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Emmanuel Macron
China and France pledged deeper cooperation on global issues like the war in Ukraine and trade, as France prepares to take on the presidency of the Group of Seven next year. French President Emmanuel Macron met with China's Xi Jinping on Thursday morning as part of a three-day state visit focusing on trade and diplomacy. France seeks help to end Ukraine war --------------------------------------- The French leader is seeking to involve Beijing in pressuring Russia toward a ceasefire with Ukraine after a recent burst of diplomacy around a U.S.-led peace plan. We are facing the risk of the disintegration of the international order that brought peace to the world for decades, and in this context, the dialogue between China and France is even more essential than ever, Macron said Thursday. I hope that China will join our call, our efforts to achieve, as soon as possible, at the very least a ceasefire in the form of a moratorium on strikes targeting critical infrastructure, he said.
President Emmanuel Macron will unveil a new national military service plan Thursday as France seeks to bolster its armed forces to address growing concerns over Russia's threat to European nations beyond the war in Ukraine. Macron will stress the need to prepare the nation for growing threats, the president's office said ahead of his visit to the Varces military base, in the French Alps. Earlier this year, Macron announced his intention to provide French youth with a new option to voluntarily serve in the military. Conscription, which France ended in 1996, is not being considered. France is seeking to boost its defences as Russia's war in Ukraine puts the European continent at great risk, Macron said. The day that you send a signal of weakness to Russia which for 10 years has made a strategic choice to become an imperial power again, that's to say advance wherever we are weak well, it will continue to advance, he told radio RTL on Tuesday. Macron has announced 6.5 billion euros
France's latest political crisis eased -- for now -- when Prime Minister Sbastien Lecornu survived two consecutive no-confidence votes on Thursday, averting another government collapse and giving President Emmanuel Macron a respite before an even tougher fight over the national budget. The immediate danger may have receded but the core problem is still very much centre stage. The eurozone's second-largest economy is still run by a minority government in a splintered parliament where no single bloc or party has a majority. Every major law now turns on last-minute deals, and the next test is a spending plan that must pass before the end of the year. The drama in parliament On Thursday, lawmakers in the 577-seat National Assembly rejected a no-confidence motion filed by the hard-left France Unbowed party. The 271 votes were 18 short of the 289 needed to bring down the government. A second motion from the far-right National Rally also failed. Had Lecornu lost, Macron would have faced
France could sink deeper into political crisis Thursday when the prime minister faces two attempts in Parliament to topple his fragile new government, which could leave President Emmanuel Macron with no palatable option other than calling snap legislative elections. Legislators in the National Assembly, the powerful but deeply divided lower house, will vote on no-confidence motions filed by Macron's fiercest opponents the hard-left France Unbowed party and Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Rally and her allies in Parliament. If Prime Minister Sbastien Lecornu survives, it could be close. Should the ally of Macron fall, the president has signalled through a government spokeswoman that he could dissolve the National Assembly rather than name a replacement for Lecornu. He resigned as prime minister last week only for Macron to re-appoint him again four days later. The outcome of legislative elections that would follow any National Assembly dissolution is uncertain. But Le Pen's
French Prime Minister Sbastien Lecornu on Tuesday announced he would suspend a much-debated plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, in a move aimed at preventing his fragile minority government from being toppled. After a week of political turmoil, the newly reappointed Lecornu said in a policy speech at the National Assembly that the law, a flagship initiative of President Emmanuel Macron, would be put on hold until after the next presidential election, to be held in 2027. The Socialist Party, which is not part of the governing coalition, had demanded the law be repealed, and Lecornu's offer to suspend it was seen as a prerequisite for the Socialists' potential support. On Thursday, Lecornu will face two no-confidence motions, one from the hard-left France Unbowed and the other from the far-right National Rally. The two parties do not hold enough seats to topple Lecornu's government on their own, but the prime minister could quickly be undone if the Socialists and others on
France's newly reappointed Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu named a new government Sunday, as he faces pressure to urgently produce a budget and quell political turmoil that is scaring businesses and investors and staining the country's image. The Cabinet includes several familiar faces from previous governments who hail from French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist camp, as well as allied conservatives, and some people from outside the political sphere. It is unclear how long this new team will last. Macron, whose term ends in 2027, lacks a majority in the deeply fractured parliament and is losing support from his own ranks. Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen's ascendant far-right National Rally party is calling for new elections, while far-left France Unbowed wants the president to resign. Immediately after the president's office announced the new Cabinet, the conservative Republicans party announced it was expelling the six party members who agreed to join the government. Lecornu, a ..
France's newly re-appointed prime minister acknowledged Saturday that there weren't a lot of candidates for his job and that he might not last long in the post given the country's deep political divides. Sebastien Lecornu, renamed by President Emmanuel Macron late Friday after a week of political chaos, called for calm and for the support of political parties to produce a budget for the European Union's No. 2 economy before looming deadlines. His appointment is seen as Macron's last chance to reinvigorate his second term, which runs until 2027. His centrist camp lacks a majority in the National Assembly and he is facing increasing criticism even within its ranks. But rivals from far right to far left slammed Macron's decision to rename Lecornu, France's fourth prime minister in barely a year. France is struggling with mounting economic challenges and ballooning debt, and the political crisis is aggravating its troubles and raising alarm across the European Union. I don't think the
After a week of intense political turmoil, French President Emmanuel Macron is set to appoint a new prime minister on Friday in his latest bid to break the political deadlock that has gripped the country for more than a year, as France struggles with mounting economic challenges and ballooning debt. The appointment is widely seen as the president's last chance to revive his second term, which runs until 2027. With no majority in the National Assembly to push through his agenda, Macron faces increasingly fierce criticism, even from within his own camp, and has little room to manoeuvre. Outgoing Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu abruptly resigned on Monday, only hours after unveiling a new Cabinet. The shock resignation prompted calls for Macron to step down or dissolve parliament again. But they remained unanswered, with the president instead announcing on Wednesday that he would name a successor within 48 hours. Over the past year, Macron's successive minority governments have ...
French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that he will name a new prime minister in the next 48 hours, for now rejecting other options in the face of a political storm. The naming of a replacement for outgoing Prime Minister Sbastien Lecornu, who abruptly resigned on Monday, will at least for now move France away from the likelihood of snap legislative elections, another possibility that is available to the French leader but which could plunge the European Union's second-largest economy into even greater uncertainty. The announcement from Macron's office of a prime ministerial appointment before the weekend came after Lecornu at the president's request spent the two days after his resignation taking the temperature in Parliament, to see whether there was enough support in the powerful but fractured lower house to form a new government. Lecornu concluded that there was, even though Macron's camp and its allies don't have a majority in the National Assembly and the French ..
France's new prime minister announced Friday he would not use a special constitutional power to force a budget through parliament without a vote and will instead seek a compromise with lawmakers from the left and the right. Sbastien Lecornu, a 39 year-old centrist, was appointed last month by President Emmanuel Macron after political turmoil over planned spending cuts that led to the fall of his predecessor. Friday's move seek to prevent a no-confidence motion from being voted at parliament, where Lecornu lacks a majority. Each lawmaker must be able to have power, must be able to have responsibility, Lecornu said. I decided to renounce using the article 49.3 of the Constitution. The government will need to change its method, build compromises during the parliamentary debate, he added. The so-called 49.3 article provides says the government can pass a bill without a vote at the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament. Lecornu's predecessor, Franois Bayrou, used it to pass
French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that an oil tanker immobilised off the French Atlantic coast had committed very serious wrongdoings and linked it to Russia's shadow fleet, which is avoiding Western sanctions over Moscow's war in Ukraine. The tanker was sailing last week off the coast of Denmark and was cited by European naval experts as possibly being involved in drone flights over the country. French naval forces forcibly boarded the ship a few days ago at the request of prosecutors who suspected wrongdoing, a military official said Wednesday. The prosecutor's office in the western French city of Brest said a judicial investigation has been opened into the crew's refusal to cooperate and failure to justify the nationality of the vessel. The ship was ordered to stay in place pending further investigation, the military official said. French naval forces boarded the ship again Wednesday to provide food and fuel to the crew aboard, according to the official, who was no
As the Gaza war rages on, France recognized Palestinian statehood on Monday at the start of a high-profile meeting at the United Nations aimed at galvanizing support for a two-state solution to the Mideast conflict. More nations are expected to follow, in defiance of Israel and the United States. French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement in the UN General Assembly hall received loud applause from the more than 140 leaders in attendance. The Palestinian delegation, including its UN ambassador, Riyad Mansour, could be seen standing and applauding as the declaration was made. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, was seen applauding on a live-camera view after the US government banned him from attending the UN gathering in person. True to the historic commitment of my country to the Middle East, to peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, this is why I declare that today, France recognizes the state of Palestine, Macron said. The meeting and expanded recognition of ..