A weaker Emmanuel Macron

President Macron is losing direction when it comes to France’s domestic politics. I real think that’s a major issue, both for the French and for all of us, in the EU.

His press conference of this week was supposed to respond to many months of street protests led by the Gilets Jaunes and to draw lessons from the national debate the President had promoted throughout the country on several key topics. Under the national debate, hundreds of public meetings and town halls had been organised. Emmanuel Macron himself chaired some of the gatherings.

The press event has shown that the President has left behind some important political commitments he had made during the electoral fight. One of the most important has to do with the reform of the French state administration. The country needs to adjust the administrative machinery to the new needs of the citizens and, at the same time, rationalise the costs. The last time France had a balanced public budget was 45 years ago, in 1974. Since then, the official administration is living well beyond the means the economy would allow. The country is deeply in debt. Public debt is today around 2,200 billion Euros. This is unacceptable and it will have a serious impact on future generations. Instead of cutting unnecessary expenditures, President Macron announced new measures that will increase public spending and, sooner or later, will have to be translated into new taxes.

He has also been unable to deal with the sustainability of the national pension system. The French, like all of us, are living longer. But, for demagogic reasons, the pension age remains at 62. He should have increased that ceiling. In a related matter, there is a need to review the working week, which is currently capped at 35 hours. This has not been addressed.

President Macron comes out of all this much weaker. He has not been able to appease the Gilets Jaunes. And he is now seen by many in France as just another Hollande, a younger version of the last President. But more arrogant, which is something that is also bringing him down. His communication style is not the best in terms of connecting with people and the media. 

I really hope he will be able to recover from the current predicament. He has three more years to go.

Primitive Saudi Princes

The Saudi authorities have executed 37 citizens this week. They were accused of terrorism, as defined by the Saudis. The fact of the matter is that almost everyone was a Shia Muslim, a minority in Saudi Arabia that is not welcome and is seriously threatened by the regime that controls the country. And there is enough evidence that due process was not followed. Confessions were obtained under extreme torture and brought to the attention of the courts. The judges paid no attention to those claims. They just did what the Crown Prince and his clique wanted. And 37 people were beheaded in these times of today.

I really believe that the West must review its relations with some barbaric and deeply undemocratic countries. Saudi Arabia is one of them. There are more, including in the same vicinity. It is time for a different approach to diplomacy.

Security as a big issue

Terrorist threats will be a key security issue in the years ahead of us. 

In the case of the EU, some extrapolations indicate that in five-to-seven years we will have to keep a close watch on some 40 to 50,000 European residents that might be classified as S. This code letter means that one with an S in front of his or her name is a potential security risk, from a terrorist perspective. 

That’s a lot of people to keep monitoring. It will be very difficult to find enough resources to do it thoroughly. That means that cooperation and coordination between all the security agencies will be a fundamental requirement. It also means that the citizens must be prepared to ensure a greater level of security of their own collective initiatives.

The investigation must be thorough

The brutal acts of terrorism that occurred on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka raise a good number of key questions. The answers are not yet known. They require time and serious analysis of every piece of information. One of the most important questions must be about the mastermind. The attacks have shown a very high degree of preparation, a well organised chain of command and a deep effort of indoctrination, the brainwashing of the suicide bombers. All this is profoundly disturbing. One needs to find out what kind of structure allowed this level of coordinated, well-targeted destruction. First, the families of the victims must know who is responsible. Second, we all need to be sure that such capacity to do evil is annihilated.  

Iran and its oil

The US Government’s decision not to renew the waiver given to China, India, Turkey, Japan and two or three more countries regarding the purchase of Iranian oil is very extreme. This basically means that any country buying Iranian oil after May 1 might find itself sanctioned by the Americans. In the tradition of international relations, such decision is equivalent to an act of war against Iran and a hostile move against the countries that import petroleum from Iran. It is a matter of great concern. It must be seriously debated.

Me and myself

Every day, and in the end, the real challenge is all between you and yourself.

Volodymyr Zelensky: the people's choice

Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian and a man of the people, has won the presidential elections in Ukraine. This is no small victory. It is a landslide, with about 73% of the votes in his support. It is above all the expression of a very deep frustration regarding the political elites and their inability to address corruption, poverty and conflict with Russia.

The people has spoken, and their choice is clear. Let’s hope for the best. One should see this result with some optimism.

Poor Sri Lanka

This Easter Sunday has been a sad day for humanity. In Sri Lanka, barbarians planned and executed a series of terrorist attacks against innocent people in churches and hotels. Scores died and many were wounded. And the country itself, still trying to find peace after so many years of a tragic civil war, has also seen its image being seriously affected. Everyone should express deep shock and strong condemnation of such violence.

Easter and our history

Easter is an essential part of our European culture. It is not necessarily about religion. But it is certainly about our roots, history, traditions and the associate narrative. And all that has nothing to do with bunnies and chocolate eggs. Let’s not mix civilisation with cocoa.

Notre-Dame and the response of the wealthy

Many people have shown sincere astonishment and expressed deep shock when told that a small group of French billionaires and some big corporations have pledged close to one billion Euros to finance the restoration of the Notre-Dame Cathedral. People compare such largesse to the poor response given to recent humanitarian appeals.

The gap is indeed abysmal and difficult to understand.

I do not pretend to know the minds of the very rich. But I have met a few. And they are indeed much more willing to give money to the arts, the protection of the natural world, the advancement of scientific research, and other broad issues than to alleviate poverty and address social issues like the plight of the homeless or drug addiction. Patron of the arts is a tradition that comes from the aristocratic times. It occupies a very high position in the status ladder.

Moreover, it is also my reading that many of those who became outrageously wealthy believe that poor people are responsible for their own fate. They kind of share the moral high ground those who have been successful in life love to place themselves. From those heights, they look at everyone else as people who have not been able to create their own life opportunities or have just accepted their condition without fighting back. Many rich people – and I am only referring to those who are generous enough to pay for big causes, I am not talking about the greedy and the corrupt – are convinced that poverty is an individual responsibility. They do not say it loudly. But they think people should have tried harder. They also believe that the social security systems are good enough to take care of those in dire need.

I am not trying to justify their approach, please be sure of that. I am just sharing an interpretation. My point is simple. If we do not comprehend the reasons, we cannot contribute to a meaningful change of the behaviour.