Macron’s striking international debut
In his first sorties on the world stage, France’s new president, 39-year-old Emmanuel Macron, had to dash fears that he would be handicapped by youth and inexperience, and demonstrate the more vigorous French leadership he promised during his campaign. He carried this off with aplomb in a series of recent meetings with international leaders, displaying the trappings of French regality and the pragmatism of a contemporary technocrat.
But with Europe facing existential challenges, the world in turmoil, and U.S. President Donald Trump abdicating America’s historic global leadership, Macron’s real international tests are still to come.
From his meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany on his first day in office on May 15, to the NATO meeting in Brussels, the G7 meeting in Taormina, Italy, last week and his meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Monday, Macron made it plain that he is no pushover and is not afraid of speaking forcefully.
Standing with Putin, amid the splendour of the palace at Versailles, where Russia’s Peter the Great paid homage to the child king Louis XV in 1717, he called Russian media outlets that tried to derail his campaign “organs of influence” that “sow defamatory untruths.”
He said the use of chemical weapons in Syria would lead to “immediate retaliation on the part of France,” and he warned that France was closely watching the horrifying witch hunt against LGBTQ people in Chechnya.
And while Macron made it clear to Putin that he will defend France’s values with military might, if necessary, he still committed himself to dialogue with Russia and Syria.
He also expressed hope that dialogue with Trump could prove fruitful, noting the president’s “willingness to listen” and “his desire to make progress,” after talks at the G7 meeting about the Paris climate accords. That assessment seems overly optimistic, since the president’s policies would harm the environment even if he stood by the climate accords.
That may be an early lesson for Macron. World leaders may give one impression during a highlevel dialogue, and do the opposite at home.
Trump’s America First attitude also leaves Macron in a position no French president has faced since the end of the Second World War: a world bereft of U.S. leadership. The people of France, of Europe and of the world must hope that he will rise to the challenge.