This Monday, August 28, during the annual conference of ambassadors held at the Élysée Palace, Emmanuel Macron discussed a range of subjects: from the situation in the Sahel, to security in the Middle East, but France’s challenges on a European scale.
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The situation in Africa and more particularly in Niger
French President Emmanuel Macron refuted this Monday 28 all “ paternalism “but also any” weakness ” of France in Africa, while the Sahel faces a ” putsch epidemic », recently in Niger. ” Neither paternalism nor weakness because otherwise we are nowhere “, he said in front of the French ambassadors gathered at the Elysée, also calling on the countries of the Sahel to have a ” responsible policy in the matter. “ The weakness that some have shown with regard to the previous putschs has nourished regional vocations. There is an epidemic of putschs throughout the Sahel “, he lamented.
Emmanuel Macron also praised the work of French diplomats who work in difficult conditions, citing the situation in Niger where the ambassador is still in post, although the soldiers who took power have asked for his departure. “ France and the diplomats have been faced in recent months with situations in certain particularly difficult countries, whether in Sudan where France has been exemplary, in Niger at this very moment, and I salute your colleague and your colleagues who have been listening since their position “, declared the French president in a speech to the ambassadors on the occasion of their annual meeting.
A “risk of weakening” of Europe and the West
French President Emmanuel Macron also warned of a “risk of weakening” Europe and the West in the current international context. This context ” rather hardened », « gets complicated ” And ” runs the risk of a weakening of the West and more particularly of our Europe “, he said, citing in particular “ the emergence of new major international powers “.
“ There is a gradual questioning of our international order in which the West had a preponderant place and still a preponderant place “, he further underlined. This questioning results from the return from warparticularly in Europe with the Russian offensive in Ukraine, and the rise of a resentment politics from Asia to Africa, which feeds on anticolonialism, reinvented or fantasized ” and a ” instrumentalized anti-Westernism “, he said.
The Head of State also insisted on the need to ” avoid a partition of the world around the war in Ukraine, while the southern states refuse to condemn Russia. It’s necessary ” to prevent a narrative from being set up which would consist in saying, it’s your war as Europeans, it doesn’t concern us “, he said.
A call for “more integration” of the “heart” of Europe, even “several speeds”
The European Union must accept more integration », or even « several speeds ” For ” develop on essential topics “, affirmed Emmanuel Macron. ” I can testify quite easily that a Europe of 27 is quite complicated to make evolve on the essential subjects “, he declared in front of the French ambassadors, judging that” it will not be easier at 32 or 35 (…) so we need a certain audacity to accept more integration on certain policies, perhaps moreover several speeds of this Europe “.
The four French detained “in unacceptable conditions” in Iran
Emmanuel Macron demanded the release of the four French detainees ” in unacceptable conditions in Iran. ” There is no justification for detention ” of the “ French nationals in prisons and in unacceptable conditions in Iran “said the Head of State. The four Frenchmen detained by Tehran are Louis Arnaudsince September 2022, a French teacher, Cécile Kohler, and her companion Jacques Paris, arrested in May 2022 for “ spying “, and another whose identity has not been revealed.
The security issue in the Middle East
The President also took the opportunity to announce the next Baghdad conference on Middle East security which will take place “ End of november “. It calls on the States of the region to demand from Syria a “ increased cooperation in the fight against terrorism if they want to reintegrate it into regional bodies. This reintegration of Damascus must ” assume increased cooperation in the fight against terrorist groups » and the possibility for Syrian refugees to return to their country with a certain number of « guarantees “, he underlined.
(With AFP)
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