President Emmanuel Macron of France is billed to visit Nigeria in early July and will seek to address the joint session of the National Assembly, Ambassador of France to Nigeria Mr. Denys Gauer, has said.
Speaking when he paid a visit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives Hon Yakubu Dogara, at the National Assembly, Mr. Gauer said President Macron has interest in the future and development of Nigeria.
He revealed that Mr. Macron had worked in the French embassy in Abuja early in his career for six months some years ago and that whereas relations between the two countries in the last few years have centred on security, Mr. Macron hopes to use the visit to further deepen relations with Nigeria especially in areas such as youths development, culture and creativity.
Responding, Speaker Yakubu Dogara said that members of House of Representatives and indeed the National Assembly will want to listen to the French President whom he described as “a man of our generation”.
He has brought a lot of youthful zest, dynamism charisma and appeal to French politics and we will want to yield the floor to him.
The Speaker also commended the French government for assisting Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram terrorists and pledged to give expeditious passage to all bilateral agreements that will be signed between Nigeria and France during Mr. Macron’s visit.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday during an official visit to Beijing called for a more coordinated European Union (EU) approach to trade with China.
Macron said that too often in the past, European countries had come to China with widely varying agendas with some seeking more openness and others wary of granting more access to their markets.
“We need a coordinated European approach that gives China more visibility about our agenda.
“That’s why France is in favour of defining strategic sectors where we want to protect investments.
“It’s a question of sovereignty as you yourselves have understood very well,” Macron said after a commercial contract signing ceremony.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that China and Europe should work together on Beijing’s “Belt and Road” initiative, a project aiming to build a modern-day “Silk Road” he said could not be “one-way”.
Macron began his first state visit to China with a stopover in Xian, an eastern departure point of the ancient Silk Road, hoping to relaunch EU-China relations often strained by Beijing’s restrictions on foreign investment and trade.
“After all, the ancient Silk Roads were never only Chinese, by definition, these roads can only be shared.
“If they are roads, they cannot be one-way,” Macron told an audience of academics, students and business people at the Daming Palace, the royal residence for the Tang dynasty for more than 220 years.
Unveiled in 2013, the Belt and Road project is aimed at connecting China by land and sea to Southeast Asia, Pakistan and Central Asia, and beyond to the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
Xi pledged 124 billion dollars for the plan at a summit in May but it has faced suspicion in Western capitals that it is intended more to assert Chinese influence than Beijing’s professed desire to spread prosperity.
Macron during his mandate pledged to visit China at least once every year.
He said the new infrastructure and cultural projects promoted by China could also be in France’s and Europe’s interest if done in a spirit of cooperation.
“These roads cannot be those of a new hegemony, which would transform those that they cross into vassals,” Macron said.
Alice Ekman of the Paris-based IFRI think-tank said: ”For the moment, considering how extensive and unclear the Chinese project continues to be, several European countries including France have shown caution about it.
“For China, the new Silk Roads are also a tool to promote new international standards, rules and norms that are different from those currently used by France and other European countries.”
British Finance Minister Philip Hammond said in December Britain, which is quitting the European Union, wanted closer cooperation with China over the Belt and Road scheme.
Macron, 40, has said that Europe should not be “naive” in its trade relations, pushing in Brussels for more stringent anti-dumping rules against imports of cheap Chinese steel.
In June, he urged the European Commission to build a system for screening investments in strategic sectors from outside the bloc, which drew criticism from Beijing.
Macron said he hoped EU-Chinese relations could have a new start, based on “balanced rules”, after acknowledging there had been mistrust and “legitimate questions” in China as well as fears amongst Europeans.
“Europe was now united and ready to cooperate with China after years of crisis-management and economic stagnation.
“What I came to tell you, is that Europe is back,” he said.
The French president, who is traveling with a delegation of 50 businessmen, is hoping to gain more access for French companies to Chinese markets.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday vowed to improve the strained relations between their countries, while admitting to disagreements during talks at Versailles palace described by Macron as “extremely frank”.
Their first meeting since Macron took office provided another test of the Frenchman’s diplomatic skills after his memorable first encounter last week with US President Donald Trump that Macron sealed with a vice-like handshake.
This time the handshake was warmer but the tone guarded after an hour of talks on the 300th anniversary of a visit to Versailles by tsar Peter the Great.
Putin admitted to some differences of opinion in the talks which covered issues including the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, but insisted that Franco-Russian ties withstood “all points of friction”.
“We disagree on a number of things but at least we discussed them,” Macron said.
Je suis très attaché à trouver des solutions selon les valeurs que nous défendons et sur lesquelles je ne céderai rien. pic.twitter.com/PxWrGaoCh0
“Our absolute priority is the fight against terrorism and the eradication of terrorist groups and Daesh in particular,” he said, using an alternate name for the Islamic State group that has claimed several deadly attacks in France.
– “Organs of propaganda” –
The newly elected French leader called for a stronger partnership with Russia on Syria, one of the sticking points in relations between the West and Moscow which backs the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
Macron advocated “a democratic transition that preserves the Syrian state”, warning that “failed states” in the Middle East were a threat to the West.
But in an apparent warning to Assad and Russia, he said the use of chemical weapons in Syria would be a “red line” for his presidency and would draw an “immediate response” from France.
The pair discussed the Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its military involvement in Ukraine as well as allegations of Russian meddling in France’s election campaign.
Putin declared that the sanctions were “in no way” helping to end the fighting between government forces and Kremlin-backed rebels in Ukraine’s east.
The Russian strongman, who hosted Macron’s far-right rival Marine Le Pen for talks during the election race, also shrugged off allegations that Russian hackers infiltrated Macron’s campaign.
“Maybe they were Russian hackers, maybe they were not,” he said, dismissing the claims as unsubstantiated.
Macron, for his part, expressed anger at reports by pro-Kremlin media during the election questioning his sexuality and links to high finance.
He took aim at the Russia Today broadcaster and Sputnik agency, calling them “organs of influence and propaganda”.
– ‘No concessions’ –
Putin’s visit comes after the 39-year-old French centrist made a successful debut on the world stage last week, holding his own against Trump at a NATO summit in Brussels and at a G7 summit in Italy.
Ahead of the visit, Macron told a French weekly that he was not “bothered” by leaders who “think in terms of power dynamics”.
He said he would make “not a single concession” to Russia on the long-running conflict in Ukraine, with he and his G7 counterparts saying they were prepared to strengthen sanctions against Moscow.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2014, Russia has flexed its muscles with a series of war games involving tens of thousands of troops in areas bordering NATO Baltic states.
Macron said he, Putin and the leaders of Germany and Ukraine would meet soon for talks, “which will allow us to make a complete evaluation of the situation”.
– Modernising tsar –
Western powers charge Russia with failing to honour its commitments under the Minsk accords framework for ending the violence in Ukraine.
France helped spearhead the sanctions, which have seriously dented EU-Russia trade.
Putin moved quickly after the French election to try to smooth things over, congratulating Macron and urging him to work to overcome their countries’ “mutual distrust”.
Monday’s visit comes seven months after Putin cancelled a trip to Paris amid a row over Syria with Macron’s predecessor Francois Hollande, who had said Russia’s bombing of Aleppo could amount to war crimes.
In Versailles, he and Macron inaugurated an exhibition marking the visit of Russia’s modernising tsar Peter the Great to France in 1717.
The fervently pro-Europe Macron said his invitation to Putin aimed to showcase “a Russia which is open to Europe”.
Putin was also later to visit a new Orthodox cathedral complex in central Paris.
French President Emmanuel Macron has said his clenched handshake with Donald Trump was “not innocent” and was a “moment of truth”.
The awkward encounter saw each grip the other’s hand so firmly that their knuckles turned white.
Mr Macron told French media he had wanted to “show he would not make small concessions, not even symbolic ones, but also not overdo things”.
The leaders met in Brussels on Thursday ahead of a NATO summit.
As their vigorous handshake continued over several seconds, Mr Macron and Mr Trump also looked each other fixedly in the eyes until the US president attempted to disengage.
Mr Macron told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper his approach to the encounter had been about getting respect.
“Donald Trump, the Turkish president or the Russian president see things in terms of power relationships, which doesn’t bother me,” he said.
“I don’t believe in diplomacy through public criticism but in my bilateral dialogues I don’t let anything pass. That is how you get respect.”
Mr Trump’s hand contact with foreign leaders has been closely scrutinised since he took power.
In January he held UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s hand as they walked together – Mrs May later said he was “being a gentleman”
He then yanked Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s hand towards him in one of his signature moves
But Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prevented this by gripping Mr Trump’s shoulder during their encounter
And in March Mr Trump appeared simply to ignore the offer of a handshake from German Chancellor Angela Merkel
France’s new First Lady, Brigitte Trogneux, is no stranger to politics. Unlike her husband, who had never run for office until he won the recent presidential election, Mrs Trogneux, 64, stood as a local councillor in eastern France 28 years ago, when her husband was only 11.
Emmanuel Macron and wife, Brigitte Macron
At the time, her first husband, André-Louis Auzière, held a senior position in the French External Trade Bank and she was a teacher.
The couple lived in the prosperous farming village of Truchtersheim, nicknamed the granary of Strasbourg, the nearby seat of the European Parliament.
Mrs Auzière, as she then was, ran as a Right-wing candidate, according to a fellow activist, Jeannine Briard, now 83, a primary teacher whom the future First Lady encouraged to enter politics.
Mrs Briard said: “Brigitte told me, ‘Listen, we’re missing one person … There are fourteen of us and we need 15 [to form an electoral group].’ I was a primary school teacher, I had never done that, but neither had she, so I said yes.”
Campaign meetings were held at a local restaurant over beer and sauerkraut, a speciality of the Alsace region, which borders Germany.
Mrs Briard added: “We were all on the Right, Brigitte too. I’d even say we were a bit too far to the Right.”
The campaign slogan was “with respect for all”.
Mrs Briard attributed their defeat to the prominence of the existing mayor and the elitist character of the movement. “There were too many differences between the population and us. We were all intellectual people.”
Jean-Paul Debes, who was also a candidate, said: “We wanted to set up a new health centre, a skate park and new council housing. Brigitte also believed there were problems for young people, who couldn’t stay in the village because of high property prices.”
Simone Uhl, another local resident, said she knew Brigitte Trogneux well as their children had attended school together.
“I think my son had a crush on her,” Mrs Uhl said. “Brigitte had a very intense, energetic presence, but with femininity.”
Four years after her election defeat, Emmanuel Macron, 15, fell in love with his drama teacher in the northern town of Amiens.
The relationship between France’s youngest president and his wife, more than 24 years his senior, fascinates the French public.
Mrs Trogneux is adored by some, but mocked and insulted by others. And yet overall, her image is positive, especially among women. Many are angry that the couple’s age difference has become an issue, arguing that it would not have been so controversial had the president been a quarter of a century older than his wife.
“At the beginning [of Mr Macron’s presidential campaign], they feared that it [the relationship] would be seen in a negative light. She had often been rejected and criticised by their circle,” commented Isabelle Veyrat-Masson, a politics and communications expert at Paris University.
After the couple appeared for the first time on the cover of the weekly Paris-Match last year, “they realised that the public viewed their relationship in a positive light and it would be advantageous to give it prominence,” Ms Veyrat-Masson said.
“Falling in love and marrying his teacher, a mother of three and 24 years his senior, made Emmanuel Macron a romantic and non-conformist character … It was an asset for his image.”
Mrs Trogneux now plans to play a Michelle Obama-style role in French politics, taking a special interest in education and disabled children, according to The Telegraph.
The position of First Lady has no legal status under French law, but Mr Macron wants to define and codify it. He has promised that she will have responsibilities and a budget — but no salary.
Before the election, Mr Macron hit out at critics of the couple: “Saying that it’s impossible for a man living with an older woman to be anything but a homosexual or a hidden gigolo is misogynistic.”
France President, Emmanuel Macron swerved to avoid the President of the United States, Donald Trump and embraced German Chancellor, Angela Merkel instead, in what seems to be Snub of the Year, in Brussels.
The newly elected French President tweeted the video of himself walking up the red carpet towards the group of NATO leaders, seemingly headed straight towards the US President. But at the last second President Macron ducks to the right and shares a warm embrace with Angela Merkel, leaving Trump to lower his hands awkwardly back down to his sides.
Macron then proceeds to greet other leaders including Trump, who grabs his French counterpart’s hand with a characteristic fiery action.
The not-so-subtle power play may be read as a show of support for Merkel, after Trump previously refused to shake hands with her when they first met, according to The Telegraph.
The incident also comes after Macron and Trump shared another power handshake on Thursday morning at the pair’s first face-to-face meeting in Brussels.
“Each president gripped the other’s hand with considerable intensity, their knuckles turning white and their jaws clenching and faces tightening,” according to a report by the White House correspondents’ pool.
Philip Rucker of the Washington Post said: “Trump tried twice to release and Macron held on tight… It was quite a handshake, two alphas.”
Trump is known for his habit of pumping people’s hands and then yanking them forcefully towards him in a gesture that psychologists believe is intended to demonstrate dominance. Quite literally, Trump likes to have the upper hand.
Macron, who at 39 is France’s youngest leader, may have been well-prepared for his American counterpart’s strong-arm handshake and simply held on tighter than Trump, 70.
President Donald Trump is never far from controversy; watch him shove fellow NATO leader, Dusko Markovic aside to take front spot in a photo shoot.
While walking with the NATO leaders during his visit to the alliance’s headquarters Thursday, President Donald Trump pushed aside Dusko Markovic, the prime minister of Montenegro, as he moved to the front of a group of the leaders.
Trump is at the brand-new NATO headquarters in Brussels for a summit with world leaders. It’s his first NATO summit alongside the 27 other members of the military alliance.
He’s already had a couple of awkward encounters since arriving — including a fiery handshake with newly-elected French president Emmanuel Macron.
The United States President, Donald Trump is known for so many things he claims he does better than anyone else in the world.
One of those things is that when he locks your hand in a handshake, you may end up seeing your physiotherapist.
He grabs the hand so hard, that many people he encountered have had to yell out.
Today, however he met his match in Brussels.
He is the new leader of France, Emmanuel Macron. He is 39 years old, about 31 years younger to Trump.
Macron appeared to have been forewarned about Trump’s grip-handshake, some say, death-grip handshake, which I have tagged ‘a fiery handshake’. Macron was ready for the American leader, who today shoved a fellow NATO leader aside to take front space.
According to reports, when the two leaders met, they got seemingly stuck in the handshake – possibly the most awkward in history – for almost 10 seconds.
Trump betrayed an intense alpha-male grimace. His French counterpart shot back a scowl of his own.
“They shook hands furiously – with Trump trying to pull his hand away and Macron holding onto it. Trump’s knuckles turned whiter. It was ‘Screw You’ in handshake form,” according to one BBC journalist.
It is not the first Donald Trump handshake to recommend itself as a collectors’ item.
Earlier this year he managed to grip Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for an astonishing 19 seconds in front of cameras at the White House.
In a solemn ceremony held today at Elysee Palace in Paris, socialist Francois Hollande handed over power to Emmanuel Macron, who becomes France youngest president ever.
Hollande welcomes Macron to Elysee Palace
Macron, a 39-year-old centrist, arrived at the Elysee Palace in central Paris in a motorcade and walked down the red carpet under light rain to be greeted by Hollande for his inauguration.
The new president’s wife Brigitte, a 64-year-old who was his high school drama teacher, arrived separately for the ceremony wearing a light blue Louis Vuitton outfit.
A week after his victory over far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a tumultuous election, Macron will have a private meeting with Hollande at which he will be given the codes to launch France’s nuclear weapons.
He will then attend a ceremony in front of hundreds of politicians and invited guests at which the official election results will be read out.
At the end of the formalities, a 21-gun salute is to ring out from the Invalides military hospital on the other side of the River Seine.
Macron will then be driven to the Arc de Triomphe to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier.
Security was tight with around 1,500 police officers deployed near the presidential palace and the nearby Champs Elysees avenue and surrounding roads were blocked off.
After a formal lunch, Macron will visit Paris’s town hall, a traditional stop for any new French president in his “host” city.
Macron’s first week will be busy. On Monday, he is expected to reveal the closely-guarded name of his prime minister, before flying to Berlin to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
It is virtually a rite of passage for French leaders to make their first European trip to meet the leader of the other half of the so-called “motor” of the EU.
In his inaugural address, Macron pledged to work to overcome divisions in society which had been shown by the presidential election campaign and seek to build a strong France that was sure of itself in the world.
“The division and fractures in our society must be overcome,” said the 39-year-old centrist who was elected on May 7 after beating the far right leader Marine Le Pen following a bitter campaign that was dominated by France’s role in Europe and which blew apart the traditional party structure in France.
“The world and Europe need more than ever France, and a strong France, which speaks out loudly for freedom and solidarity,” Macron declared.
He said under his administration the labor market would be made more flexible, business-friendly conditions would be created to help companies function and “innovation” would be at the heart of his action as president.
