Against the backdrop of multiple crises in the world, from Ukraine to the Middle East via Taiwan, Emmanuel Macron exhibited Monday January 6 in Paris its foreign policy priorities in 2025 to the French ambassadors.
For this 30th edition of the ambassadors’ conference which is being held Monday and Tuesday, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski is the guest of honor. In his New Year’s greetings, the President of the Republic affirmed that “the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East (…) concern us directly and threaten our security, our unity, our economy“.
He thus reviewed several major subjects including the war in Ukraine, the new Syrian regime, the re-election of Trump, European defense, the interference of Elon Musk and the trade agreement between the EU and the countries of the Mercosur.
EU/Mercosur agreement: “Mass is not said”
As farmers converge on Paris this Monday to make their anger heard, Emmanuel Macron assured Monday that the “mass is not said” regarding the conclusion of the controversial trade agreement between the European Union and the South American Mercosur countries.
An agreement denounced by French farmers, accused of promote the importation of low-cost products and lower environmental standards than those imposed on them. “We will continue to forcefully defend the coherence of our commitments,” Macron insisted in front of the ambassadors gathered at the Élysée.
Ukrainians will “have to hold realistic discussions”
While Donald Trump had promised an express settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron warned on Monday that there would be “no quick and easy solution”. “The new American president himself knows that the United States has no chance of winning anything if Ukraine loses”, and a “capitulation of Ukraine cannot be good for the Europeans and the Americans “, he continued, believing that the “credibility” of Westerners would be “undermined” if they agree to “compromise” due to conflict “fatigue”.
The French leader affirmed that the Ukrainians would have to “have realistic discussions on territorial issues”, because “only they can conduct them”, to find a settlement to the conflict caused by the Russian invasion in 2022. “The United States of America have to help us change the nature of the situation and convince Russia to come to the negotiating table“, while the Europeans will have to “build security guarantees” for Ukraine “which will be their primary responsibility”, estimated the French president.
Macron calls himself “a solid ally” of Trump
Donald Trump “knows that he has a solid ally in France, an ally he does not despise“, “who believes in Europe” and has a “lucid ambition” for the transatlantic relationship, Emmanuel Macron declared on Monday, two weeks before his arrival at the White House.
“From 2016 to 2020, France knew how to work with President Trump,” underlined the French head of state before the return of the populist tribune. “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’s up to us know how to cooperate with the choice that was made by the American people“, he added during the annual meeting of French ambassadors.
Musk accused of supporting “a new reactionary international”
French President Emmanuel Macron also accused on Monday, without mentioning him by name, the boss of X, the billionaire Elon Musk, of support “a new reactionary international” and interference in elections, particularly in Germany.
“Ten years ago, if we had been told that the owner of one of the largest social networks in the world would support a new reactionary international movement and intervene directly in elections, including in Germany? Who would have imagined it?” President Macron, in reference to the American billionaire’s continued support for the German far-right party, AFD.
-Looking at the new Syrian regime “without naivety”
Emmanuel Macron called on Monday to “look without naivety at the change of regime in Syria”, and promised to do not abandon the Kurdish fighters allies of 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.
European defense: “Go much faster and stronger”
Europeans must go “much faster and much stronger” to strengthen their defense industry in the face of rising threats, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.
“The question is whether Europeans want, for the next twenty 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 guilty strategic dependencies“, he insisted.
Iran, “a strategic and security challenge”
Emmanuel Macron estimated on Monday that Iran constituted the “main strategic and security challenge” in the Middle Eastand would be a priority issue in the dialogue he will engage with the new American administration of Donald Trump.
“Iran is the main strategic and security challenge for France, the Europeans, the entire region and well beyond,” Macron said. “The acceleration of its nuclear program brings us very close to the breaking point,” added the French head of state.
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