Pariscope

It’s not only EU policies—from trade to defense—that are becoming more Gaullist. European voters’ feelings toward the EU are also becoming more French.

Geography and economics mean that even under a President Marine Le Pen, France could not walk away from European and German security.

Germany’s incoming Chancellor Friedrich Merz shares many of French President Emmanuel Macron’s talents, but also many of his faults.

Europe’s days as the happy junior partner of the US empire are gone. The time has come to build a sovereign Europe.

Extending France’s nuclear umbrella to the whole of Europe is an old idea which time has come.

Migration statistics have been low for decades, yet French politicians continue to fret about the country being taken over by foreigners. That is because rallying against migration is a way for the far-right to mobilize voters against France’s non-white and Muslim population.

The far right and the far left want to throw France into chaos to force President Emmanuel Macron to resign. But they are unlikely to get their way, at least for now.

President Emmanuel Macron is installing the first government dependent on the far-right in France’s post-war history. But paradoxically, the country may take a step toward ending the risk of a Le Pen power grab.

For France, the French president’s snap elections gamble is risky. From a European perspective, running that risk now is irresponsible.

President Emmanuel Macron is hoping that his tougher line vis-à-vis Russia will endear his party to voters. But the French care much less about foreign policy than one might think.

In 2020, the European Union spent big and agreed on a common vaccine strategy to survive the pandemic. Today, French President Emmanuel Macron believes EU cash and a common plan to arm Kyiv is what is needed to keep Russia at bay. 

If Emmanuel Macron’s party botches the European elections in June, the French president will lose control of his three remaining years in office. Thus, he is doing what he does best: putting on a big show.