The word is out, heavy and definitive: « betrayal. » It is no longer just the observation of astute experts like Françoise Thom, Dominique Moïsi, or Pierre Servent; it is a concern now filtering up to the highest levels of state, from Emmanuel Macron addressing Volodymyr Zelensky to Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose consternation is reported by Der Spiegel. But to grasp the symbolic violence of this moment, one must listen to General Michel Yakovleff.
The Moment of Truth : The illusion has dissipated to leave room for a chilling reality: Washington has not only closed its umbrella, it has changed its software to adopt the adversary's semantics. Tomorrow in London, when Ukraine's supporters meet, the atmosphere will be heavy with this terrible realization. In the hushed corridors of diplomacy, the word "betrayal," usually taboo among allies, will be on everyone's lips, for it is the only word commensurate with the abandonment underway.
But the time for lamentation is over. If Europe does not want to end up as a dismembered vassal or a footnote in Russian history, its leaders must imperatively emerge from denial. They have a moral, almost sacred duty to stop administering sedatives to their public opinions and finally tell them the raw truth: we are now strategic orphans, alone facing a predatory empire. The American mask has fallen; it now remains to be seen if our elected officials will have the courage to look the Medusa in the face before she petrifies us, or if they will continue to sleepwalk toward the abyss.