FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold crucial talks over Britain’s impending divorce from Europe and the growing populist threat, a French presidential source has revealed.
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| German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron |
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told French media: “The president’s deeply held conviction is that the rise in support for populist movements reinforces the need to promote progressive movements, and to draw up a roadmap for a more progressive European project,” .
The meeting between the europhile leaders is expected to take place in Paris shortly after Mr Macron visits Luxembourg on September 6, the Elysée source added.
Mr Macron's international agenda in the coming weeks will focus on showing a “united European front” during the final phase of Brexit talks, the source continued.
The 40-year-old centrist wants to reinforce ties between pro-European governments, which, like the Macron administration, are fighting to stem Europe’s populist tide.
Nationalist and far-right parties are slowly gaining ground in the bloc.
From Hungary, Austria, Poland and Italy, populist, anti-EU parties are clamping down on immigration, shunning European unity and openly blaming Brussels for their economic and social woes.
The source added that Mr Macron was determined to pursue an “active European diplomacy” and was planning to visit Denmark and Finland at the end of the month to discuss European reform, the migrant crisis and Brexit.
Denmark is, along with France, one of the EU countries most in favour of a “coherent and united European position on Brexit,” the source said. It is however fiercely opposed to Mr Macron’s eurozone reform plans.
But while Mr Macron has ploughed most of his efforts this past year into polishing France’s image abroad, his popularity at home is suffering over a massive political scandal involving his former bodyguard.
The latest public opinion polls at the end of July have seen Mr Macron’s popularity rating drop to its lowest level since he was voted into power in May 2017.
His centrist government survived two no-confidence votes last month after his top security aide, Alexandre Benalla, was caught on camera assaulting two May Day protesters while wearing police riot gear – despite being off duty.
While the young leader promised to reinforce transparency within the French political sphere, the bodyguard scandal has raised questions about his team’s working methods after it was revealed that the incident had been kept under wraps by the Elysée Palace for more than two months.
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