This Thursday night, Emmanuel Macron opened the 5th edition of the Peace Forum at the Palais Brongniart in Paris. He himself created this event in 2018 to revive multilateralism when relations with Donald Trump’s United States were difficult.
This year 4,000 people are expected at the Palais Brongniart to present 60 projects that will be added to the 400 selected in previous editions. Starting Friday, the forum will host the presidents of Cyprus, Romania, Serbia, Kosovo, Liberia, Georgia, North Macedonia, Argentina, the prime ministers of Kosovo and Albania, as well as the leader of the Bosnian Serbs, according to a source. diplomat. .
“Universalism in the Challenge of War”
It is therefore, explains the forum site, to create an “open platform for those who seek to develop coordination, rules and skills to respond to global problems” in a context where “international cooperation is reduced.”
This edition has five main objectives:
“Prevent the war from winning”, “reduce the fractures in the world”, “provide a space for dialogue to prevent conflicts”, “reform or consolidate international institutions”, “put Latin America in the foreground”.
This forum also devotes some importance to digital issues, as evidenced by the launch this Thursday by Emmanuel Macron of a “laboratory for the protection of children online” that brings together a number of international actors.
State representatives, companies, international organizations and NGOs are expected until Saturday. This Friday afternoon, Emmanuel Macron will participate in debates on “universalism in the face of the challenge of war”.
He will be accompanied by Alberto Fernández, President of Argentina, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, President of Guinea-Bissau, Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania or David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Program (WFP) and Nobel Peace Prize 2020.
The event is also an opportunity to launch 10 supported projects, such as the creation of an index of environmental impunity in Latin America or a program for the inclusion of women in the Middle East. For Emmanuel Macron, it is about working on his image as president-mediator in Ukraine as in many other conflicts.
A reconciliation between Colombia and Venezuela
Thus, the head of state also called on Thursday the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and the opposition to resume negotiations “as soon as possible” to get Venezuela out of the political crisis.
“The forum could be the last potential step in the reconciliation process between Venezuela and Colombia, with the support of France and the presence of Venezuelans,” a French diplomatic source told AFP.
Bogotá and Caracas have begun a rapprochement process after three years of diplomatic rupture. Colombian President Gustavo Petro met for the first time with his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on Tuesday, a key step in restoring bilateral relations.
Nicolás Maduro had had significant tensions in recent years with the right-wing predecessors of Gustavo Petro, Juan Manuel Santos and Iván Duque, whom he even accused of having orchestrated plans to assassinate him. This led to the breakdown of diplomatic relations between the two countries in February 2019, shortly after Iván Duque recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the “titular president” of Venezuela.
Source: BFM TV
