🇫🇷🇪🇺 A special priority of the French presidency is to strengthen the defence capabilities of the EU.
2021 has been rich in negative events for European security: the world has witnessed the collapse of the Open Skies Treaty, American-French discord concerning AUKUS, the termination of the official dialogue between Russia and NATO, and the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border.
Over the past year, the Western countries seem to have been searching for new strategies.
Since the end of 2020, work has continued on the EU European Parliamentary Research Service project — the Strategic Compass. The dialectic between Atlanticism and Europeanism softened after Joe Biden came to power in the United States, but the European interests and red lines retain their significance for transatlantic relations. In 2022, together with the rotating post of the President of the EU Council, the role of a potential newsmaker in this area has been transferred to Emmanuel Macron, who feels very comfortable in it.
Emmanuel Macron’s stakes are high. The mobilisation of the Élysée Palace’s foreign policy is one of the most interesting subjects to watch in the year 2022, writes Julia Melnikova, Program Assistant at the Russian International Affairs Council.
🔗 The French Dispatch: The Year 2022 and European Security
#Valdai_WrapUp2021 #France #EU
@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club
2021 has been rich in negative events for European security: the world has witnessed the collapse of the Open Skies Treaty, American-French discord concerning AUKUS, the termination of the official dialogue between Russia and NATO, and the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border.
Over the past year, the Western countries seem to have been searching for new strategies.
Since the end of 2020, work has continued on the EU European Parliamentary Research Service project — the Strategic Compass. The dialectic between Atlanticism and Europeanism softened after Joe Biden came to power in the United States, but the European interests and red lines retain their significance for transatlantic relations. In 2022, together with the rotating post of the President of the EU Council, the role of a potential newsmaker in this area has been transferred to Emmanuel Macron, who feels very comfortable in it.
Emmanuel Macron’s stakes are high. The mobilisation of the Élysée Palace’s foreign policy is one of the most interesting subjects to watch in the year 2022, writes Julia Melnikova, Program Assistant at the Russian International Affairs Council.
🔗 The French Dispatch: The Year 2022 and European Security
#Valdai_WrapUp2021 #France #EU
@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club
Valdai Club
The French Dispatch: The Year 2022 and European Security
Emmanuel Macron’s stakes are high. The mobilisation of the Élysée Palace’s foreign policy is one of the most interesting subjects to watch in the year 2022, writes Julia Melnikova, Program Assistant at the Russian International Affairs Council.
⏰ TODAY at 13:00 Moscow time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host a panel discussion on the results of the presidential elections in France.
❓Macron is the most energetic of European leaders to have attempted to resolve the military-political crisis in Ukraine. Will this help him in the domestic political context?
❓How will relations between France and Russia develop if either frontrunner of the presidential race wins, and what will remain constant?
❓What will be the role of France amid a rapidly changing situation?
Participants in the discussion will answer these and other questions.
A link to the live broadcast of the discussion will be posted on all online-platforms of the Valdai Club: on the website, on Telegram and Twitter.
#France #Macron
@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club
❓Macron is the most energetic of European leaders to have attempted to resolve the military-political crisis in Ukraine. Will this help him in the domestic political context?
❓How will relations between France and Russia develop if either frontrunner of the presidential race wins, and what will remain constant?
❓What will be the role of France amid a rapidly changing situation?
Participants in the discussion will answer these and other questions.
A link to the live broadcast of the discussion will be posted on all online-platforms of the Valdai Club: on the website, on Telegram and Twitter.
#France #Macron
@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club
UPD: The livestream is over. The video of the discussion is available via the same link. Stay tuned!
🎥 LIVE: at 13:00 Moscow time (GMT+3), Valdai Club panel discussion on the results of the presidential elections in France will start.
https://vk.com/video-117768947_456239349
#Norms_and_Values #France #Macron #LePen
@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club
🎥 LIVE: at 13:00 Moscow time (GMT+3), Valdai Club panel discussion on the results of the presidential elections in France will start.
https://vk.com/video-117768947_456239349
#Norms_and_Values #France #Macron #LePen
@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club
Vk
LIVE: A Panel Discussion on the Results of the Presidential Elections in France
On April 25 at 13:00 Moscow time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host a panel discussion on the results of the presidential elections in France. More: https://valdaiclub.com/multimedia/video/a-panel-discussion-on-the-results-of-the-presidential-elections-in…
🇫🇷 Macron as President of Crisis and Three Frances
On April 25, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion on the results of the presidential elections in France.
Discussion moderator Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club, invited the participants to discuss the victory of Emmanuel Macron. He noted that this time, unlike in previous elections, Macron's rival Marine Le Pen won by a wide margin in a number of regions, and this makes the picture "more fragmented" and more interesting than it was five years ago.
🔹 Alexander Orlov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the French Republic and the Principality of Monaco in 2008-2017, analysed the situation in which the newly elected President of France found himself following the elections. He called Macron's victory convincing, but stressed that his relatively weak results in the first round make it difficult for the winner to carry out the previous policy. This reflects the difficult situation in which France finds itself, the diplomat said. Speaking about French foreign policy, Orlov stressed that Macron focuses on the theme of France’s independence, and with regard to Russia, he tried to remain politically correct, avoiding harsh rhetoric so as to “not burn bridges.”
🔹 Evgenia Obichkina, Professor of the Department of International Relations and Foreign Policy of Russia at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), called Macron's main difficulty his lack of reliance on any strong political party or basic political electorate that would hold certain views for generations. Analysing the situation in France as a whole, the expert emphasised that if earlier there were two Frances - right and left, with a predominance of the centrist spectrum in both, now there are three of them, with a comparative radicalisation of the right and left and the separation of the centre into a selected force. Thus, Macron will probably reflect, in implementing his programme - republican, humanistic, European and ideological values - to constantly reckon with powerful pressure from both flanks.
https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/macron-as-president-of-crisis-and-three-frances/
#Norms_and_Values #France #Macron
@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club
On April 25, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion on the results of the presidential elections in France.
Discussion moderator Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club, invited the participants to discuss the victory of Emmanuel Macron. He noted that this time, unlike in previous elections, Macron's rival Marine Le Pen won by a wide margin in a number of regions, and this makes the picture "more fragmented" and more interesting than it was five years ago.
🔹 Alexander Orlov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the French Republic and the Principality of Monaco in 2008-2017, analysed the situation in which the newly elected President of France found himself following the elections. He called Macron's victory convincing, but stressed that his relatively weak results in the first round make it difficult for the winner to carry out the previous policy. This reflects the difficult situation in which France finds itself, the diplomat said. Speaking about French foreign policy, Orlov stressed that Macron focuses on the theme of France’s independence, and with regard to Russia, he tried to remain politically correct, avoiding harsh rhetoric so as to “not burn bridges.”
🔹 Evgenia Obichkina, Professor of the Department of International Relations and Foreign Policy of Russia at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), called Macron's main difficulty his lack of reliance on any strong political party or basic political electorate that would hold certain views for generations. Analysing the situation in France as a whole, the expert emphasised that if earlier there were two Frances - right and left, with a predominance of the centrist spectrum in both, now there are three of them, with a comparative radicalisation of the right and left and the separation of the centre into a selected force. Thus, Macron will probably reflect, in implementing his programme - republican, humanistic, European and ideological values - to constantly reckon with powerful pressure from both flanks.
https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/macron-as-president-of-crisis-and-three-frances/
#Norms_and_Values #France #Macron
@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club
Valdai Club
Macron as President of Crisis and Three Frances
On April 25, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion on the results of the presidential elections in France. Discussion moderator Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club, invited the participants to discuss the victory of Emmanuel…
🇫🇷 The 2022 election in France is not a repeat of the 2017 election, whatever one might think.
We have seen significant changes in the French political space over the past five years through the events that marked Emmanuel Macron’s first term, whether it be the mobilisation on the issue of pensions, the “Yellow Vests” movement or the health crisis. The brutal management of the latter thus explains why Marine Le Pen is ahead of Emmanuel Macron in almost all the overseas departments.
Emmanuel Macron now clearly appears as the “centre-right” candidate and Marine Le Pen, meanwhile, has solidified an electorate around her. Le Pen remains popular, showing that the momentum of her 2017 campaign ran deeper than one might think. She can no longer, if ever, be called a “far-right” candidate.
The “Elitist-bourgeois” and Europeanist bloc that has gathered around Emmanuel Macron is both solid AND a minority in the country. The “social-populist” bloc, in other words the combination of a vote of conviction regarding a structured social programme and a vote of exasperation structured around a populist-social discourse of real effectiveness, is in fact in the majority in France, writes Valdai Club expert Jacques Sapir.
🔗 Elections Day in France
#Norms_and_Values #France #Macron
@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club
We have seen significant changes in the French political space over the past five years through the events that marked Emmanuel Macron’s first term, whether it be the mobilisation on the issue of pensions, the “Yellow Vests” movement or the health crisis. The brutal management of the latter thus explains why Marine Le Pen is ahead of Emmanuel Macron in almost all the overseas departments.
Emmanuel Macron now clearly appears as the “centre-right” candidate and Marine Le Pen, meanwhile, has solidified an electorate around her. Le Pen remains popular, showing that the momentum of her 2017 campaign ran deeper than one might think. She can no longer, if ever, be called a “far-right” candidate.
The “Elitist-bourgeois” and Europeanist bloc that has gathered around Emmanuel Macron is both solid AND a minority in the country. The “social-populist” bloc, in other words the combination of a vote of conviction regarding a structured social programme and a vote of exasperation structured around a populist-social discourse of real effectiveness, is in fact in the majority in France, writes Valdai Club expert Jacques Sapir.
🔗 Elections Day in France
#Norms_and_Values #France #Macron
@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club
Valdai Club
Elections Day in France
The “Elitist-bourgeois” and Europeanist bloc that has gathered around Emmanuel Macron is both solid AND a minority in the country. The “social-populist” bloc, in other words the combination of a vote of conviction regarding a structured social programme and…
🇫🇷 Emmanuel Macron will face no less important tasks not only on the internal, but also on the external circuit.
According to the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, it is the head of state who determines the nature of the country’s foreign and defence policy, and since 2017 Macron has repeatedly proved that he is ready to use these powers with great pleasure.
He has demonstrated an emphatically active diplomatic style, a desire to go beyond the established framework of thinking, and he has proposed bright concepts (like “NATO’s brain death”). He has attempted to involve France in various groupings of nations, initiatives and processes, if not as a leader, then at least as a noteworthy participant.
The preservation of the status quo in France has caused understandable relief in the European establishment, as well as among most of the media: the staunch Europeanist Macron looks to them like a clearly more advantageous figure than Marine Le Pen, who has proposed reformatting the EU into a union of nation states while weakening common institutions, writes Valdai Club expert Alexei Chikhachev. However, today the situation is such that the ideas of the French leader and his colleagues about the near future of the EU are noticeably different.
🔗 France After the Elections: Foreign Policy Horizons
#Norms_and_Values #France #Macron
@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club
According to the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, it is the head of state who determines the nature of the country’s foreign and defence policy, and since 2017 Macron has repeatedly proved that he is ready to use these powers with great pleasure.
He has demonstrated an emphatically active diplomatic style, a desire to go beyond the established framework of thinking, and he has proposed bright concepts (like “NATO’s brain death”). He has attempted to involve France in various groupings of nations, initiatives and processes, if not as a leader, then at least as a noteworthy participant.
The preservation of the status quo in France has caused understandable relief in the European establishment, as well as among most of the media: the staunch Europeanist Macron looks to them like a clearly more advantageous figure than Marine Le Pen, who has proposed reformatting the EU into a union of nation states while weakening common institutions, writes Valdai Club expert Alexei Chikhachev. However, today the situation is such that the ideas of the French leader and his colleagues about the near future of the EU are noticeably different.
🔗 France After the Elections: Foreign Policy Horizons
#Norms_and_Values #France #Macron
@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club
Valdai Club
France After the Elections: Foreign Policy Horizons
The preservation of the status quo in France has caused understandable relief in the European establishment, as well as among most of the media: the staunch Europeanist Macron looks to them like a clearly more advantageous figure than Marine Le Pen, who has…
🇫🇷🇩🇪 The extent of the current differences between Paris and Berlin is demonstrated by the fact that they are built around at least three major themes, on which different points of view are expressed by each country.
1️⃣ First, in the context of the unfolding fuel crisis, there is no unity regarding the priorities of the EU’s energy policy.
2️⃣ Second, the support measures practiced in both countries to help their respective national economies have become a reason for mutual accusations.
3️⃣ Third, defence tech issues are becoming the subject of ever more obvious differences.
The conflict in Ukraine has accelerated the shift in the centre of gravity within the European Union towards “Mitteleuropa” — Germany and its eastern neighbours, where France’s positions, unlike those of Germany, have never been particularly strong.
As a result, the tandem now fully retains its significance for only one participant — Paris, which sees in “special” ties with Berlin an important confirmation of its sovereign status, writes Valdai Club expert Alexei Chikhachev.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/france-germany-will-the-tandem-survive/
#ModernDiplomacy #France #Germany
@valdai_club
1️⃣ First, in the context of the unfolding fuel crisis, there is no unity regarding the priorities of the EU’s energy policy.
2️⃣ Second, the support measures practiced in both countries to help their respective national economies have become a reason for mutual accusations.
3️⃣ Third, defence tech issues are becoming the subject of ever more obvious differences.
The conflict in Ukraine has accelerated the shift in the centre of gravity within the European Union towards “Mitteleuropa” — Germany and its eastern neighbours, where France’s positions, unlike those of Germany, have never been particularly strong.
As a result, the tandem now fully retains its significance for only one participant — Paris, which sees in “special” ties with Berlin an important confirmation of its sovereign status, writes Valdai Club expert Alexei Chikhachev.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/france-germany-will-the-tandem-survive/
#ModernDiplomacy #France #Germany
@valdai_club
Valdai Club
France — Germany: Will the Tandem Survive?
The conflict in Ukraine has accelerated the shift in the centre of gravity within the European Union towards “Mitteleuropa” — Germany and its eastern neighbours, where France’s positions, unlike those of Germany, have never been particularly strong. As a…
🇫🇷 Reform of the French Diplomatic Service: Will It Help?
On April 16, 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron signed a decree according to which, from January 1, 2023, two categories of senior ranks of the French diplomatic service, the so-called corps of plenipotentiary envoys and advisers on foreign affairs, were abolished.
At the same time, other specialized categories of civil servants, for example, the corps of prefects, are also being eliminated. All of them will now be lumped into a single “corps of state administrators,” which will number about 6,000 people. In practice, this means that now a diplomat with the rank of minister-counsellor can become a prefect of a department, and the prefect can apply for the post of ambassador in some country.
The authorities justify the expediency of such innovations by citing the need to give the state apparatus a more flexible, open, manageable and less caste-based character. In relation to the diplomatic service, the task is to facilitate access to it for a “wider profile” of civil servants.
The gradual loss of traditions is fraught with the decline of French diplomacy. It is no coincidence that the reform initiated by Macron has coincided with a series of serious failures in his foreign policy, in particular in relations with African countries, former colonies of France, which is especially painful for Paris, Ambassador Alexander Kuznetsov writes.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/reform-of-the-french-diplomatic-service/
#ModernDiplomacy #France #diplomacy
🗣 🗣 🗣
On April 16, 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron signed a decree according to which, from January 1, 2023, two categories of senior ranks of the French diplomatic service, the so-called corps of plenipotentiary envoys and advisers on foreign affairs, were abolished.
At the same time, other specialized categories of civil servants, for example, the corps of prefects, are also being eliminated. All of them will now be lumped into a single “corps of state administrators,” which will number about 6,000 people. In practice, this means that now a diplomat with the rank of minister-counsellor can become a prefect of a department, and the prefect can apply for the post of ambassador in some country.
The authorities justify the expediency of such innovations by citing the need to give the state apparatus a more flexible, open, manageable and less caste-based character. In relation to the diplomatic service, the task is to facilitate access to it for a “wider profile” of civil servants.
The gradual loss of traditions is fraught with the decline of French diplomacy. It is no coincidence that the reform initiated by Macron has coincided with a series of serious failures in his foreign policy, in particular in relations with African countries, former colonies of France, which is especially painful for Paris, Ambassador Alexander Kuznetsov writes.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/reform-of-the-french-diplomatic-service/
#ModernDiplomacy #France #diplomacy
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Valdai Club
Reform of the French Diplomatic Service: Will It Help?
The gradual loss of traditions is fraught with the decline of French diplomacy. It is no coincidence that the reform initiated by Macron has coincided with a series of serious failures in his foreign policy, in particular in relations with African countries…
🇫🇷 Macronism suffered a complete defeat in the elections.
The National Rally succeeds only because it is perceived as a force of real opposition (which is increasingly not the case), and it had to win because it is the party that best represents the deep malaise that plagues the working class and other sections of the population.
Of course, the local electoral system prevented this victory, because the National Rally remains a party that lacks acceptance among the rest of the political system precisely because it represents popular forces, writes Olivier P. Roqueplo.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/defeat-for-the-winners-and-victory-for-the-losers-/
#GlobalAlternatives #France #Macron
🗣 🗣 🗣
The National Rally succeeds only because it is perceived as a force of real opposition (which is increasingly not the case), and it had to win because it is the party that best represents the deep malaise that plagues the working class and other sections of the population.
Of course, the local electoral system prevented this victory, because the National Rally remains a party that lacks acceptance among the rest of the political system precisely because it represents popular forces, writes Olivier P. Roqueplo.
https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/defeat-for-the-winners-and-victory-for-the-losers-/
#GlobalAlternatives #France #Macron
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