Emmanuel Macron warned today, Thursday – in a speech at the Sorbonne university this time, ahead of June’s pivotal European elections – that Europe is “mortal and may die” if it does not become more resilient amid the war in Ukraine and other security and economic challenges.
Furthermore, the French president focuses his speech on strategic and geopolitical issues in Europe, such as defense, the economy, environmental protection and the preservation of democracy. Macron stressed that the future of Europe depends on choices that “must be made now”.
He insisted that the European Union must strengthen its independence in the field of security, arguing that it recognizes global security risks but that “the awakening is still rather slow”.
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Deficit and debt worry Macron
French confidence in President Macron fell by 2 points in April, falling to 25% according to the latest Elabe barometer for economic newspaper “Les Echos”, while newly appointed Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s rating remained stable to 32%.
Even greater – by 5 percentage points – than the drop in the popularity of the French president is that of the finance minister and one of the alleged candidates to succeed him in the next presidential elections in 2027, Bruno Le Maire.
“The government starts the campaign for the European elections in a situation that one would not call easy,” noted the president of Elabe, Bernard Sananes.
“There is no positive effect on the electorate from Macron’s policy and positions on the Ukraine issue, there is no benefit for the president from the appointment of Prime Minister Gabriel Atal,” the French pollster explained.
