The Kremlin’s political talking heads have a new term –– макронить, roughly translated, “to do a Macron,” or “to telephone constantly for no reason.” “What is there to talk about?” asked the pro-Kremlin pundit, Vladimir Solovyov, during his prime time broadcast this week.
The Ukrainians have also appropriated President Emmanuel Macron’s name to coin the verb “macronete” in Ukrainian, “macroner” in French. The neologism broadly implies, “to be worried about a situation, but to do nothing.”
Since Vladimir Putin rolled his tanks into Ukraine, Mr. Macron has yet to set foot in Kyiv. He has said that he would do so “when it serves a purpose.” Solidarity with a fellow European state at war with an unrulyaggressor is, evidently, insufficient purpose for the Frenchman.
For now, Mr. Macron seems content to stage photo-ops with his German counterpart, Chancellor Olaf Scholz. On May 9, the two posed in front of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, illuminated in Ukraine’s national colors. Quelle solidarité!
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