Macron vows to defend France's interest with "ambitious" foreign policy

Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 01:51:24|Editor: ZX
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PARIS, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Haunted by criticism at home over economic Policy, French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday outlined his acton plan on the international scene, hoping for grandeur thanks to an "ambitious" and "innovative" foreign policy.

At an annual ambassadors' conference here, Macron told his diplomatic envoys about the need "to represent France and its interest" abroad via "a reliable diplomacy" which "supposes a certain capacity of reinforced anticipation."

"We are in a context where we must act calmly and lucidly. Calm because it is not a question of changing strategy as soon as an external event appears. Lucidity, because it is not enough to underestimate the crises of the world," he said, keeping his approach to talk to all despite differences.

EUROPE

With the European elections only a few months away, the 40-year-old liberal and harsh Europe advocate warned "the European fight is just beginning. It will be long, it will be difficult."

"The extremes have progressed and nationalism has awakened. Is this a reason to give up? Certainly not. We are paying for several decades for a Europe that has weakened... We must actually redouble our efforts," he said.

He asked partners in the single-currency bloc to "take new initiatives and build new alliances" and "not give up the ambition that was born a year ago," referring to his victory over the eurosceptic and far-right leader Marine Le Pen in last year's presidential contest.

"Multilateralism is going through a major crisis which collides with all our diplomatic activity, above all because of the U.S. policy," the French head of state said.

"We must write and tell the history of Europe that we want, showing concrete results to convince our citizens that the way of cooperation in Europe, in the world is the only one that can lead to mutual trusting relationships in the interest of France," he added.

SECURITY

Arguing that "Europe can no longer rely entirely on the United States for its security," Macron pledged to unveil in the coming months a plan to reinforce security in Europe.

"It is up to us today to take responsibility and guarantee security, and therefore European sovereignty," he stressed.

Macron also noted that security indoors "imposes a stability in the Middle East," which he said "can be built in ethnic, religious, political pluralism and work with all actors."

He spoke about "alarming situation" in Syria where "a new humanitarian tragedy" is looming. He also reiterated support to Libyan officials' efforts to hold election by the year-end.

Regarding the Iran crisis, he recalled France's stance to maintain 2015 nuclear deal after U.S. withdrawal, while proposing broader talks.

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