French people

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde pushed back on Wednesday against economic pessimism, arguing that a rebound will come as pandemic uncertainty declines and that Europe possesses all the tools needed to overcome the crisis.

Several heads of state and leaders met French President Emmanuel Macron in the last 10 days leading up to his positive COVID-19 test results announced on Dec. 17.

Macron on Wednesday met Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa at the Elysee Palace. Costa's office announced Dec. 17 that he entered quarantine as a precaution and will continue working remotely.

French President Macron was tested for Covid-19 after symptoms first appeared. He would go into isolation for seven days, the Elysee Palace said, without providing further details on the nature of the president's symptoms.

The office of Macron's wife Brigitte Macron told dpa that she was considered a close contact but hasn't shown any symptoms so far.

The new sanctions the European Union is preparing over Turkish gas drilling show the EU will no longer accept destabilizing actions in its orbit, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday.

Macron also said the EU remained open to dialog with Turkey, after a EU summit in Brussels. [Reuters]

French President Macron said stability is needed in the Eastern Mediterranean

Europe should not get hung up on the idea of issuing coronabonds through a specially created European rescue fund, ECB President Christine Lagarde said in a newspaper interview published on Thursday.
"I don't think that we should get fixated on 'coronabonds'. In Europe, things take a bit more time than we would like, but we always find a solution," she told French daily Le Parisien.

French President Emmanuel Macron says he wants to reach a "quick compromise'' in talks this week with worker unions as nationwide protests and strikes rage on against the government's plans to overhaul the pension system.

During a Cabinet meeting on Jan. 6, Macron insisted that the new system must be financially sustainable, according to government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye.

European Central Bank's new head Christine Lagarde posted a solemn photo of her new team at the European Central Bank (ECB), but she probably did not expect what kind of reaction she would provoke, the newspaper Figaro writes in an online publication.

The photo shows Lagarde in front of a large round table surrounded by her new team, made up entirely of men.

One of the most prominent figures of the French intelligentsia for a good four decades, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy will be in Athens to stage his work "Looking for Europe" - a monologue about the future of the European idea which is threatened by the rise of nationalism - at the Pallas Theater on Monday, April 1, at 8 p.m..

Respected French academic Philippe Meirieu, best known for his work as a professor of education but also as a member of the Europe Ecologie - The Greens party, will be speaking at the French Institute on Tuesday, February 26.