France’s vital interests now have a European dimension
At the end of the third year of his presidency, Emmanuel Macron delivered his long-awaited policy speech on the country’s defence and deterrence strategy. The long-awaited indeed: many have been expecting France to step up its nuclear role in recent years, including heading up the establishment of ...
Macron does not want to lose his shot at the now-vacant position of foreign policy leader of Europe, including regarding Russian, which is very important for the European Union
Emmanuel Macron’s recent response to Russia’s proposed moratorium on deploying short- and intermediary-range missiles in Europe has caused an uproar. European media was quick to conclude that the French leader effectively supported his Russian counterpart’s ...
... tactical, albeit quite tangible, successes in its policy on Russia and Iran
Discussions about the role of the European Union (EU) in international affairs pushed into the background global ambitions of the individual European states. French President Emmanuel Macron firmly recalled that it is too soon to discard European states and that French diplomacy can take a proactive approach, think unconventionally and actively promote new ideas. The French leader described a meaningful vision of the future ...
Putin and Macron need each other, probably more so than they did two years ago
On August 19, President of France Emmanuel Macron hosted President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin at Fort de Brégançon in the commune of Bormes-les-Mimosas in the Var department on the French Riviera. Given the vagaries of the weather this summer in France, the Mediterranean ...
Arguably, the most intriguing question of the Russian-French summit is whether Vladimir Putin has any new ideas on the Ukrainian settlement to share with Emmanuel Macron
French President Emmanuel Macron hosted his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a rare meeting on August 19, before the start of the G7 summit in Biarritz. Le Monde asked RIAC Director General to share his thoughts on the meeting ...
... its relations with China.
Paris could not resist getting involved, especially since France was hosting Xi Jinping in the year marking the 55th anniversary of the country’s official recognition of the People’s Republic of China. President of France Emmanuel Macron and his government are attempting to identify the opportunities and threats of cooperating with Beijing and determine how French diplomacy should act in order to maximize the potential benefits and avoid possible mistakes. At the same ...
... left- and right-wingers. Contrary to the prophesies of pessimists and the hopes of detractors, the European Union held its ground.
If King John III Sobieski can rightfully be considered the hero of 1683, then the hero of 2017 was President of France Emmanuel Macron. The unexpected and precipitous political take-off of the former Minister of the Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs, his ability to break down traditional political barriers and his talent for effectively using populist rhetoric against ...
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Elena Alekseenkova:
Poor but Proud
In addition to rivalling Italy in Libya, France also attempts to assume leadership in shaping the EU’s foreign policy in Africa. For instance, back in September 2017 in his “Initiative for Europe” speech, Emmanuel Macron said that Africa and the Mediterranean are key priorities for EU foreign policy, since it is the EU’s immediate neighbour region that creates the principal challenges for the Union, primarily in migration. Therefore, the EU needs a well-developed ...
... Brussels. In other words, the “multi-speed” principle is viewed by many as an acceptable variant and a temporary solution for individual issues, but not as a logic to serve as the foundation for the new European architecture. It is unlikely that Emmanuel Macron’s radical proposals, discussed below, will be taken kindly, even though the President of France may be an influential force in advancing the EU reform in a striking and memorable manner.
It is critically important for Macron to emphasize ...
... people both in France and Russia fail to realize this. France has been the biggest investor in Russia for the past three years, with over a thousand French enterprises operating in the country. France is also the number one foreign employer in Russia. Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin have paid attention to those trends and have discussed them publicly over recent months.
Special mention should also be made of the politically “sensitive” aerospace industry; cooperation in this area started at ...