French President Emmanuel Macron called on the international community to avoid double standards in the approach to global conflicts, in particular regarding the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. He stated this during a speech at the summit of French-speaking countries, informs The World.
At the summit’s opening, Macron stressed that French-speaking countries can collectively play a key role in maintaining global peace, even as France’s influence in the world, especially in Africa, has waned. According to Macron, the French-speaking world is an important platform for diplomacy that protects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries. WITH
“It is a place that speaks the same language as Ukraine, which is under attack today, which is under threat in its borders and territorial integrity due to Russia’s war of aggression. But it also stands for a vision where there is no place for double standards, where all lives are equal in all conflicts around the world”, he said.
The president also expressed concern about events in the Middle East, particularly in Lebanon, which is suffering from an escalating conflict between Israel and the Shiite group Hezbollah. He emphasized the “shocking” number of victims among the civilian population and called for a peaceful resolution of the conflict through the creation of two states — Israel and Palestine.
The summit of French-speaking countries, which is taking place for the first time in 33 years in the town of Villers-Cotteret, brought together dozens of leaders, including the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, and the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau.
At the same time, the summit is taking place against the background of the decline of French influence in Africa due to a series of coups in Mali (2021), Burkina Faso (2022) and Niger (2023), which led to the replacement of pro-French governments with juntas oriented towards cooperation with Russia.
