Paris (AFP)
Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday hailed the "prudery" of those who refuse to see the inefficiency of international organizations, alluding to his recent criticism of NATO at the opening of the Paris Peace Forum, which he defended. utility.
"We need more cooperation," pleaded the head of state by opening the second edition of this forum he created last year, where came thirty heads of state and government, including a dozen Africans, but without leaders neither American nor Russian.
"The risk is (...) laziness, to say that we have (international) organizations, we like them, do not question them, they have sometimes lost their purpose, no one understands where they are going , hide this breast that we can not see as we say in Molière, and it will be better ".
"I do not believe it at all, I showed it sometimes by hitting some people in this room a few days ago, we need truth, prudishness or hypocrisy do not work in these days, because our fellow citizens see it, and laziness (...) is not a solution either, "he insisted.
The French president was obviously responding to the criticism of Chancellor Angela Merkel and the President-elect of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen - present in the room - to her recent statements against NATO that he judged in a state of " brain death ", because of the American withdrawal and the Turkish attack in Syria.
The head of state also said that the Peace Forum, which is added to many other international meetings, was useful because it brought together states, NGOs, civil society actors, the only answer according to him to the new challenges, demographic, climatic, technological.
Before him, the President-elect of the European Commission, the Congolese President and the Chinese Vice-President had opened the forum with general statements on peace and the role of their respective country or organization.
Emmanuel Macron also repeated that he wanted to avoid the division of the world around two great powers, the United States and China. "The split between some hegemonic powers produces frustrations" and is not sustainable in the long run, he said.
© 2019 AFP