
It wasn’t yet 8 pm on Thursday, July 11, when Emmanuel Macron took off from Washington, in a hurry to get back to his country. During the 36 hours he spent at the NATO summit, the French president focused on global concerns, attempting to dispel the notion that he is weakened on the international stage. Meanwhile, the dissolution of the Assemblée Nationale, which has plunged France into a political crisis, loomed over the atmosphere.
Since July 7, Macron no longer holds a relative majority in the Assemblée Nationale. Can his voice still matter in Europe and around the world? His counterparts are quietly worried. On July 9, the Washington Post wrote that a “divided France enters uncharted political territory.”
Before setting foot on American soil, Macron thought he had reassured everyone with a letter to the French published in the regional daily press. By explaining that “nobody won” in the parliamentary elections, he drew criticism, particularly on the left. But for him, if his opponents did not triumph, it’s because he did not fail. And while no new government has yet been named, in the absence of a coalition agreement in Parliament, Macron wants to believe that the “broad gathering” he called for in his missive will respect his stance, in line with “republican institutions, the rule of law, parliamentarianism,” following “a European orientation” and “the defense of French independence.”
Building a majority
The framework is set. In front of his allies, he boasted of having excluded those who might have opposed his foreign policy. On Wednesday, to close the plenary session of the North Atlantic Council, the French president reminded his counterparts that “the French have chosen to exclude extremist parties” and that “France now has all the means to confirm its commitments to Ukraine and its allies,” reported a French diplomatic source. Macron’s experience – seven years in power – weighs more heavily, he believes, than his political turpitudes.
On the same day, at the dinner for heads of delegation, he was seated opposite US President Joe Biden and next to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This is proof that Macron still matters among the world’s greats and remains “at the center of the photo,” as his entourage put it. As if nothing had happened, he held bilateral meetings with leaders from the United Kingdom, Turkey, Ukraine, New Zealand and Germany.
“France has a strong president who is acting in the international scene,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who said he is “confident” that France’s political leaders will be able to find a “solution” for a new government. Scholz, accustomed to challenging coalitions, joked with his French counterpart, offering to “sell him seminars” on how to build a majority. He urged Macron to persevere, recounting the 80 hours of negotiations he spent with his government partners to get the budget through. After all, the worst – a far-right takeover – has been avoided.
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