Behind the scenes of Yaël Braun-Pivet's trip to Ukraine

For “reiterate France’s unwavering support for Ukraine”, the president begins her journey with a speech in front of the Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, located in the green zone, in the ultra-secure center of kyiv. After a closed-door meeting with opposition deputies, she solemnly addressed the deputies of the young, attacked democracy. In honor of France, very popular after Emmanuel Macron's declarations, some unfurled tricolor flags on March 28.

“Russia, which does not respect any rules, must know (…) that nothing is a priori excluded (…) to support you in the defense of your country and the universal values ​​for which your soldiers fight,” insists, in a vibrant voice, the first representative of French elected officials, who, in the process, meets the heads of the Ukrainian executive: President Zelensky, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense Roustem Oumerov, as well as the vice-president. Minister responsible for European integration. “As American support weakens, it is up to us Europeans to raise our ambitions and ensure our own security,” supports MP Benjamin Haddad during a conference in the presence of the Ukrainian press.

A less formal but emotional atmosphere at the Center for Civil Liberties where the delegation is welcomed by Oleksandra Matviïchuk, Nobel Peace Prize winner. “Arrested in Mariupol, I thought, being a doctor, I would be treated better than the others. It was not the case. During my 189 days of detention, I was beaten, forced to sing the Russian anthem up to sixteen times a day and prevented from providing care to other prisoners.testifies one of the civilians who passed through Russian detention, who warns of the “systematic” use of torture in Russian prisons. “These interviews with women who are direct victims of war are fundamental because we will have their faces in mind”, underlines the President of the Assembly as she leaves the premises. Smiling and calm on all occasions – even at 4 a.m. when the delegation must take refuge in the hotel's air raid shelter – she asks questions and listens a lot. She repeats it many times: doing politics is talking to people.

In her diplomatic offensive, the President of the Assembly wanted to push further than kyiv. Heading towards Odessa, a “tortured” and “heroic” city according to her, but also a symbol of the links between France and Ukraine. Twinned with Marseille, the city was built by the Duke of Richelieu, first governor of the city, who, on the orders of the Tsar, made a small fishing port the “pearl of the Black Sea”.

The incursion of French parliamentarians into the south of the country, where strikes have clearly intensified for several weeks, is punctuated by the howl of anti-aircraft sirens. Fired from Crimea, the Russian missiles arrived at the city in less than two minutes. Eight days earlier, a missile exploded 150 meters from Volodymyr Zelensky and the Greek Prime Minister. At full speed, the delegation visited the port of Odessa – where the authorities claim that activity has returned to 85% to 90% of pre-war levels – then the city's sumptuous opera house.

The French delegation led by Yaël Braun-Pivet visits the port of Odessa. Target of regular attacks, it has resumed almost 90% of its pre-war activity, according to the port authorities. Credit: Challenges

It is in this munificent setting – and not at the town hall, for security reasons – that the French delegation speaks with the city's first councilor, Gennadiy Trukhanov, political animal and controversial political personality, indicted in a corruption case. “Despite Russian attempts to sabotage the commission, the city is now listed as a UNESCO heritage site”, he recalls. In a canvas of sound, the notes of a rehearsal emerge, coming from the orchestra pit of the opera. The destruction is visible everywhere – such as at the Transfiguration Cathedral, which was disfigured on July 23 by a Russian missile – but life goes on and the shows are maintained. The day before, was played Eurydice and OrpheusGluck's opera. “We were in the air raid shelters four times. This allows us to feel the war, to understand what the inhabitants of kyiv experience on a daily basis,” underlines Yaël Braun-Pivet. And it is in an air raid shelter that she holds a press conference with her counterpart Ruslan Stefanchuk, who came specially from kyiv.

Yaël Braun-Pivet and his Ukrainian counterpart answer questions from the Ukrainian press in Odessa, in an air raid shelter, Saturday March 30, 2024 Credit: Delphine Déchaux / Challenges

Coming from civil society and entering politics in 2017, “YBP” therefore intends to raise the visibility of the National Assembly internationally. But in a presidential system, the voice of Parliament remains barely audible. This was once again demonstrated in kyiv: Anne Hidalgo, who came to kyiv on the same plane as the parliamentary delegation, gets the spotlight thanks to a short sentence about Russian and Belarusian players “not welcome” at the Olympic Games. Proof that the shock phrases of a political animal always weigh more than the well-mannered diplomacy of the National Assembly.

By increasing diplomatic efforts, is Yaël Braun-Pivet also playing her own part? Certainly, she respected the protocol by postponing her trip, planned earlier, so as not to get ahead of Emmanuel Macron. The latter having twice postponed his visit to Ukraine, she is finally ahead of him on this ground. And domestically, a few weeks earlier, the President of the Assembly made an independent voice heard by proposing a tax on superprofits in large companies and by bringing the subject of proportional representation back to the table. Would she have presidential ambitions for 2027? The question annoys her, she evades it. Likewise, the initiatives of this Macronist – loyal but too independent? – could irritate the Elysée.