France’s new leader vows to fortify EU
Emmanuel Macron also says he’ll redesign politics.
PA R I S — I n c e r e m o n i e s marked by youthful optimism and old-world Napoleonic pomp, Emmanuel Macron swept into office Sunday as France’s new president pledging to fortify the European Union, redesign French politic s and glue together his divided nation.
M a c r o n ’s p r e s i d e n c y began with a visit to troops wounded in overseas combat — a reminder of France’s large global military presence and role in fighting extremists from Syria to Africa.
He’s expected to name a prime minister imminently, and to show his commitment to reviving European unity. Macron takes his first presidential trip Monday to Berlin to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In a lofty but lucid inaugural speech, Macron vowed to lift France out of its sense of decline and lost purpose, and seize again its place in the world.
“The time has come for F r a n c e t o r i s e u p t o t h e occasion. The division and fractures across our societ y must be overcome ... because the world expects us to be strong, solid, clairvoyant.”
H e p r o m i s e d t o t a k e France’s re sponsibili t i es to tackle today’s crises — “the migration crisis, the climate challenge, authoritarian abuse, the excesses of capitalism in the world and of course terrorism. Nothing now strikes one and spares the other. We are all Interdependent. We are all neighbors.”
The 39-year-old Macron is the youngest president i n t he c o u nt r y ’s hi s t o r y and the eighth president of France’s Fifth Republic, which was created in 1958. A former economy minister with pro-business, pro-European views, Macron is the first French president who doesn’t originate from the country’s two mainstream parties.
After Macron was formally declared president at the Elysee Palace, 21 cannon shots were fired from across the Seine River at the Invalides monument, where Napoleon is entombed.
Macron later solemnly paid tribute at the Tomb o f t he Unknown S o l d i e r b e n e a t h t h e A r c d e Tr i - omphe, greeting veterans and military officers in formation beneath the imposing arch.
Macron takes charge of a nation that, when Britain leaves the European Union in 2019, will become the EU’s only member with nuclear weapons and a permanent seat on the U.N. Securit y Council.
Reviving support for European unity will be among his top priorities. France is a founding member of the 28-nation EU and its third-largest economy after Germany and Britain.
“We will need a more efficient Europe, a more democratic Europe, a more political Europe because it’s the instrument of our power and our sovereignty, I will work on that,” he said Sunday.
Before the ceremony, he met for an hour with his predecessor, Francois Hollande, taking a last few minutes to discuss the most sensitive issues facing France, including the country’s nuclear codes.
I n a v i s i b l y m o v i n g moment for both, Macron accompanied Hollande to his car, shaking hands and applauding him along with the employees of the French presidency who had gathered in the palace’s courtyard.