Paris: Even though most of France was rooting for Kamala Harris, French President, Emmanuel Macron was one of the first of world leaders to congratulate Donald Trump upon his victory on Wednesday. The 46-year-old Macron took to social network X to convey his wishes to his 78-year-old counterpart. He tweeted, "Ready to work together as we have been able to do for four years. With your convictions and with mine."
Macron and Trump know each other since 2017, during their respective first tenures. The two bigwigs will therefore meet again. Even though when they were first time Presidents, they liked to display a good camaraderie and had never paused dialogue with each other, the two countries have nevertheless experienced some upheavals; for instance Trump administration withdrawing from the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Moreover, the American leader has taken a dig at the young French President more than once through his tweets and words and even during his recent political campaign.
However, right now, diplomatically speaking Macron is weaker than his American counterpart what with his dissolution of his own government turning out to be an utter fiasco; whereas Trump will take his jubilant position at the White House after a crushing victory over Kamala Harris and the Democrats.
It is therefore not surprising that Emmanuel Macron was uber quick in announcing that he had "spoken" with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz soon after Trump was elected. "We are going to work for a more united, stronger, more sovereign Europe in this new context," he said on X.
Later during a meeting with his Council of Ministers, Macron called for "a European strategic awakening," hoping that the Old Continent will succeed in agreeing to find common positions against Donald Trump's United States.
A sentiment he echoed again during the European Political Community meeting in Budapest that followed closely on the heels of the US elections.
While addressing the EU heads of state at the summit he said, "The world is made of herbivores and carnivores. If we decide to remain herbivores, the carnivores will win. I think that at least it would be good to choose to be omnivores." Without taking names of countries it was obvious that carnivores was a metaphor for the United States and China with whom Europe faces the looming menace of trade wars.
Apart from this, Trump is not comfortable with the notion of ally. Even with allies, he has always had transactional relations. His positions on NATO and the war in Ukraine worry the EU. France is very clear about its stance all the same; regardless of the choices that the Americans make, the security of Ukrainians and ultimately the security of the Europen Union cannot depend on a foreign power.
According to Macron, the EU must consolidate its European strategy and coordination on the major challenges it faces in terms of climate change, defence, ecology as well as trade and agriculture. He believes that "salvation would lie neither in a blissful transatlanticism, nor in a narrow nationalism. France must carry a strong voice in Europe for more sovereignty, to maintain unity within the European Union, to watch over our interests, to protect our common borders," said Maud Bergeron, the spokesperson for the French government.
