OIF member countries call for ceasefire in Lebanon | Middle East, the eternal conflict

The 19th Francophonie Summit concluded on Saturday in Paris. Tensions in the Middle East and the discoverability of French-speaking content online were at the heart of discussions at the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF). The 88 members have also published a joint declaration in which they demand a ceasefire in Lebanon, itself a member country of the OIF.

We unanimously expressed ourselves in favor of an immediate and lasting ceasefire and we expressed our commitment to the de-escalation of tensions in the region.declared French President Emmanuel Macron during the closing press conference.

He also thanked the members of theOIF pour having approved the organization, by France, of an international conference in support of Lebanon which will take place later this month.

The French president called for a halt to arms deliveries to Israel since they would be used in the conflict in Gaza. This statement, however, angered Benjamin Netanyahu.

Shame on themresponded Mr. Netanyahu, saying he believed that Mr. Macron and other Western leaders had called for an arms embargo.

Trudeau denounces civilian deaths so intensely

The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, for his part denounced the number of civilians killed by Israel.

The cost of Israel’s security cannot be such intense civilian deathshe declared.

Mr. Trudeau insisted that civilian infrastructure like Beirut’s port and airport should be protected to allow commercial and charter flights to leave the country.

Alongside him, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly once again urged Canadians, permanent residents and their immediate family members to flee Lebanon. Ottawa has reserved seats on commercial flights in recent days to facilitate their departure from this country.

She also reiterated that Canada stands in solidarity with the Lebanese people.

Visibility of content in French

For his part, the Prime Minister of Quebec, François Legault, spoke on another central subject at the Francophonie Summit: the discoverability of French-speaking content.

He believes that theOIF should negotiate with the Web giants so that there is a minimum percentage of content in French in order to promote their discoverability.

I would like all the countries of the French-speaking world to come together, to give a mandate toOIF to meet the heads of major digital platforms to demand that there be a certain cultural diversityhe declared during a round table on the second day of the Francophonie Summit.

Open in full screen mode

According to him, it would be reasonable, for example, for the popular platforms Spotify and Netflix to produce let’s say 30% content in French.

Ottawa in discussion with web giants

A few hours earlier, the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, declared, during a press conference on the sidelines of the same summit, that French-speaking leaders must find ways to radiate French in the digital age.

We are therefore in discussions with the web giantshe confirmed.

We are in discussions with our partners across the French-speaking world, including France, to be able to do [davantage] promote the presence of French online.

Mr. Trudeau said he had enormously of conversations over the last few weeks on artificial intelligence (AI) in French.

In Canada and France, we are developingIA which will not simply be translated into French but which will be developed with French, with French-speaking sensitivityhe noted.

Open in full screen mode

The Francophonie Summit takes place every two years and gives French-speaking countries the opportunity to discuss how to promote their common language while strengthening their ties.

The 20th Francophonie Summit will be organized by Cambodia and will take place in 2026.

With information from The Canadian Press, Agence France-Presse, Reuters and Christian Noël