France has a new government, and a new Minister of Foreign Affairs, in the person of Jean-Noël Barrot. What are the major issues awaiting him at the Quai d’Orsay?
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The main issue on the pile of the head of French diplomacy: the war. war between Israel and Hamasfirstly, while Paris is trying, in vain, like other Western chancelleries, to obtain a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement.
Another conflict: Ukraine, an issue in which Emmanuel Macron moved last March from a desire to ” not to humiliate Russia ” to the possibility of sending Western troops – the president in any case announced in June that Mirage 2000s would be transferred to kyiv.
Nor should we forget the November presidential election in the United States, which could have repercussions on both conflicts, with candidate Donald Trump, for example, blocking US aid to Ukraine for months.
Also on the table is France’s loss of influence in Africa. In recent years, the French army, which has been fighting jihadism in the Sahel for ten years, has been forced to withdraw from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
On all these subjects, how much room for maneuver will Emmanuel Macron leave to his minister in what is traditionally the reserved domain of the president? The head of state is flying out this Tuesday to New York and the UN General Assembly.