Browsing: Emmanuel Macron

The ICC has been dealt a harsh blow by one of its founding states, which also prides itself on being the “homeland of human rights.” On Wednesday, France issued a cryptic statement undermining both the authority of this judicial body and the arrest warrant issued six days earlier by its judges against Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the context of the war in Gaza.

Cabinet will reassure the business world EU

“Barnier’s cabinet is likely to reassure the business world. … First in terms of method: the prime minister is consulting experts widely and has undertaken to continue doing so in preparation for his government policy statement. This marks the beginning of a culture of compromise that is quite foreign to France. And secondly in the choice of personnel: there are few or no big names in this team, but the ministers are experts in their fields and will be careful not to break with the dynamic created over the past seven years. … With the cast, the method and the direction now set, the 2025 budget will be the acid test.”

“If you zoom out of France and look at the whole of Europe, you see that by appointing Michel Barnier as prime minister the once moderate Emmanuel Macron has brought his country into line with many of its neighbours. On the same weekend, the AfD only narrowly lost to the SPD in the Brandenburg elections. … In Belgium, a poll published on Saturday showed a Flanders that is further to the right in its voting preferences than ever before – Vlaams Belang is on form. … Above all, these events mark the end of a week in which the new EU Commission has been dominated by the right.”