Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron are in competition to be the de facto leader of the European response to the diplomatic crisis between Donald Trump and Ukraine’s president Zelensky. The cynic might wonder if Macron isn’t perhaps making the most of the fallout to boost his standing after a calamitous few months. The French president’s reputation has not recovered from his decision last June to call a snap election; the result was political chaos and three prime ministers in six months.
Few French have confidence in their president to handle the situation Ukraine effectively
Domestically, France is a disaster zone. Lawlessness, immigration and an ailing economy are just three reasons why last month a poll found that Macron’s approval rating had sunk to 25 per cent. But all is not lost for Macron; there is in France the presidential ‘domaine réservé’ [reserved areas], where the head of state’s influence remains undiminished. These areas are national defence and foreign policy, and so Macron is free to strut his stuff on the world stage.
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