On March 27, the Georgian Institute of Politics held a virtual briefing titled “Franco-German Rift Over Strategy Towards Eastern Europe: Implications for Georgia.“ The briefing was organized under the framework of the project “Strengthening Georgia’s Alignment with the EU Foreign and Security Policy,” which is financially supported by the Open Society Georgian Foundation (OSGF).
The discussion revolved around the Franco-German disagreement on the strategy toward Eastern Europe. As Western leaders become more concerned about security in Eastern Europe, France and Germany re-evaluate their approaches to making Europe more geopolitically active and supporting Ukraine. While President Emmanuel Macron has suggested sending NATO troops to Ukraine if necessary, Germany disagrees with this idea, accusing Macron of recklessness.
The discussion aimed to evaluate the divergent positions of Berlin and Paris on ensuring European security in the East. It also sought to bring Georgia into the context of these debates, providing a platform for discussing opportunities for Georgia to find its place in the shifting geopolitics of the West.
The meeting was focused on the following questions:
- How the German Zeitenwende and French Europe Puissance differ in terms of strategies towards Eastern Europe?
- What are the key areas where Germany and France cannot agree on?
- What are the implications for Georgia: where is the place of Tbilisi in the European debates over European security?
Prof. Kornely Kakachia, Director of the Georgian Institute of Politics, moderated the session with introductory remarks and set the stage for an insightful discussion. The agenda featured distinguished speakers, including Maxime Lefebvre, Professor, ESCP Business School (Paris), and Barbara Kunz, Programme Director European Security, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
