Thread by @bctallis

So much for #Macron 2.0
- early days but this really looks like more of the same

A- prioritises ambition for #France to be a ‘great power’, at the table with eg #Russia

B- never mind if #CEE gets overlooked & #Ukraine gets a raw deal.

That’s harsh but not entirely unfair 1/

https://twitter.com/ulrichspeck/status/1523905123885404162

There may be more to the revival of concentric circles/variable geometry than meets the eye & it may be a creative way to end the ENP/EaP impasse BUT ONLY if countries can move through the circles rather than being kept in/ relegated to them - & are supported in doing so 2/

#Macron will need to convince CEE countries (incl. #Ukraine) & W. Balkans that they will have these possibilities. & he’ll have his work cut out to do so. Multi speed/variable geo EU is not necessarily a bad idea but only if it’s without the 1st/2nd class divide many suspect 3/

It if being used to smuggle in. There are cohesion Q’s that EU needs to resolve but just imagine for a moment EU response to #Ukraine without #CEE which has really led the way. Where is the ‘core’ in this case? Having #UK closely involved wd be good, but #NATO must be priority 4/

So, early days indeed, and not necessarily all bad, but the suspicions that linger round all of this show how difficult it will be to move forward. Creative thinking is v. welcome but only with the right ethos not merely in the transparent service of French grandeur. End/