MACRON. Emmanuel Macron has made his political comeback and it promises to be full of challenges in the face of the “end of abundance”. The Head of State is also working on international relations with a visit to Algeria and a watchful eye on Ukraine.
[Mis à jour le 25 août 2022 à 11h5] Emmanuel Macron has officially made his political comeback. A return to work noticed in particular by the partly pessimistic tone of the Head of State who announced, in the preamble to the Council of Ministers of August 24, the “end of abundance” after a “series of crises, each more serious than others” which calls for “sacrifices”. Climate emergency, energy challenge and inflation are, among others, the priorities of the government.
For his first return since his re-election as head of the country, Emmanuel Macron wants to emphasize the independence of France in all respects, or almost. But if he wants an autonomous France, the Head of State also wants it involved in international relations, so he is keeping a close eye on the war in Ukraine and renewed France’s support for kyiv on August 24. However, it is towards Algeria that the eyes of the President of the Republic turn: he is expected there for an “official visit and friendship” from August 25 to 27. A move supposed to calm relations between the two countries after several months of cold.
What does Emmanuel Macron mean by “the end of abundance”?
“We are experiencing the end of what could appear to be abundance,” said Emmanuel Macron in the introduction to the Council of Ministers on August 24. A sentence that resonated in the political sphere and particularly within the opposition which denounced remarks “disconnected from reality” of the most precarious French people. However, the continuation of the Head of State’s speech which specifies that “the scarcity of such and such a material or technology reappears, like that of water” seems to indicate that it is the end of the energy abundance in question. . In addition to financial abundance, “that of cash without cost”, represented by the various aids and bonuses put in place during the last crises, starting with that of Covid-19.
Emmanuel Macron, by drawing up this picture, could try to pave the way smoothly for future bills and reforms which will require “efforts” from the French to face this “big shift”. A hypothesis reinforced by another declaration by the Head of State: “Our freedom at a cost which may require sacrifices when it has to be defended”.
Why Emmanuel Macron is going to Algeria?
In addition to French independence, Emmanuel Macron also works for good diplomatic and economic relations in France and for his political comeback, the Head of State intends to appease the Franco-Algerian relationship. The President of the Republic is going to Algeria from August 25 to 27 for an “official and friendly visit” which has several objectives. Officially, the trip must focus on the work of remembrance of the Algerian war, a subject that has caused great tension since the arrival of Emmanuel Macron at the Elysée. The presidential palace explained on August 20 that the visit of the Head of State to Algeria at the time of the 60th anniversary of the country’s independence “will contribute to deepening the bilateral relationship looking towards the future […] to strengthen Franco-Algerian cooperation in the face of regional issues and to continue the work of appeasement of memories”. Emmanuel Macron and his counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune must in particular go to the Monument of the Martyrs, a place of memory of the Algerian war.
Unofficially, another reason could be hiding behind Emmanuel Macron’s trip: gas. Algeria, the ninth largest gas producer in the world, has benefited since the start of the war in Ukraine from a new attraction with European countries which no longer want to depend on Russian gas, and France could defend its cause even if the Elysée assured that the gas is “really not the object of the visit”. The North African country, which is seeking to “increase its gas production and supply to Europe” is interested in cooperation with Europe, but an agreement with France has yet to be concluded and will “not necessarily oneself” according to Olivier Appert, energy adviser of the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) contacted by BFM TV.
Emmanuel Macron and the war in Ukraine
On the international side, the war in Ukraine continues to worry and Emmanuel Macron had a word for kyiv before his meeting with the ministers. On August 24, Ukraine’s Independence Day, which also marked the country’s six-month war with Russia, the President of the Republic expressed his support for Ukrainians in a video posted on Twitter. The Head of State praised Ukraine’s courage and resilience in the face of Russia’s “disastrous choice” to wage war on your country by sowing death and destruction. She thought she was waging a lightning and crushing war , she had measured neither your unity nor your courage”. Emmanuel Macron recalled the mobilization of France alongside Ukraine on the economic and military level and announced the arrival of new aid by the delivery by boat “of food, medical equipment and emergency rehabilitation”.