For the best part of five decades, Jacques Attali has been whispering in the ears of French presidents. Initially an economist, he has written over 80 books and essays, sat in some of the most secret high-level meetings alongside former president François Mitterrand, and was the architect of Mikhail Gorbachev's 1991 presence at the G7 in the UK. Attali speaks to FRANCE 24 about the geopolitical storm hitting Europe and the prospect of war with Russia. 

“We, Europeans, are alone”, Attali says, adding that the past few weeks marked a turning point in US-EU relations. He says that the US had long signalled its will to disengage from European defence to pivot towards the East, and that Donald Trump has merely accelerated the process at the worst possible time for the EU.     

Attali says the Trump administration sees the European Union as a threat, and is attacking Europe politically and economically with tariffs and through support to far-right parties. For him, Trump is walking in Adolf Hitler’s footsteps. Attali says he sees the US president “overruling judges” and “jailing Democrats”, basically abolishing the rule of law.

Europe must unite in the face of this threat, Attali says, adding that the union’s recent moves are very positive. He considers jumpstarting a wartime economy in Europe with an 800-billion-euro package a “growth opportunity” that would help reindustrialise and create jobs.    

Calling for a European defence "czar", Attali highlights the importance of leadership and insists that the UK and Ukraine need to be part of this new European defence architecture.       

Programme prepared by Oihana Almandoz, Perrine Desplats and Isabelle Romero