LONDON: He may have entered the Elysée with almost no diplomatic experience, but Emmanuel Macron has hit the floor running with his foreign policy.
Ahead of his meeting with Theresa May Thursday, the French president “played a blinder” as one UK newspaper put it, by offering to allow the Bayeux Tapestry to be displayed in Britain.
The 11th century work — which depicts the Norman Conquest of England — has not left France in 950 years. But the 40-year-old Macron appears to have little time for the constraints of tradition.
A day later, Britain had offered to pay £44.5 million ($62 million) to help France bring in new measures to tackle migrants trying to cross into the UK from the French port Calais.
Coincidence or another Macron masterstroke?
While Angela Merkel has been distracted by domestic political problems, Macron has positioned himself as the main European voice on the international stage. And he seems to be enjoying the limelight.
In the Middle East, Macron swept into the UAE in November for the opening of Louvre Abu Dhabi. He visited Saudi Arabia amid tension over the future of Lebanon Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
When he hosted Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Paris last month, he was not afraid to condemn Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, calling it a “threat to peace.”
He angered Italy when he hosted a meeting in Paris between the two main Libyan powerbroker on either side of the country’s war. But the symbolism of a handshake between Khalifa Haftar and Fayez Al Sarraj, overshadowed grumblings that Macron’s meeting was distracting from UN and European efforts to resolve the conflict.
Perhaps Macron’s biggest diplomatic coup since he took office in May was hosting a major climate summit in December to reinvigorate international efforts against global warming after Trump pulled out of the Paris climate accord.
He has also been praised for his role in helping set up a new force among north African countries to tackle extremist militants in the Sahel.
But some have accused Macron of being the master of the diplomatic gesture but failing to back this up with substantial policy.
On his recent visit to China, Macron started proceedings by presenting a horse to his host, Xi Jinping, called Vesuvius.
Macron’s move to boost France’s standing on the international stage has played well domestically. A survey for French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche in December found 52 percent of those asked were satisfied with Macron, compared to 40 percent in August.
Macron finds his feet on the international stage
Macron finds his feet on the international stage
Pull him off TV: Steve Bannon shuts down Sen. Lindsay Graham
- Trump’s former chief strategist called for the senator to be registered as a foreign agent
DUBAI: Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon called on Tuesday for US Senator Lindsey Graham to be registered as a foreign agent of the Israeli government, escalating a growing conservative backlash against the senator’s vocal support for Israel.
Speaking on his podcast “War Room,” Bannon said Graham should be “pulled off of television,” adding: "This is dangerous… because you have guys like Lindsey Graham and dozens more that are doing the wrong thing.”
In a Fox News interview on Monday, Graham said: “To all the antisemites, to all the isolationists… I’m not with you, I’m with Israel, I will be with Israel to our dying day.”
Graham also urged Gulf Arab states to join military action against Iran. “What I want you to do in the Middle East, to our friends in Saudi Arabia and other places, [is] step forward and say, ‘this is my fight too, I join America, I’m publicly involved in bringing this regime down,’” he said.
In a post on X, Graham questioned the value of a US defense agreement with Saudi Arabia following the evacuation of the American embassy in Riyadh, writing: “Why should America do a defense agreement with a country like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is unwilling to join a fight of mutual interest?”
Faisal Abbas, editor-in-chief of Arab News, responded to Graham’s comments in a Sky News interview, saying: “He flip flops so much, it’s actually entertaining.”
“On one hand, he says he will never set foot in Saudi Arabia. The next day, he’s here signing multimillion-dollar deals.”
“I don’t think anyone here takes him seriously,” Abbas added.
He warned Graham to be careful what he wished for: “Do you really want Saudi Arabia involved in this war putting our oil facilities at risk or do you want us stabilizing the energy markets?”
Graham pressed further, warning that inaction would carry a price. “Hopefully Gulf Cooperation Council countries will get more involved as this fight is in their backyard. If you are not willing to use your military now, when are you willing to use it?”
“Hopefully this changes soon. If not, consequences will follow.”
Graham's remarks drew sharp criticism from Bannon and others including podcast host Megyn Kelly.
She questioned on X whether Graham was overstepping his authority as a senator, writing: “When did Lindsay Graham become our president?”
Kelly also said Graham had threatened Lebanon, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, the wider Arab region, and Spain within a 24-hour period.
The problem with Graham “isn’t (just) that he’s a homicidal maniac, it’s that Trump likes and is listening to him,” she said in another post.
