among them there are those who will become political scientists, international Ukrainianists, and will persistently fill this gap in French science. However, in my opinion, the reality does not correspond to these dreams. The real situation with the study of Ukrainian politics in France is described in the article I would like to see the intensification of cooperation between the French and Ukrainian military servicemen and the day when Ukraine wins and a just peace is restored, and the Ukrainian military will organize training for their French colleagues. The day when the military of both countries will work together to ensure the security of a common Europe. The day when politicians will finally find a solution on how to do this. Finally, I would like to have the opportunity to ask Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen how they felt on February 24, 2022, when they learned that Russia had started frantically bombing Ukraine. Not as politicians, but as ordinary people, and did this change their worldview, their vision of the future of Europe?<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n<\/a>The issue of restoring Ukraine is already becoming important, and France has a certain role to play in this process (there is a need to rebuild hospitals and schools, as well as bridges destroyed by enemy equipment). I would like to remind you that President Emmanuel Macron was one of the first political leaders to convene a conference on Ukraine’s reconstruction in Paris on December 13, 2022, and tried to unite the efforts of entrepreneurs and call on them to participate in this process.
\nThe full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war has also made revise the French foreign and security policy toward Eastern Europe. The French concept of building a peaceful Europe with Russia\u2019s participation has failed, at least in the near future, in particular, until the political system in Russia is completely transformed. The position of some analysts, whose views contradicted the general trend until February 24, 2022, should be taken into account… And it is their reasonable view of threats that helps to better prepare the French government to respond to challenges that seem unbelievable to the general public. A typical example is the warnings of a small group of French experts about the threat from Russia and the need to increase assistance to Ukraine before the full-scale war. Unfortunately, they were labeled \u201cradicals\u201d for that reason, whereas their assessment was the most realistic.<\/p>\n<\/a>By the way, not only local authorities but also other French institutions immediately began to develop programs to help Ukrainians. For example, the scientific and university world helped their Ukrainian colleagues by engaging them in research and teaching (I myself worked at INALCO in 2022-2024 as part of the national French PAUSE program; a program, so to speak, for scientists in exile, which provides an opportunity to work, not just to receive social assistance). This is a question of both morality and solidarity of Europeans with Ukrainians, which is interesting even for research in international relations.<\/p>\n<\/a>