War in Ukraine, regime change in Syria, return of Donald Trump to the White House… Emmanuel Macron presented this Monday in Paris to French ambassadors his foreign policy priorities in 2025. Here are his main declarations.
Ukraine: “There will be no quick and easy solution”
Emmanuel Macron warned that there would be “no quick and easy solution in Ukraine”, while United States President-elect Donald Trump had promised an express settlement. He also estimated that the “credibility” of Westerners would be “undermined” if they agree to “compromise” due to “fatigue” of the conflict. And called on Ukrainians to “conduct realistic discussions on territorial issues”.
European defense: “We have to go much faster and much stronger”
On European defense, we must move “much faster and much stronger” to strengthen the defense industry in the face of rising threats, said the President of the Republic. “The question is whether Europeans want, for the next 20 years, to produce what will be necessary for their security or not”, because “if we depend on the American industrial and technological defense base, then we will have cruel dilemmas and culpable strategic dependencies,” he insisted.
EU-Mercosur agreement: “Mass is not said”
Emmanuel Macron assured that the “mass was not said” regarding the conclusion of the controversial trade agreement between the European Union and the South American countries of Mercosur. “We will continue to forcefully defend the consistency of our commitments,” he insisted to the ambassadors.
Syria: we must “look at the change of regime without naivety”
Emmanuel Macron called for “looking at the change of regime in Syria without naivety”, and promised not to abandon the Kurdish fighters allied with the West in the fight against terrorism. France will support “over the long term” the transition in favor of “a sovereign Syria, free and respectful of its ethnic, political and confessional plurality”, he affirmed, pledging to remain “loyal” to the “combatants of freedom, like the Kurds” who fight terrorism and in particular the jihadist organization Islamic State.
United States: Trump “knows that he has a solid ally in France”
Donald Trump “knows that he has a solid ally in France, an ally whom he does not disesteem”, “who believes in Europe” and has a “lucid ambition” for the transatlantic relationship, declared Emmanuel Macron, in two weeks after the billionaire’s arrival at the White House. “From 2016 to 2020, France knew how to work with President Trump,” also underlined the head of state. “If we decide to be weak and defeatist, there is little chance of being respected by the United States of America of President Trump”, “it is up to us to know how to cooperate with the choice that was made by the people American,” he added.
Emmanuel Macron also warned of a “very significant risk” of “regression” in the collective effort to protect the environment and the fight against global warming with the return of Donald Trump to the White House.
Iran: the “main strategic and security challenge” in the Middle East
The head of state declared that Iran constituted the “main strategic and security challenge” in the Middle East, and would be a priority issue in the dialogue he will engage with the new American administration of Donald Trump. “The acceleration of its nuclear program brings us very close to the breaking point,” he said.
Algeria: the detention of Boualem Sansal “dishonors” the country
The President of the Republic also considered that Algeria was “disgracing itself” by not releasing the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, arrested in mid-November in Algiers. “The Algeria that we love so much and with which we share so many children and so many stories is entering into a story that dishonors it, preventing a seriously ill man from getting treatment. It’s not up to par with what it is,” he said. “And we who love the Algerian people and their history, I urge their government to release Boualem Sansal,” he added.
Interventions against terrorism in Africa: “We forgot to say thank you”
France was “right” to intervene militarily in Africa “against terrorism since 2013”, but African leaders “forgot to say thank you to us”, regretted Emmanuel Macron, estimating that “none of them would be today with a sovereign country if the French army had not been deployed.” “It doesn’t matter, it will come with time,” the president quipped. “No, France is not in decline in Africa, it is simply lucid, it is reorganizing itself,” he added.
