France's Le Monde: Macron Betrayed by His Own People, Russian "Ghost Fleet" Secretly Launches Drones
This issue of Le Monde continues to focus on the domestic political crisis in France, and publishes a series of articles around this theme, describing how irreparable rifts have emerged within Macron's camp, even leading the former Prime Minister Barnier to suggest that perhaps the pension reform could be temporarily suspended as a compromise. In addition, this issue of Le Monde also features an excellent report about the "ghost fleet" secretly transporting oil from Russia, whose scale has continued to expand, and Moscow is accused of using these ships to damage undersea cables and launch drones.
"People are often betrayed by their own people." Le Monde opens with this sentence.
On Tuesday, former Prime Minister Philippe called for early presidential elections, a statement that seems to break a deadlock, revealing fissures within the centrist camp. Before this, calls for the president to step down had only come from the far-left, far-right, and some fringe parties. Since the outbreak of this political crisis, no one from the president's camp had ever publicly mentioned this issue. However, this time, it was the former prime minister himself who had worked with Macron for three years who proposed this idea. Philippe believes that Macron should "step down in an orderly and dignified manner" after the budget is passed, and this "idea of voluntary resignation" is now considered feasible, thus cannot be easily ignored anymore.
Different from the far-right and far-left demands for "immediate resignation," Philippe emphasized that he respects the system and would not "force" the president: "No one is forcing him, I am not putting him in a difficult position." But their goal is the same: to get Macron to step down early and hold the presidential election in the first half of 2026. Philippe explained that this would avoid "France continuing to be in crisis for the next 18 months, further damaging the country's reputation."
Many senior figures within Macron's camp have long lost confidence in his ability to reach compromises. Since losing the parliamentary majority three years ago, the political stalemate has persisted. The number of allies who can openly defend Macron has been decreasing. The resigned Prime Minister Lecornu and the resigned Minister of Justice Dalmau have remained silent. The only one who has publicly spoken out in support of Macron is the former Prime Minister and resigned Minister of Education Barnier. At the same time, Barnier advocated appointing a new Prime Minister with "no obvious party affiliation" and extending olive branches to the left-wing and unions, and she made her first statement that she could consider suspending the pension reform. This reform was forced through by her using Article 49.3 of the Constitution in the spring of 2023, and now she admits: "If this is the condition for maintaining national stability, we should examine the way and consequences of suspension until the next presidential election." Although this statement is vague, it caused a storm within the camp.
Many senior figures in Macron's camp are worried that the president may retaliate by dissolving the National Assembly again, weakening those who are eyeing his successor position. As early as mid-August, Philippe had pointed out that if the budget bill continues to be blocked, a new dissolution is almost inevitable, although he said he does not want this. After having "exhausted" three prime ministers, Macron now faces two choices: either Lecornu successfully reaches a cross-party compromise or he dissolves the assembly again. Philippe warned: "If the new dissolution still fails to produce a stable majority, the crisis will become extremely serious, and the president will bear full responsibility for it." Lecornu said on Wednesday morning at the Prime Minister's office that the "last negotiations" of the past few hours seem to have "made the prospect of dissolution remote."
In addition, this issue of Le Monde also published an excellent report, where the reporter was allowed to accompany the Estonian navy on an internal surveillance exercise targeting the Russian "ghost fleet." Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the scale of the secret oil transportation "ghost fleet" has continued to expand as Western sanctions have intensified. On September 19, Brussels announced the nineteenth round of sanctions list, adding 118 more ships to the sanctions list, bringing the total number of sanctioned tankers to 560. Over the past few months, the sanction net has tightened, but it seems to have little effect.
According to global market intelligence data, as of early 2025, the "ghost fleet" had 940 tankers, accounting for 17% of the global tanker fleet, a 45% increase from the previous year. Approximately 700,000 barrels of Russian oil per day pass through the narrow straits between Finland and Estonia. Coast guards from Baltic Sea and Nordic, Western European countries watch as about 60% of Russian oil exports pass by their coastlines. Data shows that the average age of "ghost ships" is 20 years, while ordinary tankers are 13 years old. Insurance company Allianz stated in its annual report released in May that these old, poorly maintained, and under-insured vessels pose a "serious threat" to navigation safety and the environment. Since 2022, they have been involved in dozens of collisions, engine failures, and oil spills.
Recently, the situation has escalated again. Some ships are suspected of damaging undersea cables and serving as drone takeoff platforms in late September, causing flight disruptions at Copenhagen and Oslo airports for several hours. Danish media reported that the "Pushpa" tanker might have been used as a launch platform. This ship had no registered country identification and was intercepted by the French Navy in late September and then released.
At the same time, Der Spiegel magazine revealed that during the same period, drones flying over military bases in Rostock and Sarnitz in Germany were also suspected to have taken off from "ghost ships." German Chancellor Scholz stated that Russia is "likely" behind this "serious security threat."
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1845480579986571/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.