Missile in Poland, Iran, African Union … What to remember from Emmanuel Macron’s speech

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke this Wednesday in Bali, at the end of the G20 summit marked by the war in Ukraine and by a missile launch on Polish soil. “Today, the circumstances do not allow these shots to be attributed, so I will remain extremely cautious. Our services are working in conjunction in particular with the American and British services, and in very close cooperation with the Poles to explain all these circumstances. And when they are clarified, it will be up to us collectively to communicate in the right order and in the right framework,” he said.

Emmanuel Macron wants to be extremely cautious

The Élysée said Wednesday morning feared the escalation and called for “the greatest caution” on the origin of this missile. For Joe Biden, it is “improbable” that this missile was launched from Russia. According to US officials, initial findings suggest that the missile may have been fired by Ukrainian forces at a Russian missile. It is then an anti-missile missile.

On the final G20 communiqué, it is written in black and white that most members strongly condemn the war in Ukraine. A diplomatic success in the eyes of those around Emmanuel Macron. The Head of State himself welcomed it. “It is not a G20 summit which decides on peace or which makes it possible to stop a war. But at least we had, on the occasion of this summit, a responsibility to send a very clear message to avoid any escalation , to defend peace and avoid a division, a partition of the world. Despite the differences in sensitivities, this is the clear message that has been sent to the international community and that it has been sent in particular to Russia” , continued the French head of state.

“The G20 has not looked away from the war in Ukraine,” insists Emmanuel Macron. China, though close to the Kremlin, did not object to this language of condemnation. This summit further marked Russia’s isolation on the international scene.

France “supports the full and complete integration of the African Union into the G20”

Emmanuel Macron assured that Paris “supports the full and complete integration of the African Union into the G20”, in the same way as the European Union is a member, during a press conference. He felt that this was a “key element” in the recomposition of the “rules of governance of international institutions”. “If we want to fully take into account a solidarity with the South, we must accept that the African Union, like the European Union, is around the table”, he declared.

The French president also announced the holding “next June in Paris” of an “international conference on a new financial pact with the South”, with the wish to “create the conditions for a real shock of financing towards the South”. because “we must not ask these countries to support multilateralism if it is not able to respond to their vital emergencies”.

This will include “taking stock” on the reallocation of IMF special drawing rights (SDR) from rich countries to poorer countries. France has “made a commitment, with a few others, to be able to reallocate 30% of our special drawing rights” to “the most fragile countries”, specified the Head of State at the conclusion of the G20 under the Indonesian presidency. SDRs are a kind of currency created by the IMF. They can be granted by the IMF directly to member countries who can use them either to repay their obligations to the IMF or to adjust their monetary reserves.

The G20 has made progress in restructuring the debts of the most fragile countries

Emmanuel Macron also explained that the G20 meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday had “allowed progress to be made in terms of restructuring the debts of the most fragile countries, which is a key element of solidarity”. “We must get out of the status quo for the poorest countries and massively mobilize the private sector, in any case mobilize it much more for the energy, agricultural and industrial revolution”, by loosening “some of the constraints in access to funding”.

“We must, within the framework of this new financial pact, also integrate the question of climate vulnerability”, insisted the French president. A “group of wise men” on the sidelines of COP27 in Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt was “mandated” to “advance technically” on “specific financial mechanisms”, he detailed.

Macron calls on Iran to be “calm”

Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday denounced Iran’s “increasing aggressiveness” towards France through “inadmissible hostage-taking”, and called on Tehran to “return to calm and the spirit of cooperation”. Speaking at a press conference at the end of the G20 summit in Indonesia, the French president also called on Iran “to respect regional stability”, referring to “the bombardments in recent days on Iraqi soil”.

Iran launched a new series of missile and drone strikes on Monday against Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan, killing at least one person and wounding eight, according to local officials. “France has always respected the leaders, the Iranian people. We have always been in an approach of discussion, of respect. I think that the choices that have been made in recent months do not go in this direction on the side of Iran. So I call for a return to calm, respect for regional stability, also respect for French nationals,” added Emmanuel Macron.

Macron hailed “the courage and legitimacy” of “this revolution of Iranian women and youth”

Emmanuel Macron hailed “the courage and legitimacy” of “this revolution of Iranian women and youth”, after weeks of demonstrations, and after the reception of dissident women on Friday November 11 at the Elysee Palace castigated by Tehran.

These women and these young people “defend our values, our universal principles. I say + our +, I am not talking about France, they are universal, they are also those of our Charter of the United Nations: equality between women and men, the dignity of every human being”, said Emmanuel Macron. “I think it was completely legitimate, here too, fully respecting Iran’s sovereignty, to salute the courage and legitimacy of this fight,” he concluded.

Iran has been the scene of protests since the death two months ago of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurd who was arrested for violating a strict dress code that requires women to wear the Islamic veil in public. The authorities denounce “riots” and hundreds of people have been arrested. Iranian justice pronounced Tuesday a death sentence against a “rioter”, announced the press agency of the Judiciary Authority, the second sentence of this type in the space of three days.