Resolute ally. What is known about Emmanuel Macron and how his position on Ukraine changed
French President Emmanuel Macron (photo: Getty Images)
In recent years, French President Emmanuel Macron has become one of Ukraine's most active allies and was the first to initiate the deployment of Western troops. At the same time, he is currently trying to overcome a political crisis in his own country.
Content:
- Biographical facts
- "Mozart in finance"
- Youngest president of France
- Reforms, yellow vests, and political crisis
- Macron's position on the war in Ukraine
Biographical facts
Yesterday, December 21, Emmanuel Macron turned 47 years old. He was born in Amiens in northern France to a family of doctors. He attended a local high school, but spent his last year at an elite lyceum in Paris.
Macron later earned a master's degree in philosophy from the University of Nanterre. He also received a master's degree in public administration and economics from the Paris Institute of Political Studies. He interned at the French Embassy in Nigeria under the National School of Administration program.
Since childhood, Emmanuel Macron has played the piano. He was interested in theater and attended a school club where he met his future wife, French teacher and theater studio director Brigitte Trogneux. The boy was 15 years old, and his chosen one was 39 at the time.
Photo: Emmanuel Macron with his wife Brigitte (facebook.com/elysee.fr)
Due to the age difference, Macron's parents initially tried to prevent the relationship, so they sent him to Paris to finish his last year of school. But in 2007, the couple reunited and are still together. They have no children together, but Brigitte has three children and seven grandchildren from her first marriage.
“Mozart in finance”
Emmanuel Macron's career began in the civil service. For four years, he held the position of inspector at the General Inspectorate of Finance under the Ministry of Economy. In 2008, he moved to the banking sector and started working at Rothschild & Cie Banque.
At Rothschild Bank, Macron was responsible for Nestlé's acquisition of Pfizer's baby food division for 9 billion euros, which made him a millionaire. In total, he earned $2 million in 2010-2012. In those years, the press called Macron “Mozart in finance”.
Youngest president of France
In 2006, Emmanuel Macron met French politician Francois Hollande and served as his unofficial business advisor. When Hollande won the presidential election in 2012, Macron was appointed Deputy Secretary General of the Elysee Palace and an advisor on economic and financial matters.
In 2014, Macron was appointed Minister of Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs. He was involved in the development of a bill that was named in his honor, the Macron Law. The initiative provided for the liberalization of certain sectors of the economy, including opening the bus transport sector to competition, opening shops on Sundays, etc.
A year later, Macron resigned from the government and declared himself an independent politician.
In 2016, he presented his own political force, La République En Marche! claiming that his party shared neither left nor right ideology. In a situation where only 12% of French people (according to a 2016 poll) trusted traditional political parties, this was a winning strategy.
Photo: Macron became the youngest president of France (Getty Images)
In the 2017 presidential election, he won the second round with 66% of support over his opponent Marine Le Pen. Thus, at the age of 39, Emmanuel Macron became the youngest president of France.
In 2022, he ran for president for the second time against right-wing leader Le Pen, and this time won with 58.5% of the vote.
As the head of France, Macron is also one of the two co-princes of Andorra.
Reforms, yellow vests, and political crisis
As president, Macron has initiated a number of reforms, some of which have been controversially received by society and led to mass protests.
In particular, he launched a labor law reform aimed at reducing unemployment and increasing the competitiveness of the economy. The procedure for resolving labor disputes was simplified and the conditions for dismissal were eased. Although the initiative did not find support among the population, the unemployment rate declined.
One of Macron's main goals was to reduce the number of civil servants. This also caused outrage among public sector employees, leading to protests and strikes.
In 2018, the French leader was forced to introduce a state of economic and social emergency in the country due to the protests of the “yellow vests”.
The French took to the streets to protest against rising fuel prices and taxes. The activists demanded an increase in salaries and pensions, and the return of the progressive wealth tax. The protests intensified periodically throughout 2019 and 2020.
Despite several weeks of strikes, the French president succeeded in passing a law last year on the second attempt to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64.
Macron has consistently advocated for the modernization, transformation, and expansion of the country's armed forces. In 2023, he signed a law to increase military spending by 40% to a total of 413 billion euros over the next 7 years.
Photo: The French president is facing a political crisis (Getty Images)
After being re-elected for a second term, Macron faced difficulties in forming a stable majority in parliament, and in the summer of 2024, he dissolved the National Assembly and called early parliamentary elections.
In September, a government was formed, but on December 5, the parliament passed a vote of no confidence in it. This is the first time in 62 years that this has happened, underscoring the deep political instability in the country.
On December 13, Macron appointed François Bayrou, the head of the liberal Democratic Movement party, which is part of the pro-presidential political coalition Ensemble, as the new prime minister.
Macron's position on the war in Ukraine
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Emmanuel Macron's attitude towards Ukraine has changed significantly.
On the eve of the war, he advocated diplomacy and strengthening the work of the Normandy format. On February 7, 2022, he traveled to Moscow and held six-hour talks with the Kremlin leader.
Following the meeting, Emmanuel Macron said that Vladimir Putin had promised him “not to start new military maneuvers near the borders of Ukraine.” The next day, the French president arrived in Kyiv to meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It was the first visit of a French leader to Ukraine in 24 years.
Photo: At the beginning of the war, Macron maintained a dialogue with Putin (kremlin.ru)
On February 24, 2022, Emmanuel Macron strongly condemned Russia's aggression and emphasized Vladimir Putin's responsibility for the outbreak of the conflict. He expressed support for Ukraine, recognizing the courage of the Ukrainian people and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
At the same time, during the first months of the war, the French president tried to maintain a dialogue with Moscow and had several phone conversations with Putin. Macron described himself as a “responsible leader” who spent the longest time trying to persuade Putin to stop his aggression against Ukraine.
In June 2022, Emmanuel Macron visited Ukraine together with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi to demonstrate “European unity.”
As he said during his trip to Irpin, the nations that remained neutral in the Russian-Ukrainian war made a historic mistake and became complicit in a new imperialism. Macron also emphasized that “France is on the side of the Ukrainian men and women - without any ambiguity.”
Screenshot x.com/EmmanuelMacron
Later, the French leader's position on the war in Ukraine became even more active. He advocated for the transfer of modern weapons and criticized other allies for delaying the transfer of military aid. At the same time, France became one of the countries that authorized Ukraine to launch long-range strikes on Russian territory.
Macron believes that a lasting peace is possible only if Ukraine returns to its internationally recognized borders, including Crimea. He supported Ukraine's aspirations to become a member of the European Union and stated that France would not oppose Ukraine's invitation to join NATO.
Photo: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President of France Emmanuel Macron (Getty Images)
In early 2024, his statement about the possibility of sending NATO troops to Ukraine caused a real stir. Currently, Emmanuel Macron continues to work on the issue of a peacekeeping mission and is negotiating with allies.
The French leader emphasizes that the security of Europe is at stake in Russia's war against Ukraine, so the allies must be ready to take decisive action: “If Russia continues its escalation if the situation worsens, we must be ready to take the decisions necessary to ensure that Russia never wins.”
To learn more about the initiative to send a peacekeeping contingent to Ukraine, please read the article: Will West send troops to Ukraine to end war with Russia?
The French president recently organized the first meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump in Paris after his victory in the US election. The three leaders discussed security assurances for Ukraine and ways to achieve a “just peace.”
Sources: Le Monde, France 24, Reuters, the official website of the Elysee Palace, Emmanuel Macron's statements on social network X, and information from Wikipedia.
