A large-scale marathon press conference was held at the Elysee Palace on the 16th.
“The elected leader is the one given by the people of the country.”
Trump says he will find ways to cooperate even if he is re-elected
French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans to provide additional long-range cruise missiles and bombs to Ukraine on the 16th (local time), suggesting a way to cooperate with former U.S. President Donald Trump if he wins the presidential election again. He said he would find it.
President Macron said, “I treat national leaders as figures given to me by the people of that country,” and said he was willing to cooperate and dialogue with “anyone” if France’s national interests were at stake.
“I had to treat President Trump like that even during his term,” Macron said, adding that although the two leaders agreed on some things, their opinions diverged greatly on other issues, such as climate change measures.
Macron’s comments about Trump came during a marathon press conference on a wide range of domestic and international issues that lasted more than two hours that day.
He said that no matter who occupies the White House, Europe must be able to accept America’s priority policies, even if they lie elsewhere.
“Even if they share our values, democracy is always in crisis and has no choice but to overcome it. “Our top priority is the (US presidential election), and the second is the China issue,” he said.
He emphasized that Europe must become stronger and be able to defend itself without relying on other countries. So he said that he was prepared for whatever the outcome of the US presidential election was.
Regarding the Ukraine issue, he said that if Russia wins, the world order will be in danger, so he will visit Ukraine again next month to provide additional support.
“Because we can never let Russia win,” he added. He said that France had decided to provide 40 long-range missiles and hundreds of artillery shells to Ukraine, and emphasized that France can successfully respond to global crises because it has the most elite troops.
Macron has spent the past year embroiled in public protests against policies such as raising the domestic pension age and restricting immigration, and has had to deal with anti-government protests that have taken place in hundreds of cities and towns across the country since the police shooting of a teenage boy. did.
This year, ahead of the Paris Olympics, a large-scale press conference was held and policies were announced to make a fresh start and establish the status of the government and the president.
Macron has been trying to inject new energy into his government, including appointing the youngest new prime minister in French history last week.
On the night of the 16th, the new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (34) sat side by side with Macron at the Elysee Palace with members of the Cabinet and had a meeting, and also attended a large-scale press conference before starting work in earnest.
Although it is very rare to hold a press conference during prime time in the evening, President Macron clearly expressed his will to reform state affairs, saying, “I will ensure that our children live a better life tomorrow than today.”
President Macron, who is serving his second and final term after being re-elected, is weakened because he does not have a majority ruling party in parliament. Because of that, he said, he is more actively carrying out state affairs to avoid a lame duck effect for the remainder of his term.
According to the French constitution, Macron cannot run in the 2027 presidential election.
[ 파리= AP/뉴시스]
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.