French Senate votes in favor of Macron’s Ukraine strategy

ANKARA

France's upper house of parliament voted Wednesday in favor of President Emmanuel Macron’s strategy to support Ukraine.

Senators held a debate and voting session on a bilateral security agreement signed between France and Ukraine on Feb. 16 and 293 members voted in support of the deal while 22 voted against it.

Far-right senator Christopher Szczurek said during the debate that the agreement does not seem "vital" for his National Rally party.

It even contains elements going against France's economic, agricultural and social interests, he added.

Guillaume Gontard, president of the Ecologist group in the Senate, denounced the double standard conveyed by the agreement and called for holding a similar debate on the situation in Gaza, where more than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks, with millions of them deliberately deprived of basic needs since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7 last year.

Gontard expressed support for the agreement signed with Kyiv but criticized the French government for continuing to import energy resources from Russia and for the weakness of the European Union sanctions, which do not include gas and uranium imports.

Left-wing senator Cecile Cukierman said the government was asking senators to endorse "warmonger propaganda."

She also criticized Macron for his controversial remarks on "sending troops" to Ukraine and pointed out a lack of clarity.

Cukierman stressed that some strategies must be excluded, particularly those of "escalation."

Members of the lower house, or National Assembly, approved the strategy Tuesday, with 372 votes in favor and 99 against after a heated debate.

The voting is symbolic and is not binding.

Macron is expected to answer questions about the situation in Ukraine in an interview on Thursday evening, according to broadcaster BFMTV.

He made much-debated remarks indicating that sending Western troops to Ukraine was an option "to make sure Russia does not prevail," an idea rejected by allies, including Germany. Reports have emerged, however, that Paris is building an alliance of countries open to the idea.