French President Emmanuel Macron has decided to abandon the traditional July 14 National Day speech, a date he set to take stock of the “100 days of reconciliation” of tensions in the country , an official source said on Wednesday.
The French head of state had made this appeal for reconciliation in mid-April.
At the time, the country was emerging from several months of social tension caused by Macron’s proposed pension reform, with the head of state then setting the date, which coincided with France’s National Day – celebrated annually and dating back to the date of the taking of the Bastille (July 14, 1789) -, for a “first evaluation” of the great projects which should be launched to close this chapter.
However, today the office of the French presidency announced that Macron will not speak on July 14 and that he will speak “in the coming days”, without specifying a date.
The reconciliation that Macron sought was recently called into question by several consecutive nights of urban riots that hit the country following the death of young Nahel, who was shot dead by a police officer during a traffic stop near Paris on June 27.
In France, the national holiday is traditionally marked by a speech to the country by the president, but Macron has performed this ritual only twice since taking power in 2017.
This year’s celebration has India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, as the guest of honour.
Macron, who is currently in Vilnius for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, will be in Brussels next Monday and Tuesday for another summit between the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American States and the Caribbean area (CELAC).
From Saturday, July 22, the French president will embark on a long journey to Oceania.
Source: DN
