PARIS: Five years after a devastating fire, the restoration of Notre-Dame cathedral is nearing completion as the world’s eyes turn to Paris for the Olympic Games.
On the evening of April 15, 2019, the cathedral’s roof burst into flames. Soon, it had engulfed the spire and almost toppled the main bell towers. Around the world, TV viewers watched with horror as the medieval building burned.
Macron, whose second and final term ends in 2027, wants the cathedral’s restoration to lift the nation’s mood — and his government’s approval ratings. “Only once in a century does one host Olympic and Paralympic Games, only once in a millennium does one rebuild a cathedral,” Macron said in his 2024 New Year speech.
It remains unclear what exactly caused the fire. French authorities have said an electrical fault or a burning cigarette may have been responsible.
“A firefighter told me ‘Sir, take a close look at the facade because if we don’t manage to put out that fire, it will all go to ruin’,” remembered Laurence Alsina, who owns a bookselling stand close to the cathedral on the banks of the River Seine.
The facade held, but the damage has needed five years of intense stabilization and restoration works.
The pride of those working on the project shines through.
“This is the construction work of a lifetime, because restoring an entire monument in all its three-dimensionality, that’s quite exceptional.” Emma Roux, an artisan working on the iconic stained glass windows said.
The re-opening is scheduled for December, and is currently running on schedule, according to the official leading the project.
“We are on time and on budget,” Philippe Jost said last month at a Senate hearing. Jost told lawmakers that the project had so far cost 550 million euros ($587 million), funded in part by massive donations, including from luxury sector billionaires Francois Henri Pinault and the Arnault family. So much money has been donated that there will even be funds left over for further investment in the building, he said.
“An additional 150 million euros should be made available and — provided the approval of our sponsors — it will be used to restore the cathedral and tackle problems that predate the fire, which mainly concern the exterior stonework,” Jost added. Jost, 63, a trained engineer who spent much of his career in the defense ministry, took over the job after his predecessor, General Jean-Louis Georgelin, died in a hiking accident in August 2023.
Notre-Dame nears re-opening five years after fire
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Notre-Dame nears re-opening five years after fire
- On the evening of April 15, 2019, the cathedral’s roof burst into flames
- Macron, whose second and final term ends in 2027, wants the cathedral’s restoration to lift the nation’s mood — and his government’s approval ratings
In show of support, Canada, France open consulates in Greenland
- Decisions taken in a strong show of support for Greenland government amid threats by US President Trump to seize the island
COPENHAGEN, Denmark: Canada and France, which both adamantly oppose Donald Trump’s wish to control Greenland, will open consulates in the Danish autonomous territory’s capital on Friday, in a strong show of support for the local government.
Since returning to the White House last year, Trump has repeatedly insisted that Washington needs to control the strategic, mineral-rich Arctic island for security reasons.
The US president last month backed off his threats to seize Greenland after saying he had struck a “framework” deal with NATO chief Mark Rutte to ensure greater American influence.
A US-Denmark-Greenland working group has been established to discuss ways to meet Washington’s security concerns in the Arctic, but the details of the talks have not been made public.
While Denmark and Greenland have said they share Trump’s security concerns, they have insisted that sovereignty and territorial integrity are a “red line” in the discussions.
“In a sense, it’s a victory for Greenlanders to see two allies opening diplomatic representations in Nuuk,” said Jeppe Strandsbjerg, a political scientist at the University of Greenland.
“There is great appreciation for the support against what Trump has said.”
French President Emmanuel Macron announced Paris’s plans to open a consulate during a visit to Nuuk in June, where he expressed Europe’s “solidarity” with Greenland and criticized Trump’s ambitions.
The newly-appointed French consul, Jean-Noel Poirier, has previously served as ambassador to Vietnam.
Canada meanwhile announced in late 2024 that it would open a consulate in Greenland to boost cooperation.
The opening of the consulates is “a way of telling Donald Trump that his aggression against Greenland and Denmark is not a question for Greenland and Denmark alone, it’s also a question for European allies and also for Canada as an ally, as a friend of Greenland and the European allies also,” Ulrik Pram Gad, Arctic expert at the Danish Institute of International Studies, told AFP.
“It’s a small step, part of a strategy where we are making this problem European,” said Christine Nissen, security and defense analyst at the Europa think tank.
“The consequences are obviously not just Danish. It’s European and global.”
Recognition
According to Strandsbjerg, the two consulates — which will be attached to the French and Canadian embassies in Copenhagen — will give Greenland an opportunity to “practice” at being independent, as the island has long dreamt of cutting its ties to Denmark one day.
The decision to open diplomatic missions is also a recognition of Greenland’s growing autonomy, laid out in its 2009 Self-Government Act, Nissen said.
“In terms of their own quest for sovereignty, the Greenlandic people will think to have more direct contact with other European countries,” she said.
That would make it possible to reduce Denmark’s role “by diversifying Greenland’s dependence on the outside world, so that it is not solely dependent on Denmark and can have more ties for its economy, trade, investments, politics and so on,” echoed Pram Gad.
Greenland has had diplomatic ties with the European Union since 1992, with Washington since 2014 and with Iceland since 2017.
Iceland opened its consulate in Nuuk in 2013, while the United States, which had a consulate in the Greenlandic capital from 1940 to 1953, reopened its mission in 2020.
The European Commission opened its office in 2024.
