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Macron says ground operations in Ukraine possible

Disagreements over the possibility of ground operations and the delivery of long-range missiles to Kyiv had threatened to undermine cooperation between the allies…reports Asian Lite News

French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview published Saturday evening that Western ground operations in Ukraine might be necessary “at some point,” days after meeting with German and Polish leaders.

Last month Macron refused to rule out putting troops on the ground in Ukraine, which prompted a stern response from Berlin and other European partners.

But the French president has not recanted from his position, but stressed that Western allies would not take the initiative.

“Maybe at some point — I don’t want it, I won’t take the initiative — we will have to have operations on the ground, whatever they may be, to counter the Russian forces,” Macron told newspaper Le Parisien in an interview conducted on Friday.

“France’s strength is that we can do it.”

Disagreements over the possibility of ground operations and the delivery of long-range missiles to Kyiv had threatened to undermine cooperation between the allies.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reacted angrily to Macron’s earlier refusal to rule out sending troops to Ukraine and his pointed comments urging allies not to be “cowards.”

Macron met his German and Polish counterparts in Berlin on Friday, in a show of solidarity behind Kyiv.

After the meeting, Macron said the three countries of the so-called Weimar Triangle were “united” in their aim to “never let Russia win and to support the Ukrainian people until the end.”

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Macron Hosts Conference to Bolster Support for Ukraine

Russia is ramping up pressure along the front while hiking defence spending and securing military assistance from its partners like North Korea and Iran…reports Asian Lite News

French President Emmanuel Macron is due to host a conference for Kiev’s partners on Monday to strengthen the allied commitment to Ukraine after the full-scale war entered its third year, media reported.

Ukraine faces mounting challenges in early 2024. Delays in US aid caused ammunition shortages that contributed to the Ukrainian withdrawal from the key frontline city of Avdiivka, The Kyiv Independent reported.

Meanwhile, Russia is ramping up pressure along the front while hiking defence spending and securing military assistance from its partners like North Korea and Iran.

The meeting, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. local time, will be a chance to “reaffirm their (allies’) unity as well as their determination to defeat the war of aggression waged by Russia in Ukraine,” the French presidency said.

“We want to send Putin a very clear message, that he won’t win in Ukraine,” Macron’s advisor said, according to Reuters.

“Our goal is to crush this idea he wants us to believe that he would be somehow winning.”

According to the French newspaper Le Monde, the meeting is also a chance for France’s head of state to present himself as a champion of the pro-Ukrainian coalition amid waning support from the US, The Kyiv Independent reported.

“Two years of war. Battered and bruised, but still standing. Ukraine is fighting for itself, for its ideals, for our Europe. Our commitment at its side will not waver,” Macron said on the social media platform X on February 24 on the second anniversary of the full-scale war.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to deliver an opening address via video conference.

Some 20 European leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish President Andrzej Duda, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, are expected to attend, The Kyiv Independent reported.

The US will be represented by US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Jim O’Brien, and Canada by Defence Minister Bill Blair.

The French advisor told journalists that the meeting would not be a chance to announce new aid deliveries but an opportunity to brainstorm more effective support and improve coordination between Kiev and its allies.

Paris concluded a long-term security agreement with Ukraine earlier this month, committing 3 billion euros ($3.25 billion) in military aid this year, as well as a new assistance package, including artillery and air defences.

ALSO READ-‘Delay in military aid hurting Ukraine’

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India rolls out red carpet for Macron

France hopes to build on its military contracts after the Indian defense ministry purchased Rafale fighter jets and Scorpene-class submarines. Macron is also hoping France can sell six EPR nuclear reactors…reports Asian Lite News

President Emmanuel Macron arrives as the guest of honor in India on Thursday with a sumptuous palace feast and colorful military parade, as France eyes lucrative deals with the world’s fifth-biggest economy.

Macron will be offered a red carpet welcome by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with dinner in a 19th-century maharaja’s palace, and as chief guest at a military march past with massed ranks of tanks, dancing troupes, camel cavalry and a fighter jet fly-past.

India’s foreign ministry says New Delhi and Paris are “strategic partners,” while the French presidency says the trip will “consolidate and deepen diplomatic and economic relations.”

France hopes to build on its military contracts after the Indian defense ministry purchased French-made Rafale fighter jets and Scorpene-class submarines in multibillion-dollar deals. Macron is also hoping France can sell six EPR nuclear reactors.

Modi was guest of honor at France’s annual Bastille Day celebrations last July, and Macron is set to receive a similar welcome.

The French president, who was in India for the G20 summit in September, travels first to Jaipur in Rajasthan state for dinner with Modi at the Rambagh Palace, a luxury hotel.

Paris and New Delhi collaborate on space and satellite technology, and the French delegation includes astronaut Thomas Pesquet. The visit includes a stop at Jaipur’s 18th-century Jantar Mantar astronomical observation site.

On Friday, Macron will watch a military parade in New Delhi for Republic Day, the 75th anniversary of India’s constitution. Just as soldiers marched down the streets of Paris in 2023, a French contingent will join the military spectacle in New Delhi, as French-built jets roar overhead.

India is “a key partner in contributing to international peace and security,” the French presidency said ahead of the visit. Last year Macron visited neighboring Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and also took a Pacific trip aimed at “recommitting” France to the wider Asia-Pacific region.

Macron is slated to visit a Muslim Sufi shrine in New Delhi’s Nizamuddin West neighborhood during his visit. “There are no taboo subjects,” a French presidential adviser said ahead of the visit. “But the goal is to discuss them with respect and with the aim of achieving concrete results.”

Modi-Macron are expected to review the roadmap for the next 25 years laid out in the Horizon 2047 document agreed upon in July last year. For instance, the Indo-Pacific is a major concern for both: France’s Indian ocean territories are vast making it a power in this region while for India, it is China’s maneuvers to take control of strategic waters. Through an Indo-Pacific Triangular Cooperation Fund, both are trying to help scale up green technologies in a region desperate for transparent and viable funding.

A bilateral space dialogue is looking at collaboration in commercial launch services, launchers and manned flights. Also cooperation in fighting terrorism and organized crime. The agenda is vast, and whether in Jaipur or Delhi, Modi-Macron can be expected to push it forward.

In fact, France, although a member of NATO and the European Union, takes pride in being a “free thinker”, developing its own outlook on global issues. India, not constrained by any alliance, values its freedom for manoeuvre in the international system and shapes its own choices.

Both prize their “strategic autonomy” or as President Emmanuel Macron put it, Paris is “allied, but not aligned”, while Dr Jaishankar emphasises something similar: “India is entitled to have its own side”.

Some of these sentiments will be on display over the next two days as Narendra Modi plays host to his Republic Day chief guest Macron on Friday, but not before treating him to a roadshow in Jaipur on Thursday. Important to note that France, while a steady and reliable diplomatic and military partner for India, is not “New Russia”.

Moscow brings far greater clout to the table, whether in terms of its ability to play the international system, its vast resource rich landmass that has made it a key player in the world energy matrix, its Eurasian roots, and even defence where it continues to hold its own as the Ukraine war has shown.

France is a smaller less visible player but its Indian Ocean territories give it huge stakes in this region. Its sophisticated defence industrial base holds enormous attraction for India which is banking on Paris to help develop technological capacities in jet engine design, also helicopter engines, small and advanced modular nuclear reactors and so on.

The two leaders who met in Delhi at the G20 summit in September 2023, will have time and opportunity to discuss progress in the above. Macron may seek faster movement on the Indian Navy’s procurement of 26 Rafale Marine fighters. The Indian Air Force is also looking at growing the size of its two-squadron Rafale fleet by at least two squadrons more.

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Macron moves to name new govt chief in reshuffle

Macron has over the past week consulted about reinvigorating his administration with Bayrou, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, and former prime minister Edouard Philippe…reports Asian Lite News

French President Emmanuel Macron could choose a new prime minister as soon as Monday, according to his entourage, as he fights political setbacks.

The position of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has been tenuous ever since an immigration bill pushed by Macron was voted down in parliament last month. It was finally passed with many controversial changes imposed by the center-right opposition.

Macron, who is also facing a growing challenge from the far-right National Rally of Marine Le Pen, met with Borne Sunday night.

His office said the discussion centered on flooding in northern France and a looming freeze across the country, but observers said they likely discussed a widely-predicted cabinet reshuffle.

Francois Bayrou, a centrist leader whose early endorsement of Macron was key to his initial 2017 election, told BFM television that “a change is necessary” in the government makeup.

Under the French system, the president sets general policies, but the prime minister is responsible for day-to-day government management, meaning they often pay the price when an administration runs into turbulence.

Macron has over the past week consulted about reinvigorating his administration with Bayrou, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, and former prime minister Edouard Philippe.

No final decisions appeared to have been taken before the meeting with Borne however.

A close Macron adviser said the president was “finalizing his choices” and “things will move at the start of the week, probably with a new prime minister Monday.”

But another associate of the president added: “Everything is possible, including doing nothing.” That would mean Borne could still keep her job.

If she is replaced, the two leading candidates are Sebastien Lecornu, the 37-year old defense minister, and Julien Denormandie, the 43-year-old former agriculture minister who has been close to Macron for a decade.

Choosing between the two risks exacerbating tensions within Macron’s movement. Denormandie has been with Macron from the start of his presidential campaign. Lecornu later jumped ship from the center-right The Republicans party.

Macron’s political party lacks a majority in parliament and is already riven by disagreements over the immigration law, which was greatly hardened as a condition for receiving necessary support from The Republicans.

Some 200 French intellectuals, actors, and union leaders issued a call Sunday to protest against the law on January 21, saying it represented a “dangerous turn for the Republic.”

Denormandie almost founded a start-up with Macron in 2014 before becoming his deputy chief of staff when Macron was Economy Minister under President Francois Hollande. Denormandie has been working in the private sector since 2022.

Lecornu joined Macron in 2017, and would follow in the footsteps of two previous prime ministers — Philippe and Jean Castex — who also defected from The Republicans.

Lecornu has become a close adviser to Macron, who has used his experience in local and regional government. However, one close adviser warned that “we are maybe moving too quick to condemn” Borne.

In her 20 months as prime minister, the 62-year-old Borne — France’s second female head-of-government — has pushed through 30 pieces of legislation and has overcome previous doubts about her future.

ALSO READ-Macron Calls for Ceasefire and Joint Humanitarian Action in Gaza

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Macron Calls for Ceasefire and Joint Humanitarian Action in Gaza

France has been an ally of Israel since the start of the war between Hamas and Israel triggered by the Hamas attack on October 7…reports Asian Lite News

As an escalating humanitarian crisis grips Palestine, the French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said France will join Jordan to carry out humanitarian work in Gaza.

“France will work in the coming days in cooperation with Jordan to carry out the humanitarian operations in Gaza,” the French Presidency in a statement said.

The statement added that the French President has also requested for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza during his phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, media reports said.

France has been an ally of Israel since the start of the war between Hamas and Israel triggered by the Hamas attack on October 7.

Macron has expressed his “deepest concern” about civilian deaths and humanitarian emergency in Gaza to Netanyahu.

Media reports said that Macron has also insisted on the importance of measures to end violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank and prevent new planned settlements.

During the temporary one week truce from November 24 to December 1, between Hamas and Israel, the Hamas released 105 hostages while 129 hostages still remain in Hamas captivity.

The Israelis believe that out of the remaining 129 hostages, at least 20 hostages have died.

There are thousands of Palestinians in Israeli jails who have been held without any trials and access to legal counsel.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club has said that Israeli forces have arrested more than 4,655 people in the occupied West Bank since October 7.

Israel launched a ground offensive inside Gaza on October 27 after Hamas attacked Israel in a surprise attack on October 7 in which 1200 Israelis were killed and over 200 were taken hostage.

Since the outbreak of hostilities between Hamas and Israel, at least 21,110 Palestinians have been killed mostly being children and women while 53,688 Palestinians have been injured.

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Tougher French immigration bill passes, Macron’s majority wobbles

The French government had initially said this would be a carrot-and-stick legislation that would make it easier for migrants working in sectors that lack labour to get a residency permit, but would also make it easier to expel illegal migrants…reports Asian Lite News

French lawmakers gave their final approval to a contested bill that toughens rules for immigrants on Tuesday, giving President Emmanuel Macron a policy victory that nonetheless exposed cracks in his centrist majority.

The bill, a compromise reached between Macron’s party and the conservative opposition, illustrates the rightward shift in politics in much of Europe, as governments try to fend off the rise of the far-right by being tougher on immigration.

“Today, strict measures are necessary,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said after the vote in the lower house. “It’s not by holding your nose in central Paris that you can fix the problems of the French in the rest of the country.”

The minister expressed relief that the bill passed with the votes of his centrist coalition and the conservatives, without relying on the surprise endorsement of far-right lawmakers, whose support had caused embarrassment in the presidential camp.

The French government had initially said this would be a carrot-and-stick legislation that would make it easier for migrants working in sectors that lack labour to get a residency permit, but would also make it easier to expel illegal migrants.

In order to gain support from the right, however, the government agreed to water down the residency permits measures, while delaying migrants’ access to welfare benefits – including benefits for children and housing allowances – by several years.

The French have long prided themselves on having one of the most generous welfare systems in the world, granting payments even to foreign residents, helping them pay rent or care for their children with means-tested monthly contributions of up to a few hundred euros.

The far right and, more recently, conservatives, have argued these should be reserved for French people only. The deal agreed on Tuesday would delay access to housing benefits for unemployed non-EU migrants by five years.

The compromise also introduces migration quotas, makes it harder for immigrants’ children to become French, and says that dual nationals sentenced for serious crimes against the police could lose French citizenship.

The deal, hashed out by a special committee of seven senators and seven deputies and later approved by both houses, was initially good news for Macron, who had made the migration bill a key plank of his second mandate and could otherwise have had to shelve it.

Just six months before European Parliament elections in which immigration will be key, however, it could also boost Marine Le Pen who, sensing a political opportunity, called the rejigged bill “a great ideological victory” for her far-right party.

She surprised the government by announcing her party would vote for the bill, causing immense embarrassment to the left wing of Macron’s party, who find it unpalatable to vote in unison with the far right.

One of the most vocal representatives of Macron’s left wing in parliament, Sacha Houlie, voted against the bill, his entourage told Reuters. In the end, 20 members of Macron’s Renaissance party voted against the bill, 17 abstained and 131 voted for the bill.

Speculation about some ministers threatening to resign if the vote passed had swirled in French media ahead of the vote. But none had immediately materialised after the results were announced.

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Xi, Macron discuss Gaza war in phone call

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, waves to journalists at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Oct. 23, 2022. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei/IANS)

Xi and Macron agreed to “continue to maintain communication on international and regional issues of common concern and contribute to maintaining world peace and stability”…reports Asian Lite News

Chinese President Xi Jinping and French counterpart Emmanuel Macron discussed the Israel-Hamas war in a phone call on Monday, agreeing “to avoid a more serious humanitarian crisis”, Beijing’s state media reported.

“The two heads of state exchanged views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and both believe that the top priority is to avoid further deterioration of the situation between Palestine and Israel, especially to avoid a more serious humanitarian crisis,” state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The phone call comes days ahead of a visit to China by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and as a delegation of top diplomats from the Palestinian Authority, Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan meet in Beijing for talks aimed at a “de-escalation” of the conflict in Gaza.

According to CCTV, Xi and Macron agreed to “continue to maintain communication on international and regional issues of common concern and contribute to maintaining world peace and stability”.

“The ‘two state solution’ is the fundamental way to solve the recurrent conflict between Palestine and Israel,” the state broadcaster added.

Macron visited China in April for a three-day state visit, during which he was hosted by Xi in the capital Beijing and met students in the southern city of Guangzhou.

ALSO READ-Macron tells Netanyahu ‘too many civilian losses’ in Gaza

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Macron tells Netanyahu ‘too many civilian losses’ in Gaza

French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.(photo:@IsraeliPM)

Macron also condemned violence against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank, the statement said. More than 200 Palestinians have been killed there since Israel began its war in Gaza…reports Asian Lite News

French President Emmanuel Macron has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu there were “too many civilian losses” in Israel’s war in Gaza, as Paris readied more humanitarian aid for the besieged enclave.

Israel has said it wants to destroy the Palestinian armed group after it killed about 1,200 people and took hundreds more captive in a surprise assault on October 7.

More than 13,000 people in Gaza, some 70 percent of them women and children according to the United Nations, have been killed in the air and land offensive. Hospitals, schools and refugee settlements have also come under sustained attack.

According to a statement from Macron’s office on Sunday, the French president reminded Netanyahu of the “absolute necessity to distinguish terrorists from the population” and “the importance of achieving an immediate humanitarian truce leading to a ceasefire”.

Macron also condemned violence against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank, the statement said. More than 200 Palestinians have been killed there since Israel began its war in Gaza.

The French leader told Netanyahu about his “great concern over the escalation in violence against Palestinian civilians” in the occupied West Bank and called for calm.

Macron also spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is from the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank.

He told Abbas of “the need for the Palestinian Authority and all countries in the region to unequivocally and with the greatest firmness condemn the terrorist attack carried out by Hamas in Israel on October 7”.

Earlier on Sunday, Macron announced new humanitarian assistance for Gaza where there are growing fears of starvation.

The president said France would send an aircraft with more than 10 tonnes of medical supplies at the start of the week, and will contribute to European Union medical aid flights on November 23 and 30.

It is also preparing a second hospital ship, the helicopter carrier Dixmude, which will arrive in Egypt in the coming days.

The French helicopter carrier – the Tonnerre, which has about 60 beds and two operating theatres – has already been deployed to the region.

The statement added that “France is mobilising all its available means to contribute to the evacuation of wounded and sick children requiring emergency care from the Gaza Strip to its hospitals”.

Macron said later on X, formerly Twitter, that up to 50 children could be flown for treatment in hospitals in France “if useful and necessary”. Earlier this month, French planes delivered 54 tonnes of aid for Gaza via Egypt.

ALSO READ-Macron urges Israel to stop bombing Gaza

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Macron urges Israel to stop bombing Gaza

French President Emmanuel Macron( https://twitter.com/EmmanuelMacron)

Macron says there was “no justification” for the bombing and saying a ceasefire would benefit Israel…reports Asian Lite News

Israel must stop bombing Gaza and killing civilians, French President Emmanuel Macron told the BBC in an interview published late on Friday.

Macron said there was “no justification” for the bombing and saying a ceasefire would benefit Israel.

He said that France “clearly condemns” the “terrorist” actions of Hamas, but that while recognising Israel’s right to protect itself, “we do urge them to stop this bombing” in Gaza.

When asked if he wanted other leaders – including in the United Sates and Britain – to join his calls for a ceasefire, Macron said: “I hope they will.”

Israel has faced growing calls for restraint in its month-long war with Hamas but says the Gaza-based militants, who attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and took hostages, would exploit a truce to regroup.

Speaking the day after a humanitarian aid conference in Paris about the war in Gaza, Macron said the “clear conclusion” of all governments and agencies present at that summit was “that there is no other solution than first a humanitarian pause, going to a ceasefire, which will allow [us] to protect… all civilians having nothing to do with terrorists”.

“De facto – today, civilians are bombed – de facto. These babies, these ladies, these old people are bombed and killed. So there is no reason for that and no legitimacy. So we do urge Israel to stop,” he said.

When a BBC anchor asked Macron if he wanted other leaders – including in the US and the UK – to join his calls for a ceasefire, he replied: “I hope they will.”

Macron’s interview with the BBC aired a day after a humanitarian conference on Gaza was held in Paris. Macron said the “clear conclusion” of all governments and agencies present at that summit was “that there is no other solution than first a humanitarian pause, going to a ceasefire, which will allow [us] to protect… all civilians having nothing to do with terrorists”.

“De facto – today, civilians are bombed – de facto. These babies, these ladies, these old people are bombed and killed. So there is no reason for that and no legitimacy. So we do urge Israel to stop,” he said.

When asked whether Israel has broken international law in Gaza, Macron told BBC, “I’m not a judge. I’m a head of state”.

Macron added that it would be incorrect to criticise Israel, which is a “partner and a friend” of France, just a month after it was attacked.

However, Macron said Israel should stop bombing as it was creating “resentment and bad feelings” in the region that would prolong the war.

Following the French President’s request for a ceasefire, Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu said nations should condemn Hamas, not Israel. “The crimes that Hamas [is] committing today in Gaza will be committed tomorrow in Paris, New York, and anywhere in the world,” the Israeli PM’s office statement read.

Israel launched an offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters poured across the heavily militarised border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 240 hostages. Vowing to destroy the militants, Israel retaliated with bombardment and a ground campaign. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, more than 11,000 people have been killed in Israel’s attacks

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UNRWA Appeals to Macron for Gaza Ceasefire Support

The UNRWA Commissioner also said that a continuous flow of aid was essential in Gaza and that the aid coming through the Rafah border was quite inadequate…reports Asian Lite News

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine refugees has appealed to French President Emmanuel Macron to lend support towards ensuring an immediate ceasefire in Gaza Strip where Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops are engaged in a fierce battle with the Hamas group.

UNRWA Commissioner General, Philippe Lazzarini made the appeal while addressing an International Peace Conference called by Marcon in Paris on Thursday. 

The commissioner in his appeal said that he was seeking urgent support from the French president for a humanitarian ceasefire along with strict adherence to international humanitarian law. 

He said that civilians and civilian infrastructure, including UN facilities hosting displaced people, must be protected and accessible to humanitarian assistance everywhere in Gaza and at all times. 

The UNRWA Commissioner also said that a continuous flow of aid was essential in Gaza and that the aid coming through the Rafah border was quite inadequate. 

He also said that the aid should come to Gaza from all crossing points, including the point with Israel, Kerem Shalom. 

He also said that the humanitarian aid alone would not do much and it would be complimented by the private sector and informed the French President on the urgent need to restore municipal services like water as also waste management.

The UNRWA commissioner said that there should not be a war spill-over and a stable Palestine was required in the interests of all including Israel. 

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