«European project» by Emmanuel Macron and Eastern European Member States of the EU

The article analyzes the attempts of French president Emmanuel Macron to promote his «European project», which implies the achievement of the «sovereignty» by the Union in the industrial, scientific and technological, food and defense fields, and the attitude of the Eastern European states to this project. It is noted that thanks to the cautious but real support of Germany under A. Merkel, he managed to achieve some success. The new Chancellor O. Scholz is also generally committed to «European integration», particularly in the economic sphere. But the idea of a «European autonomous defense», advocated by E. Macron, does not arouse enthusiasm among the German elites, since after J. Biden comes to power in the United States, they are counting on the restoration of the old transatlantic ties. For this reason, progress in this direction is questionable.However, the main difficulties in the implementation on the «project» of E. Macron are linked to the ambiguous position of the Eastern European EU Member States. Although not all of these states are members of the «Eurozone» or the Schengen agreements, generally they follow the course of common economic integration. At the same time, they critically perceive the concept of «multi-speed Europe», promoted by E. Macron, and hostilely – the idea that the French-German «tandem» should become the «motor» of the integration process. The author also recalls their stubborn resistance to the implementation of a common migration policy. But France’s Eastern European partners are especially wary or even hostile towards E. Macron’s initiatives aimed at promoting the above-mentioned «European autonomous defense». They fear that the implementation of such initiatives will contribute to the weakening of the NATO bloc, which they see as the most important guarantee of their security in the face of the «Russian threat». Obviously, their attitude will continue to have a negative impact on the prospects for such a «European autonomous defense».