Paris (AFP)
Emmanuel Macron is "rather in a strong position" at the G7 Biarritz, because it "appears to have the means to its action," said the former Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche.
"At the international level, President Macron is rather in a strong position, whether Germany, Great Britain, the United States, Russia or China, each experiencing real difficulties, while he appears as with the means of its action, "says Raffarin, who had supported the list of the majority in the last European elections.
"It is also the man who is not at war with anyone, so the one with whom everyone can talk," said the former Prime Minister of Jaques Chirac (2002-2005), while the G7 is open Saturday in the Basque country.
Welcoming "the creative initiatives" of the Head of State in matters of diplomacy, Mr. Raffarin still judges that the "context of brutality" established by Donald Trump in international relations "serves our influence in a world that does not want to be reduced to the supremacy of force over values ".
"What France has today is potential power," said Raffarin again.
"But nothing is won, we still have to reconcile this singularity, which is to speak to everyone with a capacity of leadership to initiate decisions", he supports, while slipping that Emmanuel Macron "can transform this potential in real international political weight ".
In the wake of the announcement of France's opposition to ratify the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement as it stands, due to environmental disagreement with Brazil, Mr Raffarin believes that Mr Macron "does not can not be satisfied with a punch on the table ".
"He must try to build an active solidarity with the G7 so that international pressure is powerful on Brazil," the former senator still pleads.
© 2019 AFP