Emmanuel Macron is thinking and saying the unthinkable for a French President of the Republic. This weekend he suggested that French nuclear weapons – the holy grail of French security, intended to ensure that France never relives 1940 – could be put at the disposal of the European Union’s defence.

For Macron this is a make or break moment for the EU to remain a world power or face oblivion

His comments drew strident criticism from across the political spectrum. ‘Macron is becoming a national danger’, claimed the Rassemblement National’s Thierry Mariani. ‘And after France’s nuclear weapon’, he added, ‘it will be France’s permanent seat on the UN Security Council which will be sold off cheaply to the EU.’ Meanwhile France’s centre-right candidate for the 9 June European elections, Francois-Xavier Bellamy, described Macron’s statement as of ‘extreme seriousness’ because it touches on ‘the very essence of French sovereignty.’ The far-left La France Insoumise joined in the chorus of criticism demonstrating how France’s nuclear weapon enjoys cross-party consensus. Only the Greens and Macron’s coalition supported the idea.

So what is Macron up to? First, it is a diversionary........

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