France's Macron offers mea culpa to eastern EU nations on Russia

FILE PHOTO: French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during the third ministerial conference of the Moldova Support Platform at the Ministerial Conference Centre in Paris, France, 21 November 2022. YOAN VALAT/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron offered a mea culpa to eastern European nations on Wednesday in saying France should have paid more attention to them amid their warnings about a belligerant Russia before its invasion of Ukraine.

In a speech in Bratislava, Macron told the GLOBSEC forum there should be no division between "Old Europe" and "New Europe", referring to enduring divergences between eastern and western European Union members over matters such as Russia.