“We have to be able to put a political and diplomatic proposal on the table that would be Europeans and Ukrainians’ roadmap … if this plan or this roadmap is too loose or not clear enough, not assertive enough, we are negotiating with our backs to the wall,” de Villepin said.
De Villepin did agree with Macron’s current push to move forward, along with like-minded partners, outside of the structures of the European Union to deal with urgent issues such as joint borrowing to fund increased defense spending.
Countries with high debt and overstretched budgets, such as France, Spain and Italy, have long advocated common borrowing as the only way to significantly increase defense spending, but the idea is politically toxic for more fiscally conservative countries in Northern Europe.
Can he win?
The former prime minister’s last foray into politics dates back to a failed presidential bid in 2012. Yet despite not being actively engaged in politics, or perhaps because of it, de Villepin recently topped a respected pollster’s ranking of French politicians, coming in ahead of presidential hopefuls such as center-right heavyweight Edouard Philippe.
However, as that same survey shows, translating that popularity into votes is likely a long shot. If de Villepin were to mount a run, he would find the political space he could hope to build on has significantly shrunk. His former party, Les Républicains, is a shell of its former self after bleeding membership to President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist movement and the surging far-right National Rally.
Arguably the most popular figure in Les Républicains is Bruno Retailleau, the interior minister known for his hardline stance on immigration. Retailleau is mounting a bid to lead Les Républicains and is rumored to have his eye on the presidency in 2027.
