PARIS: Just months ago President Emmanuel Macron cut a diminished figure in France and abroad, smarting from political setbacks in the wake of snap elections and the rise of the far right.
But a historic crisis in relations between the United States and Europe under Donald Trump has breathed new life in the remaining two years of Macron’s presidency.
Macron, still only 47 but who must step down in 2027 after serving the maximum two terms, is back in his element and lapping up the limelight as he seeks to rally a European response to an “existential threat” from Russia and convince America not to give up on Ukraine.
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He has hosted a series of emergency meetings in Paris, teamed up with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to help enforce an eventual ceasefire in Ukraine and became the first European leader to visit Trump since his inauguration.
The president now increasingly feels vindicated over his longstanding mantra that Europe needs to find a “strategic autonomy” independent of the United States.
Macron’s popularity, which has taken a beating when he called snap elections last summer that ushered in months of political chaos, appears to be on the mend.
While still low, his approval ratings have risen in several surveys, gaining up to seven points in one month.
“Macron has got his stripes back,” left-leaning daily Liberation declared on its front page on Wednesday.
The Le Monde daily said: “The international situation has put Emmanuel Macron back at the centre of the political game in France.”
‘Taking back control’
Some members of the opposition are livid, accusing the French president of beating the drums of war to score political points and even interfere in domestic politics.
On Tuesday, Marine Le Pen, the three-time presidential candidate of the far-right National Rally party, accused Macron of playing on French people’s fears after his address to the nation last week where he described Russia as a threat to France and Europe.
“There isn’t a French person who hasn’t understood that Emmanuel Macron, in a very martial tone, is practically telling us that we need to transform Kleenex factories into arms factories because war is just around the corner,” she said.
“He feels that he is taking back control, that there is a place for him, that he is serving a purpose.”
Macron had been battling domestic political instability since the inconclusive elections, in December naming Francois Bayrou his fourth prime minister of 2024. Without a majority in parliament, Bayrou remains at risk of being toppled and France undergoing yet more elections.
Centrist former defence minister Herve Morin accused Macron of “excessively worrying the French” over the risk posed by Russia.
“As long as we are talking about war, no one is talking about the resignation of the government or early elections in July,” he said.
The Elysee has denied any intention to “scare” French people.
Public opinion
But the shifting political landscape has presented him with an opportunity to serve the French people in their “daily lives” without overplaying his hand, a member of Macron’s team told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Socialist Party (PS) leader Olivier Faure acknowledged that he “completely” agrees with the president’s priorities on the international front.
However leftwing politicians are concerned by Macron’s call to boost defence spending without tax increases.
Fearing possible cuts to social programmes, the radical left, the Socialists and the Greens have all called for the wealthiest to contribute to France’s collective effort to boost defence.
“The president has only provided the framework he believes to be right,” the member of his team said.
Le Pen and Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, have struggled to articulate a clear stance beyond accusing Macron of playing on voters’ fears.
“If after three years, Russia is having trouble advancing in Ukraine, there is little chance that it will aspire to come all the way to Paris,” Le Pen quipped on Friday.
The RN party’s vice president, Sebastien Chenu, accused the president of seeking to shift public debate away from some of France’s most pressing challenges such as immigration and debt.
But the French are in favour of Macron’s recent foreign policy announcements such as increasing defence spending or considering extending France’s nuclear deterrent to European partners, said Gael Sliman, head of the Odoxa polling institute.
“People may think that Emmanuel Macron can make up ground in the polls thanks to the crisis, yes, but not that he is deliberately making a big deal of it to get back in the game,” said Sliman.