President Emmanuel Macron is vowing to make France shine at the Paris Olympics, which begin on Friday, while also seeking to reverse his own political fortunes, which were battered in a recent general election.
AP Reports President Macron said this week that the Olympics was the best way to convince the world to “choose France”, again raising hopes of increased foreign investment in France.
“It will promote our landscapes, our facilities, our know-how and our gastronomy,” he predicted confidently.
Macron’s decision is in direct conflict with his effort last month to call early legislative elections that plunged France into political turmoil.
President Macron tells French people he won’t form a new government for a while, saying “no one won” in surprise election https://t.co/7zMwYV7U1G
—Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 11, 2024
The vote has left France, for the first time in modern times, without a dominant political force, weakening the National Assembly, the country’s powerful lower house of parliament, Breitbart News reported.
Macron has since Said He will not appoint a new government until after the Paris Olympics.
Macron will hold lunch with around 40 foreign CEOs of some of the world’s biggest companies, including Samsung, Tesla and Coca-Cola, aimed at reassuring them about the political situation in France, his office said, according to the Associated Press.
FILE/French President Emmanuel Macron scores a penalty kick during a Variete Club charity soccer match to support children in hospitals at the Bernard Giroud Stadium in Plaisir, a suburb of Paris, France, on April 24, 2024. (Benoît Tessier/Via The Associated Press, File)
But that’s not what he wants to talk about when he welcomes more than 110 heads of state and government to the Olympics’ grand opening ceremony on Friday.
The Elysée Palace said Macron would express his “ambition to showcase the whole of France, its natural and cultural heritage, the art of living and its top athletes to a television audience of more than four billion people, including over one billion for the opening ceremony alone.”
Ultimately, President Macron hopes that the French public will focus on the achievements of their athletes, rather than the political turmoil currently sweeping the country.
Far-left French lawmaker declares Israeli athletes ‘not welcome’ at Paris Olympicshttps://t.co/nElHCswy7r
—Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 21, 2024
“This is good for the country, this is a moment for everyone to enjoy. We will be excited and united again. The country needs that,” he boasted on Tuesday.
Macron has one remaining promise he has yet to fulfill: to swim in the Seine after it has been cleaned for the Olympics.
According to the Associated Press, Macron reiterated this week that he intends to go, but likely after the Olympics — after all, he still has three years left in his term.
