A staggering first-round victory for Marine Le Pen
Emmanuel Macron’s political gamble has backfired.
ByEmmanuel Macron
At the age of 39, in 2017, Emmanuel Macron became the youngest president of the French Fifth Republic. He had only founded his centrist political party, En Marche, in April 2016. In April 2022 he won a second term as president of the EU’s second-largest economy, which no French president had achieved in 20 years. He studied at the prestigious Henri IV high school in Paris, and he studied philosophy and later attended the École Nationale d’Administration. Find our latest news and comment here.
A reckoning for the Parisian elite
The French capital, once a seat of global power, has entered a new era of political and cultural upheaval.
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The roar from below
How Emmanuel Macron turned France to the hard right.
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Emmanuel Macron is gambling with France’s future – and Europe’s
The far right has his government under siege.
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The West is revealing its hand to Putin
Emmanuel Macron’s threats to send ground troops to Ukraine only exposes Europe’s deepening divisions over the war.
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The end of progressive Macronism
Macron is beginning to resemble the right-wing authoritarians who oppose him.
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Emmanuel Macron does not understand France
A leading French thinker on the forces of a new movement that is neither left nor right.
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France’s forces of law and disorder
French police have declared themselves “at war” with rioters. How did the state’s protectors become a threat to its future?
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The rotten heart of the French republic
The crisis in France only benefits the hard right, who will exploit it to reshape French politics.
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Is Emmanuel Macron scared of Europe?
The French president is increasingly adrift in a changing continent.
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The French right can’t quit Russia
A former prime minister’s parliamentary testimony highlights persistent pro-Moscow sympathies among France’s elite.
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Is Emmanuel Macron running out of options?
The French president is at risk of being remembered not as an ambitious reformer but as the leader who handed…
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Emmanuel Macron’s appeasement tour is off to a rough start
As he visits the regions, can the French leader move on from the pension reform protests and relaunch his presidency?
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Xi and Putin: are there limits to the “no limits” friendship?
The two leaders seek to remake the global order, while Turkey braces itself for a hotly contested May election.
What should Europe’s position on Taiwan be?
Emmanuel Macron says Europe should stop “following” the US, while Joe Biden visits Belfast.
Emmanuel Macron’s vision for Europe still doesn’t match reality
As long as the defence of the continent depends on American goodwill, Europe cannot credibly distance itself from the US…
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Macron’s interior minister signals his authoritarian shift
As the French president endures weekly protests, Gérald Darmanin has emerged as his most prominent law and order hard-liner.
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Emmanuel Macron has no regrets
A combative and unremorseful interview by the French president, the first since forcing his retirement reform through parliament, is unlikely…
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Chaos erupts over Emmanuel Macron’s retirement reforms
The French president’s decision to bypass parliament has caused outrage and sparked significant protests this weekend.
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Emmanuel Macron has shown his contempt for democracy
His decision to override parliament to raise the retirement age has enraged MPs and the public.
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