Macron defends France’s decision to opt out of Houthi strikes citing escalation concerns
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that Paris stayed away from coalition strikes against Houthi militia targets last week in Yemen in a bid to avoid war spreading further in the Middle East.
Mr Macron attempted to rally the French public around him ahead of a European election despite controversies already marring his new cabinet.
“We have a posture that seeks to avoid escalation,” said Mr Macron in response to questions about France’s decision not to join US and British strikes.
“We are vigilant and attentive to the region’s equilibriums.”
The Houthis have disrupted global trade since November, with dozens of attacks against what they claim are Israeli-linked commercial ships in the Red Sea in an attempt to pressure Israel into a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Yemeni group responded to retaliatory US-led bombardments by continuing their attacks and announcing that they would expand them to include American ships.
France’s “positive” decision to stay out of the strikes will preserve its interests in the Red Sea, the Houthis said yesterday. “Our armed forces will target the interests of the countries participating in the aggression against Yemen, and this is a legitimate right,” Houthi political bureau member Mohammad Al Bukhaiti said.
Mr Macron said that France’s choice to not be involved in the strikes would not affect its continuing operations to “preserve freedom of navigation” in the Red Sea.
The only EU country with a permanent military base in the Gulf, France sent its frigate Languedoc to the Red Sea last month to protect civilian ships from Houthi attacks.
The Languedoc has since intercepted Houthi drones aimed at commercial tankers.
France is also a member of a US-led naval mission to the region, named Operation Prosperity Guardian, alongside more than 20 other countries.
“We are taking action, but the framework is diplomatic, not military,” said Mr Macron.
But he recognised that he had so far failed to convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who he talks to “nearly every week”, to implement a ceasefire in Gaza.
More than 24,400 Palestinians have died in Israel’s military operation in the enclave since October 7, when a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel killed about 1,200.
“All lives are equal,” said Mr Macron, who repeated his call for the establishment of a Palestinian state to bring longterm stability to the region.
In an attempt to reinvigorate his mandate, Mr Macron called on the country to unite around him and the new government led by France’s youngest Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal.
Mr Macron proposed to reform France’s public school system by limiting screen time for children, introducing a test introduction of school uniforms and mandatory theatre and art history classes.
“Each generation needs to learn what the Republic means: a history, obligations, rights, a [common] language,” he said.
Other announcements made by Mr Macron to make France “stronger and fairer” included the suppression of “ineffective norms” that discourage entrepreneurs, industrialists, businessmen and farmers from innovating.
He also called for stricter rules to encourage the unemployed to return to work and limit their ability to refuse job offers.
He said a “national plan” was needed to fight male and female infertility, which he described as “this century’s taboo”.
He also said there would be an increase of anti-drug trafficking police operations.
His announcements came one day after newly appointed Education Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera was forced to apologise for stating that she had chosen to send her son to a private school because of a failure to replace absentee teachers at his former public school.
Teachers’ unions heavily criticised Ms Oudea-Castera, who also oversees the organisation of this summer’s Paris Olympic Games, for her apparent attack of the public education system, which she is supposed to defend as part of her job.
The controversy worsened after her son’s former teacher seemed to contradict her statements when she told national daily Liberation that she had not been absent while he was in her class.
France’s ‘positive’ decision to stay out of the strikes will preserve its interests in the Red Sea, the Houthis said