Emmanuel Macron was sworn in this Saturday for a second five-year term as french president which, as he advanced, will be marked by “a European project of scientific and ecological progress”, in which the first priority will be the conflict in Ukraine.
“The phase that opens will be that of resolute action for France and for Europe,” Macron stressed in a speech lasting just under ten minutes during the protocol ceremony that, following guidelines that have barely changed since the Third Republic (1870- 1940), developed in the Elysee Palace.
The most urgent thing -he stressed- is “to avoid any escalation after the Russian aggression in Ukraine”
The most urgent thing -he stressed- is “to avoid any escalation after the Russian aggression in Ukraine” and “help democracy win” in that country, in order to “build a new european peace and a new autonomy for our continent”.
The 44-year-old French president made a clear interpretation of the meaning of his re-election on April 24 in the second round of the presidential elections, with 58.5% of the votes against the far-right candidate, Marine LePen.
The French have opted for a European project
“Where many peoples have yielded to retreat, to nationalist temptation, to nostalgia for the past, to the sirens of ideologies that we thought we had left behind the last century, the french village has opted for a European project of scientific and ecological progress,” he said.
“A project -he added- clear and explicit for the future, a republican and european projecta project of independence in a destabilized world” and that “turns its back on easy demagoguery”.
His pro-European program is going to be specified in his agenda at the beginning of next week
That insistence on Europeanist program it will be specified in your agenda at the beginning of next week, since on Monday morning you will be in the European Parliament in Strasbourg for the closure of the Conference for the Future of Europe, which had been launched a year ago to involve citizens.
In the afternoon Macron will berlin his first visit abroad after his re-election, a classic for French presidents when they take office. There he will be received by the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, in a meeting with which he intends to show “the importance of the Franco-German axis”.
Sew up the multiple fractures of France
Beyond this profoundly European dimension, his speech was also intended to be a foretaste of his willingness to try to tackle the multiple fractures that cross France and that have been evident in his first five years in power and in the electoral campaign for his re-election.
He assured that he will work “to build a sfull employment society“, to make France a “great ecological power” and to “continue attacking inequalities at the root” with “an increasingly inclusive school” and “with more accessible healthcare throughout the territory”.
He promised to act in favor of the equality of men and women and to protect the French with a “strong” Army
He also promised to act in favor of the equality of men and women and to protect the French with a Army “strong”” and present “on all continents”. Its ultimate goal is “a more independent nation, better living and building French and European responses to the challenges of our century”.
Regarding the method, he assured that his action will not consist of “administering the country” or “chaining reforms”, in a clear response to those who reproach him for having governed from an ivory tower without taking into account the sentiment of the street, with the memory placed in the social explosion of the “yellow vests”.
Instead, he stated that “we all have to invent a new method (…) with which we can build a new productive, social and ecological contract.” That, he said, implies “respect, consideration, the association of all.”
His speech took place in the ballroom of the presidential palace
At the end of his speech, which took place in the ballroom of the presidential palace, the ceremony continued in the Elysée gardens, where 21 cannon salutes could be heard fired from Les Invalides, on the other bank of the Seine river, and where surrendered tribute to the flag and reviewed a small representation of the Army.
Hollande and Sarkozy among the guests
Around 450 people were invited to Macron’s investiture, among which the two presidents who preceded him in the Elysee: the socialist Francois Hollande and the conservative Nicholas Sarkozy.
The members of the Government of Jean Castex are going to remain in office at least until next weekend, until the formal end of Macron’s first term, on the 13th at midnight.
After that there will be a new executive whose primary mission will be to prepare the legislative elections on June 12 and 19 in which the president hopes to achieve a parliamentary majority – this is what the polls anticipate – since otherwise he would be forced to cohabit.
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