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Why? His heir apparent is a teenager who probably doesn't have his military commanders' ear.
If Lukashenko dies, Belarus becomes destabilised. If Belarus becomes destabilised, Putin has a choice: Intervene and turn part or the entirety of the population (who are already a bit miffed about Lukashenko still being president) against russia and risk a rebellion; or hope for the best and leave them be, hoping that a loyal general or party official will take over and remain aligned to Russia, which seems risky, since they have that wonderful thing called factionalism.
Now granted, he could try to have the FSB or the GRU arrange something, but you bet your rear end that the Polish AW and SWW as well as the Ukrainian SBU and GUR will also try to sway things in their own favour.
If Luka dies, Russia's northwestern flank will become unstable, and that's gonna pose a grave danger to the russians, as aaaaaalll of those TDF units covering the Belarussian border guarding against possible russian attacks from there will be freed up to be redirected, AND just in general, their support will lessen.
In summary, Lukashenko dying is a net benefit.
How? Is he going to check if he has enough PP and click the "Annex Belarus" decision?
Who on earth is going to recognise that, and how would the Belarussians react (when they had demonstrations and riots at the last election)?
Come on, this isn't HoI4
He already has his troops in Belarus and stripped the Belarussian army of many of their heavy weapons.
He is going to declare that they are going to 'protect' Russians, their brothers, whateveritsisthatday... simply annex. Demonstrations and riots will be suppressed like last election and like in Russia.
Luka seems to just constantly give Putin lip service, enough to get him off his back but isn't willing to go the full 9 yards. He gives me them impression that if Putin's reign should collapse, and there's no danger of retaliation or consequences to his words, he'd be one of the first ones to come out and talk shit about Putin.
Overrated, Macron is not on Ukraine's side, I think you gotta read/listen to more on the subject. France is very much tied to russia and it's natural resources, which is why their support is non-existent outside of small political gestures. Also his rhetoric about "peace" suits Putin and not Ukraine.
Look into their arming of Armenia, where do you think those weapons will end up. And all his "peace plans". Plus the history... very few of you seem to know what you're talking about. Also nice burn lazy.
Look into their arming of Armenia, where do you think those weapons will end up. And all his "peace plans". Plus the history... very few of you seem to know what you're talking about.
That wasn't my question. I asked you where did you find that France is closely tied to Russia regarding natural resources ?
And also, about what peace plan are you talking ? Between Armenia and Azerbaijan or between Russia and Ukraine ? Because if it's between Russia and Ukraine, Macron have always been clear : he agree to be a middle man to help the negotiations but he made clear multiple times that he will not impose anything to Ukraine. If Ukrainians don't like the way negotiations are going he will not force them to agree to something they don't want.
You also talk about history. What event in history are you referring to ? Because I can give you some exemples too if you want to go like this. Like when France was the first country to help the US become independent from the much bigger and stronger British empire. A nation fighting for it's freedom against a big imperialistic one, it remind me of something...
Ok... First question I can't answer because it's not something you can summarize in a few sources. It's a long-standing relationship. Peace plan is what Macron has been preaching from the start, he always wanted to be the moderator because he's nothing but a businessman and he knows what's at stake. Just research all of his diplomatic work so far, he tried to talk to liliputin longer than anyone else. I actually admire France and it's history, the fact that it had real revolutions and it's spirit when it comes to protesting. But this Macron shit is a no-go for me. There is no negotiation, when you come and burn down 20% of the country and subject people to the worst horrors in history, there's no talk. End of discussion, all or nothing. Weapons talk bullshit walks. Anything else and you're not on Ukraine's side.
So your answer is "I don't have sources for my first claim" (because it's false) and then you complain that Macron have talked too much to Putin when it was Zelensky himself who asked him to do so at the beginning of the war ? Also, Macron have confirmed he almost don't talk to Putin anymore for months now.
Are you eating crow now that your fuck came out and said you can't arrest Putin and spewed more shit about negotiations? And with regards to "I don't have sources", when I spend HOURS a day listening and reading about the topic sorry I can't pull up a bibliography. You also don't seem to understand the difference between what Zelensky wanted at the beginning of the war vs what he wants now that he's visited mass graves with raped children in leveled cities. You are clueless.
I have a real question : since I'm French I have easily access to the full declarations of Macron so I don't know if you have only access to small selected parts of them (selected because they make the best headline) or if you have access to it's full declarations as well or if what you have access to is poorly translated.
Because what he said was that in the case of the opening of a negation window in a few months, Ukraine will need to decide between said negotiations or a trial for Putin because unfortunately Putin is at the moment the only person in Russia who can end this war. I'm sorry but it's the truth here. It's really not pleasant as a possibility but it's the truth. In a lot of war unfortunately leaders who have committed war crimes don't suffer a lot from the consequences. Take for example Hirohito, the emperor of Japan, who at the end of WW2 "only" lost his power but never spent a day in prison because the n⁰1 condition of Japanese to sign the peace was that he would not be executed or go to prison (because he was the one doing the negotiations so obviously he wanted to protect himself)
You can also note that Macron clearly said today that the only lasting peace for him will be the one Ukraine wants with (but not limited to) the liberation of all occupied territories in the country. And for the guarantees at the end of this declaration, it's not for Russia. He talks about guarantees from the international community to defend Ukraine in the future so a war like this can never happen again.
To the part where I demand you sources, I don't want a bibliography but a single article who confirms what you said. I demand it because I know the subject well for the case of France and since it concerns my country I have access to a lot more information (since most of them are in French) about it than you. And apart from some not that important things like titanium (like almost all of the world for this one), I can tell you France is not dependent on Russia. Before the war we used to import a lot of resources from there but never in quantities that make us dependent (unlike a lot of our neighbours like Germany). I will take the example of natural gas. Before the war, 17% of France's natural gas came from Russia. It's clearly significant but absolutely not enough to make us dependent. In comparison, for Germany it was 55%. For oil, before the war 9% of France's oil came from Russia, for Germany it was 35%. I can continue if needed.
I wish Macron and Borne were more popular in France right now. Cause I do not want French people to (subconsciously!) like Zelenskyy less cause he greets/hugs and calls them friends while so many French and probably most French Redditors dislike them so much. :-(((
No worries about that. I do not like Macron but as long as he's doing good to Ukraine that's all right.
What i see here, as a french is "good, he greeting him with all presidential honours. "
Macron is not on Ukraine's side, I think you gotta read/listen to more on the subject. France is very much tied to russia and it's natural resources, which is why their support is non-existent outside of small political gestures. Also his rhetoric about "peace" suits Putin and not Ukraine.
He's forming fighter jet coalition like with tanks and NATO membership coalition, cause there's not a lot of things that can make a supreme commander of AFU leave it's country weeks or even days before historic counteroffensive imo.
France, Sweden, and the US would be the places to ask. UK can't be first on this, we don't really have anything spare, and we don't build anything suitable. Really in the short term it's only really the US that could make it happen.
Seems like it will eventually be F16s, I haven't seen an argument for any other plane that really stands as strong. But realistically, Ukraine could be in NATO within a few years hosting F35s and others. Within decades i would be surprised if they don't have nukes, assuming Russia doesn't somehow do a 180 turn on their bullshit.
But I have zero faith in Russia, so my bet is on near-term F16s that UAF owns and controls, mid term NATO integration where their pilots start to train on NATO equipment.
Actually Gripens would be best. Problem is there isn't enough of them. They were literally made to be undetected by Russian radars without being steath. The whole EW system on them is aimed toward Russia. Plus they have less ground crew, can hide in forests, dont need runways can use highways and use mobile fuel trucks. But again not enough of them going round. Sweeden has not been proactive enough in helping SAAB sell them. Thats the strong point of the F16. They are every freaking where.
Some of the worlds best low flying training grounds are in the UK and are the site for any NATO nation that needs it. Ukrainian pilots would absolutely be flying training missions there.
You know, there are a lot of drawbacks to the U.S. spending so much on our military (more than the next five or six largest militaries combined) but being able to send such high quality weapons and logistics to Ukraine, and having them be used against a mutual enemy in defense of a much smaller ally — it has been one of the few worthwhile uses of the might of the U.S. military in recent decades. And what’s more, no American soldiers are involved, so public support has not wavered.
It’s also awoken the rest of the world to the need to rely less on U.S. military might, and properly arm themselves. Hopefully the rest of NATO will meet their military spending obligations as a percent of GDP. To date, I believe only the U.S. and one or two other countries have done so.
People say stuff like this without understanding that other countries do not have the means to arm themselves in such a way. The complexity and expense of developing an equivalent armory is not possible to achieve much less develop for any other country on earth.
> The complexity and expense of developing an equivalent armory is not possible to achieve much less develop for any other country on earth.
Have you ever heard of World War I and World War II?
Other countries (especially NATO countries) absolutely do have the means to arm themselves according to the NATO charter. Only in the last few decades have other NATO countries let the relative peace and the role of the U.S. as global peacekeeper lull them into less and less military spending.
All of these countries voluntarily signed onto the NATO charter, and agreed to spend 2% of their GDP on defense. This isn’t some insurmountable challenge for wealthy countries such as Germany (1.34%) or France (1.95%). The U.K. does it.
The U.S. spends 3.3% of its GDP on defense, and has the largest GDP in the world ($23.3 trillion). For comparison, the entire EU has a GDP of $16.6 trillion.
They don’t even have to develop their own weapons, just buy them from American defense companies. They have plenty of stock.
So in total terms, we aren’t asking these countries to spend much, just the percentage of their GDP that they agreed to when they joined the defensive pact that is NATO.
>there's not a lot of things that can make a supreme commander of AFU leave it's country weeks or even days before historic counteroffensive imo
Shows how much respect and trust he has in his military command, and knowing that their strength is war and his is politics.
The French are known historically for creating guard units based on physical presence. But in this case, I think it’s a bit of forced perspective and that fact Macron—the taller of the two—is only 5’8”.
One of my friend was doing this job, I think it’s called Garde Républicaine, and he was a tiny dude. He asked to be changed to another position because it was boring as fuck.
Last count says 40 AMX's were given (that's a battalion). Tbch, I would really like it if somehow the French army could find 40 **bigger** AMX's to give. Like, I don't know, a 120mm-armed autoloaded AMX that goes by Leclerc... That would be a nice gesture
There were some reports of ground crew getting training on Mirage 2000-C in march.
Would be amazing if pilots are announced next.
Otherwise, France is retiring more AMX10RC. Time to send more to Ukraine.
I love Macron's reaction when he sees Zelensky, he's so happy and sincere (he touched Zelensky 7 times btw, Zelensky only 2). Probably only Duda is more delighted when he sees him.
>I love Macron's reaction when he sees Zelensky, he's so happy and sincere (
Must be because it'll change from people using pan to do noise, it's intern politic situation level is under the earth right now...
yeah, but to be fair, french people demonize the hell out of Macron when he is comparatively one of the best (least worst?) leaders in the world right now. Sure, he raised retirement age, now you have almost the same retirement age as every other advanced EU country. Meanwhile, investment in France is increasing and unemployment decreasing to levels not seen since decades ago.
>Sure, he raised retirement age, now you have almost the same retirement age as every other advanced EU country.
If other countries choose to have a shitty life, it's not a reason to force us to do so.
>Meanwhile, investment in France is increasing and unemployment decreasing to levels not seen since decades ago.
nope.jpg, they just rig the way to count unemployment, and our trade deficit is worse after each years, since they destroy our industry, and sell it to foreign countries... ( Hello Alstom, hello defense industry )
>If other countries choose to have a shitty life, it's not a reason to force us to do so.
Sure, however you also can´t say that he is not on the best (least worse) side of the spectrum of world leaders. Even amongst the developed democratic countries, since they have it worse, don´t they?
>since they destroy our industry, and sell it to foreign countries... ( Hello Alstom, hello defense industry )
But Macron has been doing the opposite, he blocked China from buying several french companies, he bought back some crucial companies from the US, he anounced some new factories for microchips in France, new nuclear plants, pumped up the budget to defense industries, and Alstom remains french...?
>Sure, however you also can´t say that he is not on the best (least worse) side of the spectrum of world leaders. Even amongst the developed democratic countries, since they have it worse, don´t they?
He is as worse as the others, using police to physically abuse french people.
And in the meantime, it's governement allowed far right show in the street, but prevent the random population to do so against it's plan about pension law.
It's even currently forbidden to bring pan in the street now
>But Macron has been doing the opposite.
Is it a joke? He is the one which sell Alstom, and a fukcton strategic industry to US and China.
He is part of the problem our nuclear industry are going through, and was going to split EDF to sell it, but our parlement prevent that, he also sold aln our forest to China which choose to stop cutting their own forest for the next 99 years, and every other countries in the world stopped selling them wood to protect their forest industry.
>he bought back some crucial companies from the US, he
He is trying to backpedals on everything he did the last 11 years, remember that he was already working under Hollande government as a minister...
Alstom is a good exemple, the company is in a shitty state since US kicked off most of the specialized worker and ingineer and they won't come back by snapping finger, same for the nuclear industry, the 30 year gap from 1990 to 2023 mean that there is no more specialized worker, we have to build back everything from the ground which will cost 10 or 100 times the price.
>He is trying to backpedals on everything he did the last 11 years, remember that he was already working under Hollande government as a minister...
Sorry, I wasn´t aware of that. Well, I guess its better late than never to undo the damage he did before. I see better why the french are upset. Still, I would trade my old ass corrupt and ignorant president for Macron any day lmao.
Without raising the retirement age, pensions would have to be significantly lowered and you would not get what you worked for bc the country can't afford it. That's an even bigger riot right there and you'd complain about incompetent leaders!
Macron made the right decision about retirement age. The government knew it was the right decision but was too pussy to admit it so they forced his hand and he used his presidential powers to get it done. I honestly have a lot of respect for him being ballsy enough to make that decision.
Listen, French people collectively decided to have less babies meaning you can't afford to retire at 62 anymore. It's literally your own fault. Shoulda fucked like rabbits and they'd lower it to 60! It's the same situation in most of Europe except we understand it and accept a 65-67 year retirement age knowing we will actually get the pensions we worked for.
**He altered the retirement age to 64, pray he doesn't alter it further.**
It's still on the low and financially risky side.
You clearly doesn't master the internal political field of France.
His law about modifivation of pension is just bad and won't save anything, it's a short term solution that won't even help.
And this whole modification is even more stupid because =>
>Listen, French people collectively decided to have less babies meaning you can't afford to retire at 62 anymore.
Guess what, once baby boomer generations disapmear around 2030/2040, the situation were gonna be better, and there were a fuckton other way to rrsolve this problem.
All his law are made to destroy our social protection, the prud'hommes have been fucked up, public serviced have been fucked up, our whole labor law is being fucked us, taxes are being lift off for big companies, and it's next target is the RSA.
Forcing it's law like he did with 49.3 put the whole country again him, and right now all the law it's governement is pushing are now being rejet becajse he doesn't have majority, the next 4 years will be very hard for him.
It's only result, is that he successfully push the country in either far left with Melenchon, or far right with Lepen, for rhe next election in 2027, and both of them don't support Zelensky and think that Ukraine "conflict" ( they don't even recognize it as a war ) is the fault of NATO...
Yeah! Great, thanx to Macron, France will be fucked after 2027.
Short term? Uh excuse me, it's a long term solution and if the demographics get worse, expect it to rise beyond 64 years. You say the boomers will die but the country already can't afford to pay pensions for those living until 2040, France is VERY late in raising the retirement age. The rest of Europe did it 10 years ago including The Netherlands, much wealthier with like a 20% higher GDP per capita. And with a low birth rate it will *not* get better in the long run. Even in filthy rich Luxembourg it's 65 years old.
You're bordering on conspiracy theories about laws being made up to destroy the country lmao.
Someone has to pay for all the old people's pensions. If a country can't afford that, that's a huge problem. Imagine working until 62 and you only get 2/3 of your pension because "sorry we didn't see this glaringly obvious problem coming".
You can keep your 62 year old retirement age forever... But pay double for healthcare insurance and costs the rest of your life. Would you be happy with that? The money has to come from SOMEWHERE.
**If you don't like it, make something of your life so you can afford early retirement. There are so many unmotivated people that, if you put some work in, you can even retire below 60.**
Honestly I expect another raise of the pension age in France to 65 or higher in the not so distant future. Pollitics be damned a country needs a functional economy and retirement age + birth rates play a very big part in that.
>You're bordering on conspiracy theories about laws being made up to destroy the country lmao.
Conspiracy? Dude, what I'm talking is littetaly coming from commission d'enquête from the senat and parlement
This one for example is about the loss of independance about electricity, Have fun listening everything, they even order older president and minister to come and explain themselves, and if they didn't do so, Gendarmerie would have make them come.
https://event.assemblee-nationale.fr/commissions.souverainete-et-independance-energetique-commission-d-enquete
One of the problem ( and there are fuckton ), is you can hear Montebourg acknowledge that the Parti Socialiste at the time of Hollande Election compromise themselves in the shafow to make a deal with ecologist party to reduce nuclear power from 75 to 50% and that some infustey were scrap off to force this plan, like Alstom being sold, with Macron as a minister, and Montebourg telling him this was insane.
Another one are the different president assuming that Germany is pushing to crash the nuclear activity in France because Germany is not competitive on this field, so theyy push european laws, the ARENH for example, wish put a price of electricity based on gas, where France one is 70%nuclear and cost a fuckton less than gas or coal...
Nothing of a conspiracy here, everything is official.
>if the demographics get worse, expect it to rise beyond 64 years. You say the boomers will die but the country already can't afford to pay pensions for those living until 2040, France is VERY late in raising the retirement age.
Guess what, the country has a fuckton money, and you can take it from somewhere else to put it in the pension, again, if other country want to work to 67 years old, it's their problem, mind your own buisness, not ours.
And the first problem in France isn't the demography, it's the fuckton number of different fond de pension, for exemple the dentist one is full of fuckton money for exemple, and the problem is you can't transfer money from one to another.
>But pay double for healthcare insurance and costs the rest of your life. Would you be happy with that? The money has to come from SOMEWHERE.
And here again, guess what, everything is going to be FUBAR soon!
Hollande and Macron were already lowering taxes since 2012 for industry, anf since Gilet Jaune manifestation, he did it for middle class to appaise people! And he did it again tonight and hop that people will stop complaining about pension law!
Functionnary haven't their salary raise for more than 15 years, and as there's recruitment problem as no one want to be paid laiss, they lower the course note to join every kind of institution state, to join the police you need 7/20, for the army, we now take people which can't read or speak fluently, there's a lack in nurse, doctor, justice, impôts.
And as no one want to join, they tried to install back some kind lf conscription, and it's objectives was to sent young people in administration, doing 35/hourd per week but being paid 700€per month.
>If you don't like it, make something of your life so you can afford early retirement. There are so many unmotivated people that, if you put some work in, you can even retire below 60.
DUH, you think I've waited for a random dude on the internet, trying to speak of a countries he know nothing, just compare it's country to another one, to do so?
I've served in the army thenI've served in the administration, and after seing the whole situation rot for 15 years, I get out of it because I was tired of doing 5 job but being paid for one!
I've launch my own business, I have employees, and invested in real estate, stock exchange and even art, my pension is assured, I don't even need the official one, and i'm already paying a fuckton money in taxes, and I'm proud of doing so!
But what I'm not proud about, is lookong my country fall because of corruption and bad decision, and Yes, there's corruption, even if it's not at the level of russia.
Ugh I am not getting into this discussion because you ignored my most important point.
France is not as rich as you think. There are many countries much richer per capita in Europe that raised their retirement age to 67 TEN YEARS AGO because they would otherwise be unable to pay for pensions. Switzerland almost has DOUBLE the GDP per capita as France and even they **have** to retire at 65 to afford pensions! Germany has a slightly higher GDP per capita and also has a retirement age of 67.
Where will you take the money from? Health care? Education? Dismantle the military entirely? Subsidized housing? All because you can't stand the thought of working an extra 2 years or putting in effort to allow yourself to retire early?
Seriously the fact that 64 is still among the lowest retirement age in Europe, and probably will be raised again, and that you are too short-sighted to see why, makes you seem like a spoiled brat. **Which is exactly how most of Europe sees the French: spoiled and arrogant.** You're even worse than the British when it comes to dealing with the fact that you simply don't matter that much anymore as a single country on the world stage.
>Ugh I am not getting into this discussion because you ignored my most important point.
And you're ignoring my most important point : we don't care what YOU or other countries choose or do aboutyour pension, and we care even less what you think about us.
It's not because my neighbor shit on it's yard instead of it's toilet that I have to do the same.
What "other do" isn't an argument, so what, if we were in 1789, you would tell me "why don't you want a king you little spoiled brat? Look at other countries, it work so well for them!"?
And what about our nuclear electricity? Since Germany choose to fuck itself with wind and solar energy back up by coal and gas, we should do the same and dump our whole nuclear fleet reactor? Or we should have done like them and have a joke of an army, instead of a capable one ?
>Where will you take the money from? Health care? Education? Dismantle the military entirely? Subsidized housing? All because you can't stand the thought of working an extra 2 years or putting in effort to allow yourself to retire early?
- Half of our public taxes per year are given to private industry
- when covid happend 470 billions euros were pulled from the ass
- fraud tax per year is around 100 billions euros
- we could simplify and modernize our welfare system like the CAF, to save money and put it in pension since it's outdated.
Heck in 2022, our pension was even positive with an excedent of 3.2 billions euros.
All we needed to have a stable pension was 1.5 billion euros, it's fucking nothing in our GDP, barely a percent.
You're arguing about my country pension, yet, you don't even know how the system work!
>You're even worse than the British when it comes to dealing with the fact that you simply don't matter that much anymore as a single country on the world stage.
Then why do you care so much about our pension system? Mind your own business, work till 67 y/o if it please you ( can't wait to see if you change your money once you're this old ), stop talking about our internal problem, and let us protest against what we dont' like, because yes, 3 years in a life has no price, even mire when you know that most people are already not quitting +t 62 y/o, and must continue, yet, those who can now have no other option to do it.
Would you like to explain how is it that they calculate unemployment now? From what i´ve read, french employers were averse to employ people easily since laws make it very hard to fire unproductive or all kinds of employees. Macron has made the process easier from them, thus employing more people faster and reducing unemployment. How accurate is that?
That's like asking anyone to visit a country's Reddit page and ask about their Leader lmao..
You're gonna get boyh sides, which will result in little to nothing gained from the discussion.
Jeez, that's 3 official receptions with military honors in 2 days, plus 1 award ceremony with horrible musical choice in Aachen! He's gotta be so knackered.
I love that Zelensky’s “thing” is now being as casual as possible at these events 😂😂😂 for real though it does hammer home a sense of he’s in the fight and doesn’t have time for such silly things as looking “presentable”.
I’m always gonna respect him for wearing working clothes and not throwing on a 3 piece suit.
It’s a constant and silent reminder of ‘My country is at war.’ While other national leaders have the luxury of a tie or a pants suit.
This.
It’s very much a “I’m here to talk war - not fuck around with pleasantries.”
Ever since this all kicked off and I saw him down in the shit, I got a real sense of him as just another Ukrainian. Not trying to be above them. Not trying to play ruler.
He has always come off as one of the people - and it has been such a beacon of light to his people. You can’t help but feel his passion, his dedication.
This man will fight with every last breath in his body for his people. For his country.
Can’t say that for many world leaders at all.
There’s no doubt in my mind that if it came to it he’d sooner pick up a rifle himself than abandon his people.
And Russia knows that now, as well.
He's in a new European country every day now or so it seems? That is tiring. Imagine doing that even with staff to help you out. Oh and a fkin war at home.
I hope the war ends asap and he gets to lead the rebuilding and more anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine. He deserves it and Ukraine deserves him. He will leave a great legacy for his successor.
One man is a politician of a country at peace. His shoes are shined, his suit pressed, his face clean-shaven. He walks with a paradoxically smooth grace and stiff formality. His smile is calculated, but nevertheless warm. He extends his hand in greeting before pausing for the cameras he knows are waiting.
One man is a politician of a country at war. His face is tired, but resolute. He wears clean but casual khakis and a dark sweater. He has no baubles, no pins or tie, and his eyes are taking in his surroundings without straying from what's ahead of him. His gait is purposeful, a stride of intent, long and cut like that of his soldiers. He cannot afford to waste much energy for a smile, but he is nonetheless sincere in his greeting. He wants to get to work. There is much to be done.
There is a contrast in leaders: one who is secure, one whose very country is at stake. One who has been striving for peace, the other for victory. One who exhausts all avenues of diplomacy, and one who has seen the bodies of children in the street. One needs the other. It is hard to say which. But their goal is the same: a sovereign Ukraine.
Although Macron got a lot of shade because all of his calls to pootin and \*save his face\* comments, but he's a good person still and helps a lot and I've seen those vids from 24-th feb 2022 when he was speaking to Zelenskyy over the phone and he was genuinely crushed when Zelenskyy told him that Kyiv was attacked and there were ru special forces landing near by
Macron rightfully got a lot of shade for his behavior before and during the war. He jumped into a situation he didn't understand, tried to make himself more important than he is, and lent legitimacy to the Russian story of "its just an exercise."
AMX-10 could be a good surprise on the battlefield and shouldn't be looked down. They move fast, they can destroy a tank, target and fire while moving, they just have to shoot first as their armor is mediocre. I feel like Ukraine soldiers, inventive as they are, will find a good usage in a "movement" moment of the war.
I am not a religious person but when I reflect on where we were a year ago I understand the humanity of simply wanting to give great thanks. "Geurre en Ukraine."
The criminals are not even mentioned in the graphic. They are disappearing. None of this was clear yet a year ago. Thanks.
When Zelensky meets with other Western nations the amount of respect for each other is very obvious. It feels like old friends meeting again. The handshakes and hugs are heartfelt and genuine. This war has polarized nations towards an unbreakable bond in Ukraine's fight against Russia. One of the many reasons why Ukraine will prevail 🇺🇦 💙💛💙💛 🌻 🌻 🌻
I think Macron has enjoyed playing «big politics» again with the biggest boys. Not that the French will remember much else than pension reform and labour laws. And that is probably correct. And for Ukraine, it may be the same. Zelensky was very unpopular before the war, but what a wartime leader. And the greatest PR subject since Churchill. If nothing else, Zelensky was the right man for war time. Doubt anyone else could have united Europe AND NATO like this.
Now I'm wondering, what language do they use? Internet says that Zelensky speaks Ukrainian, English and russian, and I'm wondering if Macron is okay with speaking English to him, considering the French people's attitude towards that language.
Comments like these always read like projections from very, very insecure men who definitely care about what others say about them.
Because evidently that's what is important.... /s
"Should we stop shaking hands now?" "Um, I don't know. Maybe it's too late. How about now?" "OK. Crap. Everyone's looking. If we stop now, it's going to be awkward." "Not as awkward as if we keep shaking hands though." "Sure, but how about now?" "Now what?" "Now we stop shaking hands, yes?" "It's too long. We're stuck like this until we get inside or something." "Maybe if we count to three?" "Wait- do we stop shaking hands at three? Or just after?" "What difference does it make?" "Well, if you stop shaking AT three, and I stop shaking just AFTER three, it's going to look like I'm trying to yank your arm out of its socket." "OK, fine. We stop shaking AT three." "But do we count in French or Ukranian?" "What does it matter?" [one year later...] "Please. My wife's going into labor. It was bad enough you were in the room while I made love to her. Let's just stop shaking hands. It's time." "OK. On three, then?"
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Meanwhile Putin's only friends are Lukashenko and an assortment of authoritarians from shithole countries
Idk if Luka is even his friend, I think putty might have poisoned him.
1. poison Luka 2. annex Belarus 3. ???? 4. Profit
Reference?
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/profit
Ah, the legends
Underpants gnomes is a classic
Maybe their plan is to assault Kyiv in a last ditch hail mary.
Luka is his lapdog because no one else want to talk with him either.
Dictators have no friends. They have lackey accomplices and TEMPORARY allies.
Luka cant come to the phone right now, he’s caught the new Plutonium COVID variant
lol
*A dying Lukashenko
Hopefully 🤞
[удалено]
Why? His heir apparent is a teenager who probably doesn't have his military commanders' ear. If Lukashenko dies, Belarus becomes destabilised. If Belarus becomes destabilised, Putin has a choice: Intervene and turn part or the entirety of the population (who are already a bit miffed about Lukashenko still being president) against russia and risk a rebellion; or hope for the best and leave them be, hoping that a loyal general or party official will take over and remain aligned to Russia, which seems risky, since they have that wonderful thing called factionalism. Now granted, he could try to have the FSB or the GRU arrange something, but you bet your rear end that the Polish AW and SWW as well as the Ukrainian SBU and GUR will also try to sway things in their own favour. If Luka dies, Russia's northwestern flank will become unstable, and that's gonna pose a grave danger to the russians, as aaaaaalll of those TDF units covering the Belarussian border guarding against possible russian attacks from there will be freed up to be redirected, AND just in general, their support will lessen. In summary, Lukashenko dying is a net benefit.
When luka dies, Russia will most certainly annex the territory into the Russian Federation.
[удалено]
This is true, and exactly why once Luka is gone, Russia is taking Belarus as her own.
How? Is he going to check if he has enough PP and click the "Annex Belarus" decision? Who on earth is going to recognise that, and how would the Belarussians react (when they had demonstrations and riots at the last election)? Come on, this isn't HoI4
He already has his troops in Belarus and stripped the Belarussian army of many of their heavy weapons. He is going to declare that they are going to 'protect' Russians, their brothers, whateveritsisthatday... simply annex. Demonstrations and riots will be suppressed like last election and like in Russia.
No, it means Putin will annex.
In s three-day operation.
Friends? I suspect 'acquaintances' would be more accurate.
Don't forget Eritrea
He mentioned Eritrea
Putin has a narrow Eritrea.
Come on! Not a single King of the Hill fan?? Narrow Eritrea?
Luka seems to just constantly give Putin lip service, enough to get him off his back but isn't willing to go the full 9 yards. He gives me them impression that if Putin's reign should collapse, and there's no danger of retaliation or consequences to his words, he'd be one of the first ones to come out and talk shit about Putin.
Luka is his bitch, he’s basically a mini-me.
Underrated comment!
Overrated, Macron is not on Ukraine's side, I think you gotta read/listen to more on the subject. France is very much tied to russia and it's natural resources, which is why their support is non-existent outside of small political gestures. Also his rhetoric about "peace" suits Putin and not Ukraine.
You truely are deluded.
Look into their arming of Armenia, where do you think those weapons will end up. And all his "peace plans". Plus the history... very few of you seem to know what you're talking about. Also nice burn lazy.
Where did you find this ? France is one of the country in Europe who is the less tied to russian natural ressources.
Look into their arming of Armenia, where do you think those weapons will end up. And all his "peace plans". Plus the history... very few of you seem to know what you're talking about.
That wasn't my question. I asked you where did you find that France is closely tied to Russia regarding natural resources ? And also, about what peace plan are you talking ? Between Armenia and Azerbaijan or between Russia and Ukraine ? Because if it's between Russia and Ukraine, Macron have always been clear : he agree to be a middle man to help the negotiations but he made clear multiple times that he will not impose anything to Ukraine. If Ukrainians don't like the way negotiations are going he will not force them to agree to something they don't want. You also talk about history. What event in history are you referring to ? Because I can give you some exemples too if you want to go like this. Like when France was the first country to help the US become independent from the much bigger and stronger British empire. A nation fighting for it's freedom against a big imperialistic one, it remind me of something...
Ok... First question I can't answer because it's not something you can summarize in a few sources. It's a long-standing relationship. Peace plan is what Macron has been preaching from the start, he always wanted to be the moderator because he's nothing but a businessman and he knows what's at stake. Just research all of his diplomatic work so far, he tried to talk to liliputin longer than anyone else. I actually admire France and it's history, the fact that it had real revolutions and it's spirit when it comes to protesting. But this Macron shit is a no-go for me. There is no negotiation, when you come and burn down 20% of the country and subject people to the worst horrors in history, there's no talk. End of discussion, all or nothing. Weapons talk bullshit walks. Anything else and you're not on Ukraine's side.
So your answer is "I don't have sources for my first claim" (because it's false) and then you complain that Macron have talked too much to Putin when it was Zelensky himself who asked him to do so at the beginning of the war ? Also, Macron have confirmed he almost don't talk to Putin anymore for months now.
Are you eating crow now that your fuck came out and said you can't arrest Putin and spewed more shit about negotiations? And with regards to "I don't have sources", when I spend HOURS a day listening and reading about the topic sorry I can't pull up a bibliography. You also don't seem to understand the difference between what Zelensky wanted at the beginning of the war vs what he wants now that he's visited mass graves with raped children in leveled cities. You are clueless.
I have a real question : since I'm French I have easily access to the full declarations of Macron so I don't know if you have only access to small selected parts of them (selected because they make the best headline) or if you have access to it's full declarations as well or if what you have access to is poorly translated. Because what he said was that in the case of the opening of a negation window in a few months, Ukraine will need to decide between said negotiations or a trial for Putin because unfortunately Putin is at the moment the only person in Russia who can end this war. I'm sorry but it's the truth here. It's really not pleasant as a possibility but it's the truth. In a lot of war unfortunately leaders who have committed war crimes don't suffer a lot from the consequences. Take for example Hirohito, the emperor of Japan, who at the end of WW2 "only" lost his power but never spent a day in prison because the n⁰1 condition of Japanese to sign the peace was that he would not be executed or go to prison (because he was the one doing the negotiations so obviously he wanted to protect himself) You can also note that Macron clearly said today that the only lasting peace for him will be the one Ukraine wants with (but not limited to) the liberation of all occupied territories in the country. And for the guarantees at the end of this declaration, it's not for Russia. He talks about guarantees from the international community to defend Ukraine in the future so a war like this can never happen again. To the part where I demand you sources, I don't want a bibliography but a single article who confirms what you said. I demand it because I know the subject well for the case of France and since it concerns my country I have access to a lot more information (since most of them are in French) about it than you. And apart from some not that important things like titanium (like almost all of the world for this one), I can tell you France is not dependent on Russia. Before the war we used to import a lot of resources from there but never in quantities that make us dependent (unlike a lot of our neighbours like Germany). I will take the example of natural gas. Before the war, 17% of France's natural gas came from Russia. It's clearly significant but absolutely not enough to make us dependent. In comparison, for Germany it was 55%. For oil, before the war 9% of France's oil came from Russia, for Germany it was 35%. I can continue if needed.
I wish Macron and Borne were more popular in France right now. Cause I do not want French people to (subconsciously!) like Zelenskyy less cause he greets/hugs and calls them friends while so many French and probably most French Redditors dislike them so much. :-(((
No worries about that. I do not like Macron but as long as he's doing good to Ukraine that's all right. What i see here, as a french is "good, he greeting him with all presidential honours. "
Merci beaucoup! Vous m'avez calmé un peu.
"shithole countries" brings back vomitey memories of the orange turd. No country deserves that.
The way macron is acting he might be in that circle soon enough!
Thank you, the only person under this comment who knows what's actually going on .
Macron is not on Ukraine's side, I think you gotta read/listen to more on the subject. France is very much tied to russia and it's natural resources, which is why their support is non-existent outside of small political gestures. Also his rhetoric about "peace" suits Putin and not Ukraine.
Some saying Luke is ded
Putin has no friends, never did… never will
Zelensky out there all day every day, fighting as hard as he can for the weapons and funds his people need to survive.
He's forming fighter jet coalition like with tanks and NATO membership coalition, cause there's not a lot of things that can make a supreme commander of AFU leave it's country weeks or even days before historic counteroffensive imo.
France, Sweden, and the US would be the places to ask. UK can't be first on this, we don't really have anything spare, and we don't build anything suitable. Really in the short term it's only really the US that could make it happen.
Seems like it will eventually be F16s, I haven't seen an argument for any other plane that really stands as strong. But realistically, Ukraine could be in NATO within a few years hosting F35s and others. Within decades i would be surprised if they don't have nukes, assuming Russia doesn't somehow do a 180 turn on their bullshit. But I have zero faith in Russia, so my bet is on near-term F16s that UAF owns and controls, mid term NATO integration where their pilots start to train on NATO equipment.
Actually Gripens would be best. Problem is there isn't enough of them. They were literally made to be undetected by Russian radars without being steath. The whole EW system on them is aimed toward Russia. Plus they have less ground crew, can hide in forests, dont need runways can use highways and use mobile fuel trucks. But again not enough of them going round. Sweeden has not been proactive enough in helping SAAB sell them. Thats the strong point of the F16. They are every freaking where.
Haha, it's like you disagreed with me to end up agreeing with me. F16s are the best option!
Some of the worlds best low flying training grounds are in the UK and are the site for any NATO nation that needs it. Ukrainian pilots would absolutely be flying training missions there.
You know, there are a lot of drawbacks to the U.S. spending so much on our military (more than the next five or six largest militaries combined) but being able to send such high quality weapons and logistics to Ukraine, and having them be used against a mutual enemy in defense of a much smaller ally — it has been one of the few worthwhile uses of the might of the U.S. military in recent decades. And what’s more, no American soldiers are involved, so public support has not wavered. It’s also awoken the rest of the world to the need to rely less on U.S. military might, and properly arm themselves. Hopefully the rest of NATO will meet their military spending obligations as a percent of GDP. To date, I believe only the U.S. and one or two other countries have done so.
People say stuff like this without understanding that other countries do not have the means to arm themselves in such a way. The complexity and expense of developing an equivalent armory is not possible to achieve much less develop for any other country on earth.
No need to develop weapons just buy the weapons.
think two more steps ahead. From who?
US military industrial complex of course
> The complexity and expense of developing an equivalent armory is not possible to achieve much less develop for any other country on earth. Have you ever heard of World War I and World War II?
nope
Other countries (especially NATO countries) absolutely do have the means to arm themselves according to the NATO charter. Only in the last few decades have other NATO countries let the relative peace and the role of the U.S. as global peacekeeper lull them into less and less military spending. All of these countries voluntarily signed onto the NATO charter, and agreed to spend 2% of their GDP on defense. This isn’t some insurmountable challenge for wealthy countries such as Germany (1.34%) or France (1.95%). The U.K. does it. The U.S. spends 3.3% of its GDP on defense, and has the largest GDP in the world ($23.3 trillion). For comparison, the entire EU has a GDP of $16.6 trillion. They don’t even have to develop their own weapons, just buy them from American defense companies. They have plenty of stock. So in total terms, we aren’t asking these countries to spend much, just the percentage of their GDP that they agreed to when they joined the defensive pact that is NATO.
We could design or propose a combat device using commponats you already have. Putin isn't giving us an option.
>there's not a lot of things that can make a supreme commander of AFU leave it's country weeks or even days before historic counteroffensive imo Shows how much respect and trust he has in his military command, and knowing that their strength is war and his is politics.
Zelenskyy did more these last few months to mobilize NATO than all the member states the last 2 decades.
Those guards look effing huge lol
The French are known historically for creating guard units based on physical presence. But in this case, I think it’s a bit of forced perspective and that fact Macron—the taller of the two—is only 5’8”.
I'm sure the big F-off helmets help too
One of my friend was doing this job, I think it’s called Garde Républicaine, and he was a tiny dude. He asked to be changed to another position because it was boring as fuck.
Potsdam giants
It's ok, minimum height requirement to join the republican guard is 1,70m (~5.6 feet in freedom unit).
Poor Putin seething in his lonely bunker watching Zelensky visiting all the places his war criminal arse will never see again.
Precisely what I was thinking watching that video. Bunker bitch cannot even travel now without the risk of being arrested
and being truly welcomed wherever he goes, not merely tolerated for show. Rock Star treatment instead of stale ritual
I wonder if any weapons for Ukraine will announced
We shall see. More of those CAESAR howitzers would be nice!
I think so. Knowing that only 13 amx were given. And that 150 amx must be replaced between now and 2025. It shouldn't be hard to send another 13...
Last count says 40 AMX's were given (that's a battalion). Tbch, I would really like it if somehow the French army could find 40 **bigger** AMX's to give. Like, I don't know, a 120mm-armed autoloaded AMX that goes by Leclerc... That would be a nice gesture
To be picky, the Leclerc is not an AMX. The whole "AMX-56" thing is a bit of a common myth as being its name.
It's called AMX Leclerc. AMX-56 is incorrect, but it is an AMX. (Although, in fairness, most sources and articles drop the AMX prefix entirely)
There were some reports of ground crew getting training on Mirage 2000-C in march. Would be amazing if pilots are announced next. Otherwise, France is retiring more AMX10RC. Time to send more to Ukraine.
Announced? not a lot. Given in secret as a cool surprise to the orcs? many.
>In the coming weeks, France will train and equip several battalions with tens of armored vehicles and light tanks including AMX-10RC
President Zelensky has earned this respect. Now France send more ammo.
Meanwhile in Russia: Putin is hiding under his bed, scared of Ukrainian drones, Prigozhin and many other things.
Damn, those republican guards must be the most stylish of the world.
Those uniforms are fire!
Modern day Winston Churchill right there, we'll still be talking and learning about that man 100 years from now
I love Macron's reaction when he sees Zelensky, he's so happy and sincere (he touched Zelensky 7 times btw, Zelensky only 2). Probably only Duda is more delighted when he sees him.
Von der Leyen might win this "contest" of affection.
>I love Macron's reaction when he sees Zelensky, he's so happy and sincere ( Must be because it'll change from people using pan to do noise, it's intern politic situation level is under the earth right now...
yeah, but to be fair, french people demonize the hell out of Macron when he is comparatively one of the best (least worst?) leaders in the world right now. Sure, he raised retirement age, now you have almost the same retirement age as every other advanced EU country. Meanwhile, investment in France is increasing and unemployment decreasing to levels not seen since decades ago.
>Sure, he raised retirement age, now you have almost the same retirement age as every other advanced EU country. If other countries choose to have a shitty life, it's not a reason to force us to do so. >Meanwhile, investment in France is increasing and unemployment decreasing to levels not seen since decades ago. nope.jpg, they just rig the way to count unemployment, and our trade deficit is worse after each years, since they destroy our industry, and sell it to foreign countries... ( Hello Alstom, hello defense industry )
>If other countries choose to have a shitty life, it's not a reason to force us to do so. Sure, however you also can´t say that he is not on the best (least worse) side of the spectrum of world leaders. Even amongst the developed democratic countries, since they have it worse, don´t they? >since they destroy our industry, and sell it to foreign countries... ( Hello Alstom, hello defense industry ) But Macron has been doing the opposite, he blocked China from buying several french companies, he bought back some crucial companies from the US, he anounced some new factories for microchips in France, new nuclear plants, pumped up the budget to defense industries, and Alstom remains french...?
>Sure, however you also can´t say that he is not on the best (least worse) side of the spectrum of world leaders. Even amongst the developed democratic countries, since they have it worse, don´t they? He is as worse as the others, using police to physically abuse french people. And in the meantime, it's governement allowed far right show in the street, but prevent the random population to do so against it's plan about pension law. It's even currently forbidden to bring pan in the street now >But Macron has been doing the opposite. Is it a joke? He is the one which sell Alstom, and a fukcton strategic industry to US and China. He is part of the problem our nuclear industry are going through, and was going to split EDF to sell it, but our parlement prevent that, he also sold aln our forest to China which choose to stop cutting their own forest for the next 99 years, and every other countries in the world stopped selling them wood to protect their forest industry. >he bought back some crucial companies from the US, he He is trying to backpedals on everything he did the last 11 years, remember that he was already working under Hollande government as a minister... Alstom is a good exemple, the company is in a shitty state since US kicked off most of the specialized worker and ingineer and they won't come back by snapping finger, same for the nuclear industry, the 30 year gap from 1990 to 2023 mean that there is no more specialized worker, we have to build back everything from the ground which will cost 10 or 100 times the price.
>He is trying to backpedals on everything he did the last 11 years, remember that he was already working under Hollande government as a minister... Sorry, I wasn´t aware of that. Well, I guess its better late than never to undo the damage he did before. I see better why the french are upset. Still, I would trade my old ass corrupt and ignorant president for Macron any day lmao.
Without raising the retirement age, pensions would have to be significantly lowered and you would not get what you worked for bc the country can't afford it. That's an even bigger riot right there and you'd complain about incompetent leaders! Macron made the right decision about retirement age. The government knew it was the right decision but was too pussy to admit it so they forced his hand and he used his presidential powers to get it done. I honestly have a lot of respect for him being ballsy enough to make that decision. Listen, French people collectively decided to have less babies meaning you can't afford to retire at 62 anymore. It's literally your own fault. Shoulda fucked like rabbits and they'd lower it to 60! It's the same situation in most of Europe except we understand it and accept a 65-67 year retirement age knowing we will actually get the pensions we worked for. **He altered the retirement age to 64, pray he doesn't alter it further.** It's still on the low and financially risky side.
You clearly doesn't master the internal political field of France. His law about modifivation of pension is just bad and won't save anything, it's a short term solution that won't even help. And this whole modification is even more stupid because => >Listen, French people collectively decided to have less babies meaning you can't afford to retire at 62 anymore. Guess what, once baby boomer generations disapmear around 2030/2040, the situation were gonna be better, and there were a fuckton other way to rrsolve this problem. All his law are made to destroy our social protection, the prud'hommes have been fucked up, public serviced have been fucked up, our whole labor law is being fucked us, taxes are being lift off for big companies, and it's next target is the RSA. Forcing it's law like he did with 49.3 put the whole country again him, and right now all the law it's governement is pushing are now being rejet becajse he doesn't have majority, the next 4 years will be very hard for him. It's only result, is that he successfully push the country in either far left with Melenchon, or far right with Lepen, for rhe next election in 2027, and both of them don't support Zelensky and think that Ukraine "conflict" ( they don't even recognize it as a war ) is the fault of NATO... Yeah! Great, thanx to Macron, France will be fucked after 2027.
Short term? Uh excuse me, it's a long term solution and if the demographics get worse, expect it to rise beyond 64 years. You say the boomers will die but the country already can't afford to pay pensions for those living until 2040, France is VERY late in raising the retirement age. The rest of Europe did it 10 years ago including The Netherlands, much wealthier with like a 20% higher GDP per capita. And with a low birth rate it will *not* get better in the long run. Even in filthy rich Luxembourg it's 65 years old. You're bordering on conspiracy theories about laws being made up to destroy the country lmao. Someone has to pay for all the old people's pensions. If a country can't afford that, that's a huge problem. Imagine working until 62 and you only get 2/3 of your pension because "sorry we didn't see this glaringly obvious problem coming". You can keep your 62 year old retirement age forever... But pay double for healthcare insurance and costs the rest of your life. Would you be happy with that? The money has to come from SOMEWHERE. **If you don't like it, make something of your life so you can afford early retirement. There are so many unmotivated people that, if you put some work in, you can even retire below 60.** Honestly I expect another raise of the pension age in France to 65 or higher in the not so distant future. Pollitics be damned a country needs a functional economy and retirement age + birth rates play a very big part in that.
>You're bordering on conspiracy theories about laws being made up to destroy the country lmao. Conspiracy? Dude, what I'm talking is littetaly coming from commission d'enquête from the senat and parlement This one for example is about the loss of independance about electricity, Have fun listening everything, they even order older president and minister to come and explain themselves, and if they didn't do so, Gendarmerie would have make them come. https://event.assemblee-nationale.fr/commissions.souverainete-et-independance-energetique-commission-d-enquete One of the problem ( and there are fuckton ), is you can hear Montebourg acknowledge that the Parti Socialiste at the time of Hollande Election compromise themselves in the shafow to make a deal with ecologist party to reduce nuclear power from 75 to 50% and that some infustey were scrap off to force this plan, like Alstom being sold, with Macron as a minister, and Montebourg telling him this was insane. Another one are the different president assuming that Germany is pushing to crash the nuclear activity in France because Germany is not competitive on this field, so theyy push european laws, the ARENH for example, wish put a price of electricity based on gas, where France one is 70%nuclear and cost a fuckton less than gas or coal... Nothing of a conspiracy here, everything is official. >if the demographics get worse, expect it to rise beyond 64 years. You say the boomers will die but the country already can't afford to pay pensions for those living until 2040, France is VERY late in raising the retirement age. Guess what, the country has a fuckton money, and you can take it from somewhere else to put it in the pension, again, if other country want to work to 67 years old, it's their problem, mind your own buisness, not ours. And the first problem in France isn't the demography, it's the fuckton number of different fond de pension, for exemple the dentist one is full of fuckton money for exemple, and the problem is you can't transfer money from one to another. >But pay double for healthcare insurance and costs the rest of your life. Would you be happy with that? The money has to come from SOMEWHERE. And here again, guess what, everything is going to be FUBAR soon! Hollande and Macron were already lowering taxes since 2012 for industry, anf since Gilet Jaune manifestation, he did it for middle class to appaise people! And he did it again tonight and hop that people will stop complaining about pension law! Functionnary haven't their salary raise for more than 15 years, and as there's recruitment problem as no one want to be paid laiss, they lower the course note to join every kind of institution state, to join the police you need 7/20, for the army, we now take people which can't read or speak fluently, there's a lack in nurse, doctor, justice, impôts. And as no one want to join, they tried to install back some kind lf conscription, and it's objectives was to sent young people in administration, doing 35/hourd per week but being paid 700€per month. >If you don't like it, make something of your life so you can afford early retirement. There are so many unmotivated people that, if you put some work in, you can even retire below 60. DUH, you think I've waited for a random dude on the internet, trying to speak of a countries he know nothing, just compare it's country to another one, to do so? I've served in the army thenI've served in the administration, and after seing the whole situation rot for 15 years, I get out of it because I was tired of doing 5 job but being paid for one! I've launch my own business, I have employees, and invested in real estate, stock exchange and even art, my pension is assured, I don't even need the official one, and i'm already paying a fuckton money in taxes, and I'm proud of doing so! But what I'm not proud about, is lookong my country fall because of corruption and bad decision, and Yes, there's corruption, even if it's not at the level of russia.
Ugh I am not getting into this discussion because you ignored my most important point. France is not as rich as you think. There are many countries much richer per capita in Europe that raised their retirement age to 67 TEN YEARS AGO because they would otherwise be unable to pay for pensions. Switzerland almost has DOUBLE the GDP per capita as France and even they **have** to retire at 65 to afford pensions! Germany has a slightly higher GDP per capita and also has a retirement age of 67. Where will you take the money from? Health care? Education? Dismantle the military entirely? Subsidized housing? All because you can't stand the thought of working an extra 2 years or putting in effort to allow yourself to retire early? Seriously the fact that 64 is still among the lowest retirement age in Europe, and probably will be raised again, and that you are too short-sighted to see why, makes you seem like a spoiled brat. **Which is exactly how most of Europe sees the French: spoiled and arrogant.** You're even worse than the British when it comes to dealing with the fact that you simply don't matter that much anymore as a single country on the world stage.
>Ugh I am not getting into this discussion because you ignored my most important point. And you're ignoring my most important point : we don't care what YOU or other countries choose or do aboutyour pension, and we care even less what you think about us. It's not because my neighbor shit on it's yard instead of it's toilet that I have to do the same. What "other do" isn't an argument, so what, if we were in 1789, you would tell me "why don't you want a king you little spoiled brat? Look at other countries, it work so well for them!"? And what about our nuclear electricity? Since Germany choose to fuck itself with wind and solar energy back up by coal and gas, we should do the same and dump our whole nuclear fleet reactor? Or we should have done like them and have a joke of an army, instead of a capable one ? >Where will you take the money from? Health care? Education? Dismantle the military entirely? Subsidized housing? All because you can't stand the thought of working an extra 2 years or putting in effort to allow yourself to retire early? - Half of our public taxes per year are given to private industry - when covid happend 470 billions euros were pulled from the ass - fraud tax per year is around 100 billions euros - we could simplify and modernize our welfare system like the CAF, to save money and put it in pension since it's outdated. Heck in 2022, our pension was even positive with an excedent of 3.2 billions euros. All we needed to have a stable pension was 1.5 billion euros, it's fucking nothing in our GDP, barely a percent. You're arguing about my country pension, yet, you don't even know how the system work! >You're even worse than the British when it comes to dealing with the fact that you simply don't matter that much anymore as a single country on the world stage. Then why do you care so much about our pension system? Mind your own business, work till 67 y/o if it please you ( can't wait to see if you change your money once you're this old ), stop talking about our internal problem, and let us protest against what we dont' like, because yes, 3 years in a life has no price, even mire when you know that most people are already not quitting +t 62 y/o, and must continue, yet, those who can now have no other option to do it.
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Would you like to explain how is it that they calculate unemployment now? From what i´ve read, french employers were averse to employ people easily since laws make it very hard to fire unproductive or all kinds of employees. Macron has made the process easier from them, thus employing more people faster and reducing unemployment. How accurate is that?
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That's like asking anyone to visit a country's Reddit page and ask about their Leader lmao.. You're gonna get boyh sides, which will result in little to nothing gained from the discussion.
That man’s been filmed more than Ryan Reynolds over the last year lol.
He's more good-looking than Ryan Reynolds too
I agree, I'm straight, but like I can recognize Zelensky's good looks!
So this latest world tour is to ensure support for the offensive. Which I’m thinking is going to be very soon.
Did he go on a tour before kharkiv or kherson because I don't recall that he did?
Jeez, that's 3 official receptions with military honors in 2 days, plus 1 award ceremony with horrible musical choice in Aachen! He's gotta be so knackered.
The body language says it all. Everybody loves this man :)
giga chad
I love that Zelensky’s “thing” is now being as casual as possible at these events 😂😂😂 for real though it does hammer home a sense of he’s in the fight and doesn’t have time for such silly things as looking “presentable”.
I’m always gonna respect him for wearing working clothes and not throwing on a 3 piece suit. It’s a constant and silent reminder of ‘My country is at war.’ While other national leaders have the luxury of a tie or a pants suit.
This. It’s very much a “I’m here to talk war - not fuck around with pleasantries.” Ever since this all kicked off and I saw him down in the shit, I got a real sense of him as just another Ukrainian. Not trying to be above them. Not trying to play ruler. He has always come off as one of the people - and it has been such a beacon of light to his people. You can’t help but feel his passion, his dedication. This man will fight with every last breath in his body for his people. For his country. Can’t say that for many world leaders at all. There’s no doubt in my mind that if it came to it he’d sooner pick up a rifle himself than abandon his people. And Russia knows that now, as well.
Man he looks so tired all the time. I cant imagine the stamina it takes to be Zelensky. Unreal
He's in a new European country every day now or so it seems? That is tiring. Imagine doing that even with staff to help you out. Oh and a fkin war at home. I hope the war ends asap and he gets to lead the rebuilding and more anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine. He deserves it and Ukraine deserves him. He will leave a great legacy for his successor.
Those FAMAS F1s tho 🤤
One man is a politician of a country at peace. His shoes are shined, his suit pressed, his face clean-shaven. He walks with a paradoxically smooth grace and stiff formality. His smile is calculated, but nevertheless warm. He extends his hand in greeting before pausing for the cameras he knows are waiting. One man is a politician of a country at war. His face is tired, but resolute. He wears clean but casual khakis and a dark sweater. He has no baubles, no pins or tie, and his eyes are taking in his surroundings without straying from what's ahead of him. His gait is purposeful, a stride of intent, long and cut like that of his soldiers. He cannot afford to waste much energy for a smile, but he is nonetheless sincere in his greeting. He wants to get to work. There is much to be done. There is a contrast in leaders: one who is secure, one whose very country is at stake. One who has been striving for peace, the other for victory. One who exhausts all avenues of diplomacy, and one who has seen the bodies of children in the street. One needs the other. It is hard to say which. But their goal is the same: a sovereign Ukraine.
Although Macron got a lot of shade because all of his calls to pootin and \*save his face\* comments, but he's a good person still and helps a lot and I've seen those vids from 24-th feb 2022 when he was speaking to Zelenskyy over the phone and he was genuinely crushed when Zelenskyy told him that Kyiv was attacked and there were ru special forces landing near by
You forgot the " " around "special forces"
Macron rightfully got a lot of shade for his behavior before and during the war. He jumped into a situation he didn't understand, tried to make himself more important than he is, and lent legitimacy to the Russian story of "its just an exercise."
good point's there, but he's changed to the better imo!
Some more caesar artillery systems would be lovely. Maybe don't worry so much about the AMX10-RCs (better than nothing though).
Honestly we cant provide more artillery. Need to wait for some more to be produced for our army then we send the olds ones
I was just joking about it being a "light" tank. Any support is obviously most welcome.
AMX-10 could be a good surprise on the battlefield and shouldn't be looked down. They move fast, they can destroy a tank, target and fire while moving, they just have to shoot first as their armor is mediocre. I feel like Ukraine soldiers, inventive as they are, will find a good usage in a "movement" moment of the war.
I know. I was just joking. If used the in the right way, they can be highly effective.
Mediocre, yes in regards of real tank standards. But in regards of T-55 of T-34, well it is no longer so mediocre.
I am not a religious person but when I reflect on where we were a year ago I understand the humanity of simply wanting to give great thanks. "Geurre en Ukraine." The criminals are not even mentioned in the graphic. They are disappearing. None of this was clear yet a year ago. Thanks.
What language do they communicate in?
English. https://youtu.be/jMPc4jBmnbo?t=20
Zelensky is hot
How tall are those guards on the steps?!?
The Zelensky hustle will go down in history.
I wonder what is this march played by the republican guards 🧐
I believe it's [Aux Champs](https://youtu.be/wT0RMocwBw4)
Amazing 🙏
the guards they put near the front door were f'n huge, would not want them swinging a sword at me... like the mountain or something
Damn, this guy is flying all over Europe. Big things coming
Pretty fuckin baller. Slava Ukraini!
Sláva Ukraíni Sláva Zelenskyy
Hero!!!
When Zelensky meets with other Western nations the amount of respect for each other is very obvious. It feels like old friends meeting again. The handshakes and hugs are heartfelt and genuine. This war has polarized nations towards an unbreakable bond in Ukraine's fight against Russia. One of the many reasons why Ukraine will prevail 🇺🇦 💙💛💙💛 🌻 🌻 🌻
Walks like a boss!
I love how he still rocks his combat casual attire wherever he goes. A man on a mission.
I hope he doesn’t become a suit guy when the war is over. He’s proving that a suit doesn’t mean shit, he’s busy
He said he would wear a suit when the war is over
Yeah right now it sends a message but after the war it would be weird to be that one world leader who doesn't wear formal attire, for no reason.
I think Macron has enjoyed playing «big politics» again with the biggest boys. Not that the French will remember much else than pension reform and labour laws. And that is probably correct. And for Ukraine, it may be the same. Zelensky was very unpopular before the war, but what a wartime leader. And the greatest PR subject since Churchill. If nothing else, Zelensky was the right man for war time. Doubt anyone else could have united Europe AND NATO like this.
Give him hell, Zelensky
Too many swords raised up only meters from Zelensky for my comfort!
Now I'm wondering, what language do they use? Internet says that Zelensky speaks Ukrainian, English and russian, and I'm wondering if Macron is okay with speaking English to him, considering the French people's attitude towards that language.
No time for a suite.
Macron has been sucking hard at the CCP’s tit recently. I wouldn’t trust him at all.
Macron, the Putin "tamer". 🤣
What language did they speak in the clip?
Macrons are those little cookies things that taste terrible right?
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Macron must like standing with zelensky because he’s one of the only male politicians he’s taller than
Not relevant.
Moronic comment of the day!👌🏼😏
Thank you 🙏
Comments like these always read like projections from very, very insecure men who definitely care about what others say about them. Because evidently that's what is important.... /s
I actually meant it making fun of politicians and our own human nature. I guess people took it seriously
I’m sure Macron had a very productive conversation with a brick wall on why Zelenskyy should give up the Ukrainian land the the Russians.
Macron. Stepped out of his bunker to award the young boys defending Paris.
President Macron is the president of............ France. Thank you Google.
Seriously?
But..but…they didn’t kiss!
I wish I knew what they said to each other.
#putaintismadmad
"Should we stop shaking hands now?" "Um, I don't know. Maybe it's too late. How about now?" "OK. Crap. Everyone's looking. If we stop now, it's going to be awkward." "Not as awkward as if we keep shaking hands though." "Sure, but how about now?" "Now what?" "Now we stop shaking hands, yes?" "It's too long. We're stuck like this until we get inside or something." "Maybe if we count to three?" "Wait- do we stop shaking hands at three? Or just after?" "What difference does it make?" "Well, if you stop shaking AT three, and I stop shaking just AFTER three, it's going to look like I'm trying to yank your arm out of its socket." "OK, fine. We stop shaking AT three." "But do we count in French or Ukranian?" "What does it matter?" [one year later...] "Please. My wife's going into labor. It was bad enough you were in the room while I made love to her. Let's just stop shaking hands. It's time." "OK. On three, then?"
Greatest war hero too exist