French President Emmanuel Macron recently wrote to his US counterpart Donald Trump asking him to lift sanctions placed on several European figures, including former European commissioner Thierry Breton and ICC judge Nicolas Guillou, according to extracts of a letter seen by AFP. In the letter, Macron says he is making a personal appeal to Trump to reconsider the sanctions, which he argues were unjustly imposed.
France cannot accept any form of interference or manipulation of its national public debate by the authorities of a third country. The ambassador took note, expressed his willingness not to interfere in our public debate, and recalled the friendship that binds France and the United States.
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There are threats and intimidation and then suddenly Washington backs down. And we think it's over. But don't believe it for a second. He said when there is blatant aggression we must not bow down or try to reach a settlement. We tried this strategy for months and it's not working. But above all, it strategically leads Europe to increase its dependence.
He managed to get a bill on social security spending approved by year end, but lawmakers have failed to reach a compromise on state expenses. Lécornu's office said late on Thursday that it would be "impossible to adopt a budget by a vote" and that it would be looking at two alternative options. One is to use a constitutional power under Article 49.3 to push the legislation through parliament without a vote, as for previous budgets.
In a Paris courtroom, the first act of the 2027 French presidential election is already under way. On Tuesday Marine Le Pen began to answer judges' questions in her appeal against a conviction relating to the embezzlement of European parliament funds. If she wins, the far-right leader will be free to run for the presidency for a fourth time. If the sentence is upheld, her 30-year-old protege, Jordan Bardella, is almost certain to take her place in the race.
Dozens of protesters rallied in Paris on Wednesday against US President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, voicing horror and fear after a second fatal shooting by immigration agents capped months of escalating violence. "F**k ICE, shut it down, in every city, every town," demonstrators chanted as they bundled up against the cold at a protest in central Paris organised by pro-democracy groups Indivisibles and La Digue.
We are living in a world of great powers, with a real temptation to divide up the world, Macron said. We are being subjected to neocolonial aggressiveness by certain parties. The president's words arrive less than a week after the United States attacked Caracas and captured the Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife. Macron's statement also comes after the Trump administration insisted on a possible annexation of Greenland.
A French court on Friday handed a suspended sentence to a 74-year-old man who last year broke an egg on the head of the leader of France's main far-right party -- and possible presidential candidate -- Jordan Bardella. It also ordered the retired farmer, identified in court as Jean-Paul, to pay a €1,000 ($1,160) fine, as well as damages to Bardella of €500 for harming his image and €600 to contribute to his legal fees.
Budget negotiations have consumed the French political class for nearly two years, after President Emmanuel Macron's 2024 snap election delivered a hung parliament just as a massive hole in public finances made belt-tightening more urgent. The budget talks have cost two prime ministers their jobs, unsettled debt markets and alarmed France's European partners. However, Lecornu whose chaotic two-stage nomination in October drew derision around the world managed to secure the support of Socialist lawmakers through costly but targeted concessions.