The French president gave his first television interview since his re-election on the occasion of the French national holiday, Thursday July 14. In particular, he called for preparations for the war in Ukraine to last.
On the occasion of the national holiday, celebrated in France this Thursday, July 14, Emmanuel Macron gave the first television interview of his second term from the gardens of the Élysée. The opportunity for the French president to come back to the files on which the government is working and to give perspectives on the war in Ukraine and its consequences.
A war that will last
Emmanuel Macron called on the French to ” to prepare “for the war to last, anticipating that ” summer and early fall “will be” very hard because of Russia’s determination to retake Donbass.
In this context, the budget of the armed forces will not decrease in the coming years, “ on the contrary “. France must absolutely reinvest in its military equipment, continue to recruit in the army and ” continue to have an even stronger army “, he specified.
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Energy
The French president said that the French must prepare for a ” scenario where we will have to do without Russian gas adding that Russia was using its gas as a “ war weapon », in reaction to the decision of the supplier Gazprom to suspend gas deliveries for a period of ten days via the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.
He assured that France was rebuilding its stock to be at 100% of its storage capacity in the fall, and that the State was preparing this summer “ a sobriety plan » energy. ” We are going to prepare a plan to put ourselves in a position to consume less “said the Head of State. ” We are going to try to collectively pay attention in the evening to lights that are useless, we are going to draw up a plan for public administrations, we are going to draw up a sobriety plan in which we are going to ask all our compatriots to commit, and we are going to a sobriety and load shedding plan – we are talking about gas and electricity here –, with our companies “, he specified.
Reforms
Emmanuel Macron wants a bill to reform work. “ From this summer, there will have to be a text of law, after discussion with the social partners “, said Emmanuel Macron, who spoke of the” RSA reform “, a ” reform of France Travail “, but also that of the vocational high school and the training” throughout life “.
He added that he wanted to launch his National Refoundation Council “ from the end of summer and called for ” responsible compromise ” on Ia pension reform, which he wants to implement in the summer of 2023.
Without giving details on the content of the reform, he considered that it was necessary to improve the quality of work, improve the work of seniors and ” work longer » taking into account long careers and the arduous nature of the work.
“UberFiles”
” I don’t have a temper to be under the influence “, defended President Macron, questioned on his links with Uber revealed by the “Uber Files”.
(With AFP)