Emmanuel Macron

Laurence Boone, France's minister of state for European affairs, expresses Paris' satisfaction at the lowering of Greek-Turkish tensions. Speaking to Kathimerini, she praises the Greek response to the earthquakes in Turkey and confirms France's abiding interest in the Mediterranean.

In return, he brought with him a handful of orders for French industry, writes Alexander Gerlach.

During his visit to the Netherlands yesterday, French President Emmanuel Macron renewed his call for greater European sovereignty. In the eagerly awaited speech, Macron said that both the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine have made it clear that Europe needs to reduce its dependencies in order to preserve its identity, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.

Emmanuel Macron has come under fire after he said Europe should not become a "vassal" and should avoid being drawn into a conflict between the US and China over Taiwan, the Guardian reported.

"Europe must reduce its dependence on the United States and avoid being drawn into a confrontation between China and the United States over Taiwan", French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with several media outlets on his way back from a three-day state visit to China.

Protesters started a fire at one of French President Emmanuel Macron's favorite restaurants in Paris on Thursday during clashes with riot police at the upmarket left-bank brasserie.

Staff at La Rotonde in the Montparnasse area of the city were forced to put out flames on the awning of the restaurant where Macron held a victory party during his successful 2017 election bid.

Clashes broke out in Paris next to a Left Bank pub favored by French President Emmanuel Macron, Reuters reported.
The awning of the Caf de la Rotonde was briefly set on fire.

In recent weeks France has been shaken by constant and violent demonstrations. The reason is the increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64. The reform is highly unpopular but is key to Emmanuel Macron's program, and what he was elected upon as president. It was not voted through in parliament, but Macron pushed it through by decree, as the Constitution allows.

French President Emmanuel Macron and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen began a series of meetings with Chinese leaders in Beijing on Thursday, talks that could set a new course for the bloc's relations with China after years of strained ties.

When Athens' Syntagma Square was the center of violent mass protests at the height of Greece's debt crisis, many European journalists, officials and analysts were visiting the city. We had become, literally and figuratively, the "hottest" spot in Europe.